toches

or tuch·is, toch·us

[ taw-khuhs, tookh-uhs ]

noun

, Slang.

1. the buttocks; tushie.

Pronunciation Note

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 [taw, -, kh, uh, s] to the use of a harder middle -k- sound (called a velar stop) as in [taw, -k, uh, s]. 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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of toches¹

First recorded in 1910–15, Americanism; 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 Project Gutenberg

He ben gone time ’nough to walk to Natch’toches an’ back.”

From Project Gutenberg