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Schmuck, or shmuck, is a pejorative term meaning one who is stupid or foolish, or an obnoxious, contemptible or detestable person. The word came into the English language from Yiddish (Yiddish: שמאָק, shmok), where it has similar pejorative meanings, but where its literal meaning is a vulgar term for a penis. [1]
This is a list of words that have entered the English language from the Yiddish language, many of them by way of American English.There are differing approaches to the romanization of Yiddish orthography (which uses the Hebrew alphabet); thus, the spelling of some of the words in this list may be variable (for example, shlep is a variant of schlep, and shnozz, schnoz).
A Yiddish saying explains that "a schlemiel is somebody who often spills his soup and a schlimazel is the person it lands on". [3] The schlemiel is similar to the schmuck but, as stated in a 2010 essay in The Forward , a schmuck can improve himself while "a schlemiel, a schlimazel and a schmendrik are irredeemably what they are".
Schmuck may refer to: Schmuck (pejorative), a common pejorative of Yiddish origin; Schmuck (surname), a surname of German origin; Schmuck v. United States, a criminal case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1989.
Shm-reduplication is generally avoided or altered with words that already begin with shm-; for instance, schmuck does not yield the expected "schmuck shmuck", but rather total avoidance or mutation of the shm- (giving forms like schmuck shluck, schmuck fluck, and so on).
The Hebrew word for “beets” is similar to the word for “remove,” so eating beets is traditional to symbolize removing all obstacles and negativity from one’s life for the new year.
Jewish leaders identified overtly antisemitic language against the Jackson Orthodox Jewish community during a public hearing on settlement ordinances. 'Words can light fires that kill': Jewish ...
Shmendrik (Yiddish: שמענדריק), also rendered as schmendrick or shmendrick is a Yiddish word meaning a stupid person or a little hapless jerk ("a pathetic sad sack" [1]). Its origin is the name of a clueless mama's boy played by Sigmund Mogulesko in an 1877 comedy Shmendrik, oder di komishe Chaseneh ( Schmendrik or The Comical Wedding ...