[shahy-ster] 
| 1. | a lawyer who uses unprofessional or questionable methods. |
| 2. | a person who gets along by petty, sharp practices. |
| shy·ster (shī'stər) n. Slang An unethical, unscrupulous practitioner, especially of law. [Probably alteration of German Scheisser, son of a bitch, bastard, from scheissen, to defecate, from Middle High German schīzen, from Old High German skīzzan; see skei- in Indo-European roots.] shy'ster·ism n. Word History: Calling someone a shyster might be considered libellous; knowing its probable origin adds insult to injury. According to Gerald L. Cohen, a student of the word, shyster is derived from the German term scheisser, meaning literally "one who defecates," from the verb scheissen, "to defecate," with the English suffix -ster, "one who does," substituted for the German suffix -er, meaning the same thing. Sheisser, which is chiefly a pejorative term, is the German equivalent of our English terms bastard and son of a bitch. Sheisser is generally thought to have been borrowed directly into English as the word shicer, which, among other things, is an Australian English term for an unproductive mine or claim, a sense that is also recorded for the word shyster. |
stər