We used to have a dog who was a schmuck. She ran free, as dogs usually did in those days, on our rarely-used side street. When a car would come down the road, she would run at full speed and dive under the car, spinning like a top, being tossed beneath the car and spit out at the rear of the car, much to the dismay of the terrified driver of the car. She would get up, dust herself off, and stumble to the curb, waiting the next unfortunate driver to terrorize. Why did our dog, Mini (short for tongue in cheek name Minerva, The Goddess of Wisdom), do this to cars? She loved the spinning and flying around. If we took her in the car somewhere, she would stick her head out the window until she toppled over onto the asphalt, so we never took her in the car except to the vet, and then only if someone was there to hold her. She did not die from the hurling and spinning under cars. Cancer got her at somewhere in her late teens. I loved the dog - she looked like the movie dog Benji - but she was a schmuck.
I answered your Gene Pool Gene Poll by stating that yes, I know at least one dog, and that dog is NOT a schmuck. That is because, right now, at this point in my life, the only dog I know belongs to my friend Lisa. Lisa's dog is named Jet.
LIsa used to have a cat, Quincy, who was a character, beloved by most. Unfortunately, Quincy passed away, and Lisa, in mourning for him, decided to foster a couple of dogs temporarily. One of those dogs was, emphatically, a schmuck, proved impossible to raise in an apartment, and went back "into the system" in the hopes someone else would be more suitable for him. The other was Jet.
Jet is, to put it simply, a mongrel, although he looks to me as though he might have some
Staffordshire terrier somewhere in there. A bulldog might have been involved, too. He kind of defies description. And Jet is a sweetie. He is far and away the calmest canine I have ever known. Affectionate, but not sloppily so. Lisa tends to take him everywhere, so I can also testify to the fact that he stays where he is put, even under tempting situations such as being tied up outside a store or restaurant. Good with other dogs.
I have seen Jet befriend a cat, a squirrel, and any number of other critters. Smart as a whip. (Why do we say that? What is so all-fired smart about a whip? Yeah, If you get hit with one, it smarts, but....)
Anyway. I wanted to say that, since the topic is dogs. And to point out that, so far as I can tell, Jet does not smell like cooked mushrooms. Next time I see Lisa, I'll be sure to smell him.
Shmuck is defined as a foolish or contemptible person. Our dog, Lilly, a black lab/pointer mix, is neither. Actually, she is one of the smartest dogs I have ever encountered. A beautiful soul, if you will. Did I mention that she's really smart? And she's never, ever disrespected anyone. Well, almost never. She does seem to enjoy peeing on a certain person's lawn, who shall remain nameless.
Your question caused me to realize that I don't currently know any dogs. By that, I mean that I neither know a dog well enough to remember its name nor to judge whether it is a schmuck. That's kind of an odd realization. Who doesn't know any dogs?
My wife and I had dogs before we met, but now we’re cat people. Cats, like dogs, can be brilliant or can be schmucks, with most somewhere in between. At least with dogs and cats, the schmucks can’t be elected as the 45th president of the US.
Dogs tend become schmucks in emulating or trying to please their schmucky owners. As dogs they are usually fine. As four-legged "people" they can be schmucks.
Don, as you probably know, it comes from the Yiddish, "shmok" (itself probably from Polish) and does not (as commonly thought) derive from the German "schmuck" for jewelry. So, in theory, for shmuck purists, it should be spelled "sh..." but both spellings for schmucks are acceptable. Also for non-shumucks. Btw --- the classic definition is not someone bereft of intelligence but usually clueless as to what is appropriate in the course of human events and interactions
Far be it from me to take issue with the royal arbiter of truth, justice, and the American way in the Gene Pool, but there is more to shmuck than you reference, O Dale of Green Gables.
Shmuck is also frequently used as slang for penis, which makes the derivation from German (meaning, as you note, “jewelry”, but also “ornament”) more applicable. As well as the obvious next step to “the family jewels”.
As you will note, I said probably from the Polish. And in the very citation you offer there is mention of a disagreement among schmuck scholars about its origin. The use of the word in its literal meaning in Yiddish is, in any event, closer to the Old Polish for "snake" or "dragon" according to schmuck etymologists. But the consensus seems to be that the word may very likely have come from a linguistic cross-influence. Since no pun has yet been detected in your comment --- although it is still undergoing advanced forensic analysis to be certain --- you will receive no card of any color for the time being. --- only a caution should you attempt to disguise one in a comment about male members, in any language, in future.
It all depends on what I see as a schmuck is or how they act. My pup is wise and a schmuck. Just as I see myself. So we get on fine. She also smells good.
All three of the dogs I have had the joy of raising have been the opposite of schmucks, and my beloved Winston has been the one who has helped me through some of life's toughest times.
I currently only know some dogs in passing (literally - my neighbors who walk them). So I said I don’t know any dogs - not really. In the past it’s been a mix of schmuck and not-schmuck.
I’m certain people here are familiar with the phenomenon of Frito feet.
We used to have a dog who was a schmuck. She ran free, as dogs usually did in those days, on our rarely-used side street. When a car would come down the road, she would run at full speed and dive under the car, spinning like a top, being tossed beneath the car and spit out at the rear of the car, much to the dismay of the terrified driver of the car. She would get up, dust herself off, and stumble to the curb, waiting the next unfortunate driver to terrorize. Why did our dog, Mini (short for tongue in cheek name Minerva, The Goddess of Wisdom), do this to cars? She loved the spinning and flying around. If we took her in the car somewhere, she would stick her head out the window until she toppled over onto the asphalt, so we never took her in the car except to the vet, and then only if someone was there to hold her. She did not die from the hurling and spinning under cars. Cancer got her at somewhere in her late teens. I loved the dog - she looked like the movie dog Benji - but she was a schmuck.
Hi, Bro.
I answered your Gene Pool Gene Poll by stating that yes, I know at least one dog, and that dog is NOT a schmuck. That is because, right now, at this point in my life, the only dog I know belongs to my friend Lisa. Lisa's dog is named Jet.
LIsa used to have a cat, Quincy, who was a character, beloved by most. Unfortunately, Quincy passed away, and Lisa, in mourning for him, decided to foster a couple of dogs temporarily. One of those dogs was, emphatically, a schmuck, proved impossible to raise in an apartment, and went back "into the system" in the hopes someone else would be more suitable for him. The other was Jet.
Jet is, to put it simply, a mongrel, although he looks to me as though he might have some
Staffordshire terrier somewhere in there. A bulldog might have been involved, too. He kind of defies description. And Jet is a sweetie. He is far and away the calmest canine I have ever known. Affectionate, but not sloppily so. Lisa tends to take him everywhere, so I can also testify to the fact that he stays where he is put, even under tempting situations such as being tied up outside a store or restaurant. Good with other dogs.
I have seen Jet befriend a cat, a squirrel, and any number of other critters. Smart as a whip. (Why do we say that? What is so all-fired smart about a whip? Yeah, If you get hit with one, it smarts, but....)
Anyway. I wanted to say that, since the topic is dogs. And to point out that, so far as I can tell, Jet does not smell like cooked mushrooms. Next time I see Lisa, I'll be sure to smell him.
Lisa ALREADY thinks I'm weird.
Shmuck is defined as a foolish or contemptible person. Our dog, Lilly, a black lab/pointer mix, is neither. Actually, she is one of the smartest dogs I have ever encountered. A beautiful soul, if you will. Did I mention that she's really smart? And she's never, ever disrespected anyone. Well, almost never. She does seem to enjoy peeing on a certain person's lawn, who shall remain nameless.
Your question caused me to realize that I don't currently know any dogs. By that, I mean that I neither know a dog well enough to remember its name nor to judge whether it is a schmuck. That's kind of an odd realization. Who doesn't know any dogs?
I have three granddogs, all of whom had hard upraisings, and they have issues but not one is a schmuck. They are loving and loyal.
My wife and I had dogs before we met, but now we’re cat people. Cats, like dogs, can be brilliant or can be schmucks, with most somewhere in between. At least with dogs and cats, the schmucks can’t be elected as the 45th president of the US.
Dogs tend become schmucks in emulating or trying to please their schmucky owners. As dogs they are usually fine. As four-legged "people" they can be schmucks.
Urgent Question:
You are being inconsistent. Is the proper spelling SHMUCKS,
or SCHMUCKS?
We have to get to the bottom of this.
Don, as you probably know, it comes from the Yiddish, "shmok" (itself probably from Polish) and does not (as commonly thought) derive from the German "schmuck" for jewelry. So, in theory, for shmuck purists, it should be spelled "sh..." but both spellings for schmucks are acceptable. Also for non-shumucks. Btw --- the classic definition is not someone bereft of intelligence but usually clueless as to what is appropriate in the course of human events and interactions
Far be it from me to take issue with the royal arbiter of truth, justice, and the American way in the Gene Pool, but there is more to shmuck than you reference, O Dale of Green Gables.
Shmuck is also frequently used as slang for penis, which makes the derivation from German (meaning, as you note, “jewelry”, but also “ornament”) more applicable. As well as the obvious next step to “the family jewels”.
See “The Joys of Yiddish” by Leo Rosten, and also https://ryanbeckwith.medium.com/the-schmuck-memo-391b9c45b90b
As you will note, I said probably from the Polish. And in the very citation you offer there is mention of a disagreement among schmuck scholars about its origin. The use of the word in its literal meaning in Yiddish is, in any event, closer to the Old Polish for "snake" or "dragon" according to schmuck etymologists. But the consensus seems to be that the word may very likely have come from a linguistic cross-influence. Since no pun has yet been detected in your comment --- although it is still undergoing advanced forensic analysis to be certain --- you will receive no card of any color for the time being. --- only a caution should you attempt to disguise one in a comment about male members, in any language, in future.
It all depends on what I see as a schmuck is or how they act. My pup is wise and a schmuck. Just as I see myself. So we get on fine. She also smells good.
All three of the dogs I have had the joy of raising have been the opposite of schmucks, and my beloved Winston has been the one who has helped me through some of life's toughest times.
I currently only know some dogs in passing (literally - my neighbors who walk them). So I said I don’t know any dogs - not really. In the past it’s been a mix of schmuck and not-schmuck.
I know some dogs who are schmucks and some who aren't.
Our cat is named Shrooms, and she is also a shmuck