תַּקְרִית (Takrit) — incident
Etymology
The word takrit was introduced to replace the ubiquitous loanword "incident" (incident), which entered Hebrew via Yiddish, Russian, and French. While early linguistic reformers like Nahum Sokolov and Shimon Bernfeld suggested using the existing Hebrew words mikre (מִקְרֶה) or me’ora (מְאֹרָע), these failed to gain traction. The foreign "incident" persisted because it carried a specific nuance: a negative occurrence that, while significant, is not quite a "disaster" or "catastrophe."
The specific form takrit was first coined by Itamar Ben-Avi (son of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda) in 1918, though he originally used it to mean "episode" (episode). In 1936, Hillel Har-Shoshanim, an editor at Yedioth Ahronoth, proposed the word as the official replacement for "incident." While the Committee for the Language of the Press formally approved the suggestion in 1951, the word remained obscure and largely unused by journalists.
The word's ultimate success is credited to Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett. In a June 1952 press conference, Sharett "re-introduced" takrit to the Hebrew press corps. He argued for its morphological logic, comparing it to how tafnit (תפנית - turn/shift) was derived from mifne (מפנה). Despite initial mockery from satirists, the word was adopted by major newspapers within days. Sharett later published a letter acknowledging that while he thought he had invented the word, he was pleased to find it had a "triple fatherhood" involving Ben-Avi and Har-Shoshanim.
Key Quotes
"כשם שתפנית באה ממפנה, מבקש מר שרת להנהיג תקרית ממקרה." — הארץ, 20 ביוני 1952
"מאז ועד עכשיו תקריות לעשרות נטוו ברקמת חייו הסוערים, תקריות מוזרות ומגוונות כל-כך, שדומות הן באמת לבדיות מעולם הדמיון." — איתמר בן-אב"י, ספר זכרון לאליעזר בן יהודה, 1918
Timeline
- 1918: Itamar Ben-Avi coins takrit to mean "episode."
- 1936: Hillel Har-Shoshanim proposes takrit as the Hebrew equivalent for "incident."
- 1951: The Committee for the Language of the Press officially approves the word.
- 1952 (June 20): Moshe Sharett presents the word to journalists at a press conference.
- 1952 (June 22-25): Major newspapers (Maariv, Davar, Haaretz) begin using the word in headlines.
Related Words
- מִקְרֶה (mikre) — event, accident; sharing the root ק-ר-ה.
- תַּפְנִית (tafnit) — turn, shift; the morphological model for the coinage.
- מְאֹרָע (me’ora) — occurrence; a rabbinic-era synonym for event.