schlub en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ʃlʌb/
Etymology
From Yiddish זשלאָב (zhlob, “goyish bumpkin, redneck”), derived from Polish żłób (“manger, trough; furrow, large groove in the soil”). Compare Russian жлоб (žlob). Originated in Eastern Europe as part of klezmer musician cant (Klezmer-loshn). In its original sense, the word only applied to non-Jewish males. Strom (2002) lists "zhlobukhe-elzet" as a synonym, "zhlobevke" and "zlobike" (זלאָביקע) as female counterparts. The precise nature of the semantic leap from "manger, crib" to "boorish goy" remains unclear. In any case, by the year 1869, it had become common enough to be included in a Russian-Yiddish dictionary published in Zhytomyr. Jewish immigrants brought the word to the United States, where it is best known under the form schlub. False cognate of English slob.
Meanings
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(Jewish, New-York-City, derogatory, informal, slang) A person who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, unattractive or unkempt.
After the success of the film Jaws in 1975, two schlubs went around the United States pretending to be director Steven Spielberg and lead actor Richard Dreyfuss.
2022, W. David Marx, chapter 4, in Status and Culture, Viking, →ISBN:It wasn’t sufficient for Mother to use the rolling pin on that hapless brother of mine; she’d also call him Zlob, or Cham, another Polish term for an awkward peasant, something that a son of a nice Jewish family should never be.
2000, Frank Stiffel, The Oxymoron Factor – Franek: Stranger in My Land, Viking, →ISBN:“Do you want me to go in for a quick snoop and poop?” “No. You cannot go. They will sense you. No, we need a mortal. A human. A common schlub. A nobody. Someone whose personality is like a eunuch. Do you know?” “Okay, I'm gonna go. I'll go. All right? I'll go.”
2020 June 3, William Meny, “Witches” (5:14 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 2, episode 9, spoken by Nadja (Natasia Demetriou):
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| schlubs | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| schlob | alternative | lexicographic | |
| shlubb | alternative | lexicographic | |
| shlub | alternative | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Relateds
schlimazel · schmo · schlemiel
Translations (11)
yi זשלאָב (person who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, or unattractive or unkempt) · eo ŝtipkapulo (person who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, or unattractive or unkempt) · ru жлоб (person who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, or unattractive or unkempt) · eo maldelikatulo (person who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, or unattractive or unkempt) · ru лох (person who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, or unattractive or unkempt) · fr plouc (person who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, or unattractive or unkempt) · fi tollo (person who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, or unattractive or unkempt) · fi tomppeli (person who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, or unattractive or unkempt) · eo krudulo (person who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, or unattractive or unkempt) · pl niechluj (person who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, or unattractive or unkempt) · eo bruto (person who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, or unattractive or unkempt)