Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Yiddish ·1950s
Shtick
from shtik
- Meaning
- A signature comic bit or personal gimmick.
- Source word
- shtik
- Route into English
- Yiddish *shtik* (piece, from German *Stück*) → American English via vaudeville and Catskills comedy. A comedian's shtick is literally their *piece* — the part of the act that is theirs.
- Arrived
- 1950s
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.
Browse the full loanword atlas or explore another source language.