patsh

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Pronunciations

patsh (PAHTSH) listen

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Definitions

  • v. To give a light slap.

  • n. A light slap.

  • n. An insult.

Example Sentences

  • "Shira, if you don't stop it, you're going to get a patch!"

    Listen to recordings of this sentence: ( Recording 1)

  • "With that behavior, you're asking for a potch on the toches!"

    Listen to recordings of this sentence: ( Recording 1)

  • "His son wouldn't listen so the father gave him a little pach on tuchas."

  • “To me, his words were a terrible patsh." (NJY)

  • "Some of my kids got 1-2 times petsh and some did never get to a reason to get petsh and thats because they knew about the possibility of petsh, as one of the previous gedolim said that the kantshik in cheder is hanging on the wall mainly for the children to know that it could be used when neccesary, and so much to use it." (source)

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Languages of Origin

  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • פּאַטשן patshn 'to smack, slap' (verbal stem is פּאַטש patsh)

      • Who Uses This

      • Orthodox: Jews who identify as Orthodox and observe halacha (Jewish law)
      • Older: Jews who are middle-aged and older
      • Ashkenazim: Jews with Ashkenazi heritage

      Regions

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

      Dictionaries

      • The New Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten and Lawrence Bush (New York, 2003[1968]).
      • Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).
      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).

      Alternative Spellings

      potsh, patch, potch, pach, poch, petsh, petch, pech

Notes

  • plural: 'petsh'

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