Schmuck (pejorative)
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 (, shmok), where it has similar pejorative meanings, but where its literal meaning is a vulgar term for a penis. Etymology The Yiddish word shmok derives from Old Polish smok "grass snake, dragon". In the German language, the word Schmuck means "jewelry, adornment". It is a nominalization of the German verb schmücken "to decorate" and is unrelated to the word discussed in this article. Euphemisms Because of its generally being considered a vulgarity, the word is often euphemized as schmoe, which was the source of Al Capp's cartoon strip creature the shmoo. Other variants include schmo and shmo. In Jewish-American culture Leo Rosten writes in The Joys of Yiddish that schmuck is commonly viewed among Jews as an obscene word that should not be said lightly. Lenny Bruce, a Jewish stand-up comedian, wrote that the use of the word during his performances in 1962 led to his arrest on the West Coast, "by a Yiddish undercover agent who had been placed in the club several nights running to determine if