Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Yiddish ·1940s
Putz
from פּאָץ (pots)
- Meaning
- A foolish or contemptible person; (vulgar) a penis.
- Source word
- פּאָץ (pots)
- Route into English
- Yiddish *pots* (penis) → English as a mild insult, especially in American Jewish speech → the verb "putz around" (waste time) is a related euphemism.
- Arrived
- 1940s
From Yiddish
Mass migration from Ashkenazi Eastern Europe to New York (1880–1920) funnelled Yiddish into American English, from where it diffused globally.
English borrows.
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