shtickle

Pronunciations

shtickle (SHTIK-kel) listen

Definitions

  • adj., adv. A bit, a little; somewhat.

  • adj. Designation of second-class status.

  • n. A small amount; a little bit; a piece.

Example Sentences

  • "He was a shtickl broiges."

  • "He'll say anything to get a shtickl sympathy."

  • "Here, have a shtikel mandelbroyt."

  • "His Rebbe is a 'shtickl Rebbe.'"

  • "He's a shtickl businessman."

  • “He was a shtikl mad when he found the scratch on his car.” (Weiser)

Languages of Origin

  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • שטיקל shtikl 'small piece, bit; trick, joke, prank' (also used in the idiom x אַ שטיקל, a shtikl x, 'something of an X', where X is a profession, etc.)

    • Who Uses This

      • Ashkenazim: Jews with Ashkenazi heritage

      Regions

      • North America
      • Australia / New Zealand
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa

      Dictionaries

      • The New Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten and Lawrence Bush (New York, 2003[1968]).
      • Frumspeak: The First Dictionary of Yeshivish, by Chaim Weiser (Northvale, 1995).
      • Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).

      Alternative Spellings

      shtikle, schtickle, schtikel, schtikle, shtikel, shtikl

Notes

  • "shtickle" is the diminutive of "shtick"

    plural: 'shtiklekh'

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