צ׳קלקה (chak-la-ka) — flashing police/emergency light

Etymology

The word צ׳קלקה is the latest in a long chain of Hebrew terms for a light that flashes on and off — a concept for which early modern Hebrew had no dedicated word. In the early 20th century, Hebrew speakers had to use clumsy constructions like "נדלק וכבה לחלופין" (lights alternately on and off). Three verbs successively filled this gap before the current slang term arrived.

The first was מְעַפְעֵף, a rare medieval verb originally meaning "to fly." In the late 16th century, Nathan of Rome revived it to describe blinking eyelids in his Hebrew translation of Ibn Sina's "Canon of Medicine" — based on an interpretation of the biblical עַפְעַפַּיִם that may itself have been a misreading. The verb entered modern Hebrew in the early 20th century and was sometimes extended to describe a flickering light, but fell into disuse.

The second was מִצְמֵץ, a Talmudic verb originally meaning "to suck." Its modern sense of "blinking" rests entirely on a misreading by Yosef Sheinakh in his 1852 dictionary "Sefer HaMashbir," who interpreted a passage in Bereishit Rabbah (Rabbi Yochanan describing Eliezer gazing at Rivkah) as meaning "looking with half-closed eyes." Lexicographer Moshe Schulbaum elaborated this into the German blinzeln (rapid eyelid closure) in his 1880 dictionary, and subsequent lexicographers copied the definition. The verb was also applied to flickering lights — a 1962 Haaretz report on a "flying saucer" over Tel Aviv described it as "גוף זוהר באור אדום-תפוז ממצמץ."

The winner was מְהַבְהֵב, an ancient Talmudic verb originally meaning "to singe with fire." Its semantic range expanded in the early 20th century to describe flickering flames and glowing embers, and then electric light. When the Ministry of Transport in 1961 mandated that all heavy vehicles carry a "פנס מהבהב" (flashing light) for roadside emergencies, the verb was institutionalized. A 1970 regulation required security vehicles to mount flashing lights on their roofs; police adopted them widely.

When the TV series Kojak began broadcasting in Israel in 1975, viewers started calling the rooftop police flasher קוֹזָק (after the show's protagonist, Telly Savalas playing Det. Kojak). This nickname prevailed into the early 1990s, when it began yielding to the new term צ׳קלקה. The word exists in several other languages: it is the name of a South African stew and a South American dance, but neither connection to the Israeli police beacon is obvious. The most plausible theory links it to the English exclamation "Boom Shakalaka," which was extremely popular in early-1990s pop music and sports broadcasting when this Israeli slang term emerged.

Key Quotes

"ה׳צלחת׳ - גוף זוהר באור אדום-תפוז ממצמץ - הופיעה במערב" — Haaretz, February 1962 (on a "flying saucer" over Tel Aviv, using מצמץ for a flashing light)

Timeline

• Late 16th century: Nathan of Rome derives מְעַפְעֵף for eyelid-blinking in his translation of Ibn Sina
• 1852: Yosef Sheinakh defines מִצְמֵץ as "looking with half-open eyes" in "Sefer HaMashbir"
• Early 20th century: All three verbs (מעפעף, מצמץ, מהבהב) used for flickering lights
• 1961: Ministry of Transport mandates "פנס מהבהב," cementing מהבהב for flashing lights
• 1970: Security vehicles required to mount flashing roof lights
• 1975: TV series Kojak airs in Israel; the flashing police light is nicknamed קוֹזָק
• Early 1990s: צ׳קלקה begins displacing קוזק as slang for the police flasher
• Present: צ׳קלקה is the standard colloquial term; קוזק still used

Related Words

• מְהַבְהֵב — to flash (the standard verb for flashing lights); from Talmudic Hebrew meaning "to singe"
• מְצְמֵץ — to blink; earlier candidate for flashing lights
• מְעַפְעֵף — to flutter; earliest modern attempt to describe blinking/flashing
• קוֹזָק — earlier nickname for the police flasher, from the TV show Kojak (1975)
• פנס מהבהב — the technical term for a flashing emergency light, established 1961