さっき
さっき · sakki · JLPT N4 · noun
a little while ago
⏱️ saki (先) = ahead/before, said with a punchy double k: sakki = just before now
さっき is the emphatic spoken form of さき (先), meaning ahead or earlier. Doubling the k clips the word short, and a short word fits a short gap: not long ago, just a moment back. Sound hook: I put it in the sack a second ago.