toches

American  

[taw-khuhs, tookh-uhs] / ˈtɔ xəs, ˈtʊx əs /

tokus, or tuchis,

noun

Slang.

1. the buttocks; tushie.

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Pronunciation

The English spelling toches is a transliteration of a Yiddish word. (Yiddish is a language based largely on Middle High German dialects and uses the Hebrew alphabet.) The English word therefore tries to represent a non-English pronunciation, which itself can vary from one Yiddish or English speaker to another, and may range from the somewhat guttural to the use of a harder middle -k- sound (called a velar stop) as in . Because of the range of Yiddish and English pronunciations, a number of variant English spellings exist, the most common or acceptable of which are shown in this entry: tuchis, tochus, tokus, tokes, tookus, and tochis. However, creative attempts to capture the range of pronunciations have yielded numerous other forms of the word as well, which can crop up especially in informal writing: for example, tuches, tochas, tochess, tuchas, tocus, toochis, toochus, tookis, tokhes, tokhus and more. So there are more than enough ways to write and say this Yiddish word for a very basic part of human anatomy.

Etymology

Origin of toches

First recorded in 1910–15, from Yiddish tokhes, from Hebrew taḥath “under, beneath”

Example Sentences

As Helen speaks she toches a spring bell, and then reaching a sable-lined cloak from the peg she puts it on drawing the hood over her soft brown hair.

From Daisy Ashford: Her Book by Cobb, Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury)