Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
schmuck - 3 dictionary results
schmuck
[shmuhk] 
–noun Slang.
| an obnoxious or contemptible person. |
Origin:
1890–95; < Yiddish shmok (vulgar) lit., penis (of uncert. orig.)
1890–95; < Yiddish shmok (vulgar) lit., penis (of uncert. orig.)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
|
Link To schmuck
| schmuck also shmuck (shmŭk) n. Slang A clumsy or stupid person; an oaf. [Yiddish shmok, penis, fool, probably from Polish smok, serpent, tail.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
schmuck
"contemptible person," 1892, from E.Yiddish shmok, lit. "penis," from Old Pol. smok "grass snake, dragon." Not the same word as Ger. schmuck "jewelry, adornments," which is related to Low Ger. smuck "supple, tidy, trim, elegant," and related to O.N. smjuga "slip, step through" (see smock). In Jewish homes, the word was "regarded as so vulgar as to be taboo" [Leo Rosten, "The Joys of Yiddish," 1968] and Lenny Bruce wrote that saying it on stage got him arrested on the West Coast "by a Yiddish undercover agent who had been placed in the club several nights running to determine if my use of Yiddish terms was a cover for profanity." Euphemized as schmoe, which was the source of Al Capp's cartoon strip creature the schmoo.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
