קָקִי

The word "קָקִי" (kaki) is a slang word in modern Hebrew for describing excrement, especially in children's language and in talking with young children. The source of the word is the German language, where the word Kacke serves as a relatively crude word for excrement. The German word itself is derived from an ancient German verb kacken, which means "to defecate," and it is related to an ancient Indo-European root. The word was adopted in Israeli Hebrew in the early 20th century, probably under the influence of German immigration (the Fifth Aliyah) in the 1930s. "קָקִי" (kaki) is an example of a word that was adopted from German but underwent significant softening in Hebrew: while in German it is a word with crude connotations, in Hebrew it became an accepted and even "cute" word used in children's language. Interestingly, similar words are used in several other languages to describe excrement, especially in children's language, such as "caca" in Spanish and French, and "kakka" in Finnish, which testifies to the onomatopoeic nature (sound imitation) of the word.