shemozzle
pronunciation
How to pronounce shemozzle in British English:
UK [ʃə'mɒzəl]
How to pronounce shemozzle in American English:
US [ʃə'mɒzəl]
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- Noun:
- (Yiddish) a confused situation or affair; a mess
Word Origin
- shemozzle
- shemozzle: [19] Shemozzle is one of a number of Yiddish words beginning with sh to have found their way into English. Most are relatively recent introductions, via American English – schlemiel ‘fool, blunderer’ [19] (possibly from a Biblical character Shelumiel who came to a sticky end), schlep ‘carry, lug’ [20] (ultimately from German schleppen ‘drag’), schlock ‘trash’ [20] (originally ‘broken merchandise’, and so perhaps related to German schlagen ‘hit’), schmaltz ‘oversentimentality’ [20] (originally ‘melted fat’, and so distantly related to English smelt), schmuck ‘fool, oaf’ [19] (literally ‘penis’) – but shemozzle is of an earlier vintage, brought by Jewish immigrants to the East End of London.It is a compound formed from Yiddish shlim ‘bad’ and mazel ‘luck’ (as in the Yiddish greeting mazel tov ‘good luck’), and was independently borrowed into American English as schlimazel ‘loser, failure’ [20].
- shemozzle (n.)
- see schlemazel.