Tsk-tsk

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Grammarist

Tsk-tsk, pronounced tisk tisk, is usually an interjection meaning shame on you. It also works as a noun referring to an expression of disappointment or condemnation toward someone, or as a verb meaning to express disappointment in someone or to condemn. The verb and noun forms are hyphenatedtsk-tsk—while the interjection is usually a two-word phrase with a commatsk, tsk.

Examples

Verb

“I hope ATC isn’t turning into a tabloid!” tsk-tsked someone else. [Slate]

It’s very easy to tsk-tsk this kind of foolhardy behavior now and wonder how people could be so clueless. [Fredricksburg.com (link now dead)]

Noun

Bruce Bowen beat the rap again Monday, a knee to the groin of the two-time MVP getting merely a tsk-tsk out of the NBA offices. [Yahoo! Sports]

How perfect is the surprise tsk-tsk that comes as guests overindulge, only to unveil a pointed deadly sin on their platters? [Los Angeles Times]

Interjection

You might think from the previous paragraph that I don’t like No. 9. Tsk, tsk. [Connect Savannah]

And foolish, foolish me, worried that priceless piece of info was going to be forever lost to us. …  Tsk, tsk, shame on me. [letter to Beaumont Enterprise]

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