Hakn a tshaynik (literally "to knock a teakettle"; Yiddish: האַקן אַ טשײַניק), meaning to rattle on loudly and insistently, but without any meaning, is a widely used Yiddishidiomatic phrase.[1] It is most often used in the negative imperative sense: Hak mir nisht keyn tshaynik! (literally "Don't knock a teakettle at me!"; Yiddish: !האַק מיר נישט קיין טשײַניק), in the sense of "Stop bothering me!".[1]
Aside from the metaphor of the subject of the epithet, making meaningless noise as if he/she were banging on a teakettle, the phrase gains from the imagery of the lid of a teakettle full of boiling water "moving up and down, banging against the kettle like a jaw in full flap, clanging and banging and signifying nothing"; the less the contents, the louder and more annoying the noise.[1]
The phrase became familiar to many Americans without contact with Yiddish speakers by appearing in popular Three Stooges short films. In the 1936 film A Pain in the Pullman, when caught sneaking out of their rooms without paying rent, Moe tries to explain to the landlady by saying, "Well, we were just on our way to hock the trunk so we could pay you," to which Larry kicks in, "Hey, hock a chynick for me too, will ya?", earning himself a swift kick in the shin. In 1938's Mutts to You, Larry, disguised as a Chinese laundryman, pretending to speak Chinese, utters a stream of Yiddish doubletalk, ending with "Hak mir nisht keyn tshaynik, and I don't mean efsher (maybe)!"[1][2]
The phrase has become relatively common in English in half-translated forms such as "Don’t hock me a chainik", to the point where shortened versions of the phrase, such as "You don't have to hock me about it!" proliferate on television and the movies, particularly where the speaker is intended to represent a resident of New York City, even if not Jewish.[1] On The West Wing, Toby Zeigler says to Sam Seaborn, "what are you hocking me for?", referring to Toby's New York Jewish background. [3]
This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Find sources: "Hakn a tshaynik" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(June 2008)
^Solomon, Jon (2002). The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion. Glendale, California: Comedy III Productions, Inc. pp. 98, 138. ISBN0-9711868-0-4.
^The West Wing Weekly (7 June 2016). "1:11: 'Lord John Marbury'" (PDF). the west wing weekly. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
November 01, 2023
hakn, tshaynik, also, chainik, literally, knock, teakettle, yiddish, הא, קן, טשײ, ניק, meaning, rattle, loudly, insistently, without, meaning, widely, used, yiddish, idiomatic, phrase, most, often, used, negative, imperative, sense, nisht, keyn, tshaynik, lite. See also Chainik Hakn a tshaynik literally to knock a teakettle Yiddish הא קן א טשײ ניק meaning to rattle on loudly and insistently but without any meaning is a widely used Yiddish idiomatic phrase 1 It is most often used in the negative imperative sense Hak mir nisht keyn tshaynik literally Don t knock a teakettle at me Yiddish הא ק מיר נישט קיין טשײ ניק in the sense of Stop bothering me 1 Aside from the metaphor of the subject of the epithet making meaningless noise as if he she were banging on a teakettle the phrase gains from the imagery of the lid of a teakettle full of boiling water moving up and down banging against the kettle like a jaw in full flap clanging and banging and signifying nothing the less the contents the louder and more annoying the noise 1 The phrase became familiar to many Americans without contact with Yiddish speakers by appearing in popular Three Stooges short films In the 1936 film A Pain in the Pullman when caught sneaking out of their rooms without paying rent Moe tries to explain to the landlady by saying Well we were just on our way to hock the trunk so we could pay you to which Larry kicks in Hey hock a chynick for me too will ya earning himself a swift kick in the shin In 1938 s Mutts to You Larry disguised as a Chinese laundryman pretending to speak Chinese utters a stream of Yiddish doubletalk ending with Hak mir nisht keyn tshaynik and I don t mean efsher maybe 1 2 The phrase has become relatively common in English in half translated forms such as Don t hock me a chainik to the point where shortened versions of the phrase such as You don t have to hock me about it proliferate on television and the movies particularly where the speaker is intended to represent a resident of New York City even if not Jewish 1 On The West Wing Toby Zeigler says to Sam Seaborn what are you hocking me for referring to Toby s New York Jewish background 3 Modern Hebrew also contains an idiomatic expression clarification needed of precisely identical meaning citation needed References editThis article relies largely or entirely on a single source Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources Find sources Hakn a tshaynik news newspapers books scholar JSTOR June 2008 a b c d e Born to Kvetch Michael Wex St Martin s Press New York City 2005 ISBN 0 312 30741 1 Solomon Jon 2002 The Complete Three Stooges The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion Glendale California Comedy III Productions Inc pp 98 138 ISBN 0 9711868 0 4 The West Wing Weekly 7 June 2016 1 11 Lord John Marbury PDF the west wing weekly Retrieved 7 July 2020 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Hakn a tshaynik amp oldid 1181606236, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
