Editor's Corner

Twice in the last few months, the topic of garden gnomes has come up. No, I don’t have a display of them at my house or anything.

The first person who asked about them was Doni (Adonis) my cousin’s husband. While he described how much he loved them in his beautiful Greek accent, my cousin stood behind him shaking her head and mouthing “Nooooo!” I told him that they would be too delicate and heavy to tote back to Greece and explained that he already had his hands full with the cowboy hat he bought for his son.

Then, a couple days ago, I was talking to one of my doctors, and we got side-tracked on the topic of crafting. She told me she was going to make a gnome garden or do some gnome crafting to add to her kitschy garden. We then moved on to the word kitschy; what it means, how to say it, and more.

I said, “Yeah, I just wrote an article about it.” I was wrong. I didn’t write about kitschy, I wrote about tchotchkes. So here, for Doni and my doctor, is a little bit more on kitschy.

From Merriam-Webster:

kitsch (pronounced kitch, like kitchen)

1: something that appeals to popular or lowbrow taste and is often of poor quality

2: a tacky or lowbrow quality or condition

From the Online Etymology Dictionary

kitsch (n.)

1926, from German kitsch, literally "gaudy, trash," from dialectal kitschen "to smear." Earlier as a German word in English.

Some synonyms for kitschy are:

• garish
• gaudy
• glitzy
• tacky
• tasteless
• inelegant
• schlocky

And schlocky? Also from Merriam-Webster, and then the Online Etymology Dictionary:

schlocky (adj)

: of low quality or value

schlock (n)

1915, "cheap, shoddy, or defective goods," from American Yiddish shlak, from German Schlacke "dregs, scum, dross" (see slag (n.)). Alternative etymology [OED] is from Yiddish shlogn "to strike" (cognate with German schlagen; see slay). Mostly commercial at first, by mid-20c. in reference to fiction, movies, television programming, etc. Derived form schlockmeister is by 1953; "purveyor of cheap products," though originally it had a more specific sense in showbiz.

I think of the gnomes book that our parents’ friends had on the coffee table. My brother and I always sought it out when we were at their house. Gnomes make me laugh. When I asked AI if gnomes were kitschy, it responded:

Yes, garden gnomes are often considered kitschy. The term "kitschy" refers to objects that are seen as being in poor taste due to their excessive garishness or sentimentality, but they can sometimes be appreciated in an ironic or knowing way. Garden gnomes fit this description as they are often viewed as overly sentimental and somewhat tacky decorations. However, some people might appreciate them for their nostalgic or humorous value.

Basically, go forth and do whatever makes you happy, kitschy or not.

Gnomes in a planter.

Gnomes going to town with mushrooms and a hedgehog.

Gnomes hiding in a wheelbarrow.

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

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