shemozzle en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
- /ʃəˈmɑzəl/ (General-American)
- /ʃɪˈmɒzəl/ (Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
UK late-19th century. Borrowed from Yiddish שלימזל (shlimazl, “misfortune”), from Middle High German slim (“crooked”) and Hebrew מַזָּל (mazzāl, “luck”). Cognate with US English schlimazel (“unlucky person”). Compare German Schlamassel.
Meanings
-
(slang) A state of chaos or confusion.
"No end of a shemozzle there’s been there lately," he said. "Marina Gregg's been having hysterics most days. Said some coffee she was given was poisoned."
1962, Agatha Christie, The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side:I always found it helpful that we retained one elderly member of staff who could offer a different perspective. “Well,” he would begin, “the last time we had one of these shemozzles…”. The mere fact that he could remember past disasters – and had lived to tell the tale – was reassuring.
2017 June 23, Charles Moore, “This country has come through many a crisis, but this one is a true shemozzle”, in The Telegraph:
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(slang) A quarrel or rumpus.
When does a melee actually become a melee? And what differentiates a melee from a shemozzle and a free-for-all? Or indeed minor physical interference? Hardly the most pressing of national matters, but probably the most interesting question going before Congress later this month.
2018 February 8, Ian O'Riordan, “GAA Congress to separate a melee and a shemozzle”, in The Irish Times:If Will comes out of this shemozzle.
1901, James Maclaren Cobban, The Golden Tooth:[…] but tarned long and then a nation louder, while engaged in swallowing from a large ampullar, that his pawdry's purgatory was more than nigger bloke could bear, hemiparalysed by the tong warfare and all the shemozzle, (Daily Maily, fullup Lace! Holy Maly, Mothelup Joss!) his cheeks and trousers changing colour every time a gat croaked.
1939, James Joyce, Finnegans Wake:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| shimozzle | alternative | lexicographic | |
| schemozzle | alternative | lexicographic | |
| shamozzle | alternative | lexicographic | |
| chimozzle | alternative | lexicographic | |
| schimozzle | alternative | lexicographic | |
| chemozzle | alternative | lexicographic | |
| schmozzle | alternative | lexicographic | |
| shimozzel | alternative | lexicographic | |
| shlemozel | alternative | lexicographic | |
| shlemozzle | alternative | lexicographic | |
| shemozzles | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| schlemozzle | alternative | lexicographic | |
| chermozzle | alternative | lexicographic |