schmuck
- an obnoxious or contemptible person.
Origin of schmuck
Examples from the Web for schmuck
Contemporary Examples
But quite unlike the schmuck, and this is the fun part, they never run up the white flag; indeed quite the opposite.
Unlike that Obama schmuck, who they regard as a total loser.
By contrast, Anglophones have been using words like schmuck, putz, mamzer, and gonif for only a century or so.
Rudy looked like a schmuck, and I'd say Lhota is looking like one today.
This year, that schmuck is Florida senator and 2016 hopeful Marco Rubio.
Historical Examples
Mr. Schmuck was an excellent "paterfamilias," and took great care of children.
Debts of HonorMaurus Jkai
Mr. Schmuck is one of the well known and highly esteemed citizens of Walla Walla.
Lyman's History of old Walla Walla County, Vol. 2 (of 2)William Denison Lyman
He gave to the city of Colfax what is known as Schmuck Park and many other evidences of his public spirit could be cited.
Lyman's History of old Walla Walla County, Vol. 2 (of 2)William Denison Lyman
Mr. Schmuck sat in his chair with a sweet smile, and putting his hands together twirled his thumbs.
Debts of HonorMaurus Jkai
schmuck
- US slang a stupid or contemptible person; oaf
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for schmuck
n.
also shmuck, "contemptible person," 1892, from East Yiddish shmok, literally "penis," probably from Old Polish smok "grass snake, dragon," and likely not the same word as German Schmuck "jewelry, adornments," which is related to Low German smuck "supple, tidy, trim, elegant," and to Old Norse 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 shmoo.
"[A]dditional associative effects from German schmuck 'jewels, decoration' cannot be excluded (cross-linguistically commonplace slang: cf. Eng. 'family jewels')" [Mark R.V. Southern, "Contagious Couplings: Transmission of Expressives in Yiddish Echo Phrases," 2005]. But the English phrase refers to the testicles and is a play on words, the "family" element being the essential ones. Words for "decoration" seem not to be among the productive sources of European "penis" slang terms.