Monday, November 28, 2011

Schmuck

Schmuck \shmuhk\ , noun;
1. Slang: An obnoxious or contemptible person

This word is first attested in 1892 from Yiddish shmok ("penis"), a highly taboo word which probably derived from Old Polish smok ("gras snake, dragon"). There is a word in German, schmuck, that means "jewelry, adornments" which is probably not related, though the similarity to English slang family jewels is hard to overlook.

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