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אמל"ת
שחד

Glossary entry

Hebrew term or phrase:

קוצל\'ה פוצל\'ה

English translation:

sweetie pie

Added to glossary by Mary Jane Shubow
Aug 25, 2011 00:58
12 yrs ago
Hebrew term

קוצל'ה פוצל'ה

Hebrew to English Tech/Engineering Military / Defense history of Air Force Unit
This is a jibe made by a commander at a goodbye party for someone under his command who is retiring.

"I remember you in Haifa many years ago. You would pass by me and say, 'קוצל'ה פוצל'ה' , Whose nice boy are you?” He wanted to say, in his characteristic way, already then you were a lot older than I was, but today I grew up and am your commander …

I've translated this as "little thorn, little putz," but I'm not sure this is right.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
Proposed translations (English)
3 well, you little one...
4 Avoid and compensate
3 little thorn, little fool
2 Chooki Pooki

Discussion

Mary Jane Shubow (asker) Aug 26, 2011:
Sorry about all the typos in my last sumission corrections, should be:
grew up to be an important person with some ego problems, spoke to him in a belittling way,
even though you are still older, I became your commander

Thanks for all the help!
Mary Jane Shubow (asker) Aug 26, 2011:
I believe Vere is right. The retiring officer said it to the younger person who had now become his commander when the current younger commander was young. The current commander was never under the command of the retiring older officer. I would assume that at that time in the long-ago past, the older person, now retiring, spoke affectionately to the young lad, but that person grew up to be an important problem with some ego problems, and could not resist the opportunity to jibe the retiring officer about how he had now grown up to command this person, who in his perception, had spoken to him belitting, when he had been a child or youth. I assume that the original remark made in the past was made honestly and affectionately, but the child/youth recipient had somehow resented it. Now, having supersed and risen above this person, he could not resist the urge to reframe the remark in a sarcastic mode, i.e. once you talked down to me but now I passed you by and even tho you are still younger, I became your commander.

It will be hard to grade this one. My first breakthrough came from Lingopro's remark that this was an endearing term, which led me to sweetie pie, but certainly Vere reinforced it.
Lingopro Aug 26, 2011:
Vere, I think the present officer who is doing the talking is referring to something the retiring officer (who is older than the talker and now under his command) said when the talker was under the retiree's command. </br></br>

And, קוצל'ה פוצל'ה is just that - both endearing and slightly sarcastic if you are a soldier.
But only Mary can shed light on this.
Vere Barzilai Aug 26, 2011:
Lingoporo, endearing and sarcastic just doesn`t work! The officer, present commander, said it then to a very young sprout, endearing - yes, sarcastically - no
Sabine Akabayov, PhD Aug 25, 2011:
Smoochy Poochy maybe?
Lingopro Aug 25, 2011:
I don't think sweetie pie works for a man in this context.
Lingopro Aug 25, 2011:
I don't think sweetie pie works for a man in this context.
Mary Jane Shubow (asker) Aug 25, 2011:
Does the retiree happen to be a רס"ר? No, he is a סא"ל
Mary Jane Shubow (asker) Aug 25, 2011:
Hi sweetie pie, whose nice boy are you? Does this sound right for kootzale pootzale?
Lingopro Aug 25, 2011:
Does the retiree happen to be a רס"ר?
Mary Jane Shubow (asker) Aug 25, 2011:
jibe? The Hebrew term used in the sentence for the kind of overall remark that was made is
לעקוץ, which sounds to me like a jibe, but part of the remark is the term קוצל'ה פוצל'ה
which is no doubt "kootzale pootzale,"
so my question is, if this is an endearing term, how would you transtlate that?
Thanks!
Sabine Akabayov, PhD Aug 25, 2011:
I agree with Lingopro.
Lingopro Aug 25, 2011:
Are you sure it's a jibe and not the endeering term pronounced kootzale pootzale?

Proposed translations

1 day 10 hrs
Selected

well, you little one...

that`s how I would put it, it might not be the proper translation (if there`s one), but its semantically correct. Putzele is a baby, a lttle cutie in German. Kutzale putzale is something adults say and think that the little ones understand them.

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Note added at 1 day13 hrs (2011-08-26 14:52:59 GMT)
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Now to think of it, Kutzale might derive from Gutzale, which means a sweet, bonbon, in Swiss and South German dialect, so you are actually close with your sweetie pie :)
Note from asker:
Thanks a lot! This is very helpful!
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks a lot!"
15 hrs

Chooki Pooki

I imagine the Hebrew "term" is both sarcastic and endearing at the same time. Hence my suggestion (which sounds sweet with a snide meaing).
Reference:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Chooki%20Pooki

Note from asker:
Thanks! I think sweetie pie works better here, but it's helpful to know that the term might be both sarcastic and endearing at the same time.
Peer comment(s):
neutral Vere Barzilai : nothing sarcastic saying kutzale putzale...
22 hrs
There is when it comes from an officer...
Something went wrong...
3 hrs

little thorn, little fool

A suggestion.

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Note added at 5 hrs (2011-08-25 06:26:59 GMT)
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On the other hand, since it is in Yiddish, it can mean "little cat, little prick".
קוצל'ה in Yiddish has nothing to do with קוץ in Hebrew.
Katz is a cat.

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Note added at 5 hrs (2011-08-25 06:27:33 GMT)
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פוץ is prick in vulgar slang.

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Note added at 19 hrs (2011-08-25 20:06:21 GMT)
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books.google.co.il/books?isbn=9650714014...
reminds me of פוציניו מוציניו
an expression which is explained in the link.

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Note added at 1 day5 hrs (2011-08-26 06:03:26 GMT)
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Well I found another explanation by the same Rubik Rosenthal, who wrote a dictionary of slang:

בשנות ה – 50' הגיע לשיא השימוש בכינויים "אינגלה" שפירושו ביידיש "ילד". עוד כיכבו בשנים אלו צמד המילים "פוצקל'ה מוצקל'ה" / "פוציניו מוציניו" ולבסוף פשוט "פוצי מוצי" בקיצור. תהליך דומה עבר גם על הצמד התאום :"קוציניו מוציניו".

http://www.izoonim.co.il/?page_id=271

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Note added at 1 day17 hrs (2011-08-26 18:37:33 GMT)
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The way he talks reminds me of Eizer Weitzmann, who used a lot of catchphrases.
Note from asker:
Thanks, that does sound better I think.
This makes more sense, perhaps little pussy, little prick, but I can't bring myself to do it because it seems too harsh, and the person who made the remark was a well-known figure. I do not want to defame his memory in writing with what might be an inappropriate translation. I think for now I'll stick with sweetie pie.
Unfortunately I cannot see the fool link!
Sorry for the slip. I meant of course FULL link.
Thanks, I remember putzi, mutzi, but I think I'll stick with sweetie pie in this context
Something went wrong...
1 day 23 hrs

Avoid and compensate

I wanted to point out the possibility of avoiding this tricky translation. It seems no English equivalent adequately conveys they nuance of endearment/sarcasm etc that you feel the original carries without consequences.

Therefore, you could choose to avoid a direct translation of the actual phrase and do something like:
"I remember you in Haifa many years ago. You would pass by me and patronize me..."
or use another lexical item you may find fits better:
You would pass by me and condescend me...
You would pass by me and demean me....
or any other synonym.

If you feel this takes something away from the translation, you might be able to compensate at a later stage elsewhere.

Just a suggestion.

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Note added at 1 day23 hrs (2011-08-27 00:11:27 GMT)
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Sorry for any typos, it's very late here!
"they" in the first sentence should be "the"
Note from asker:
Thanks, I'm quite happy with sweetie pie for now.
Something went wrong...
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