schlub

== English == === Alternative forms === schlob, shlub, shlubb === 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. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ʃlʌb/ === Noun === schlub (plural schlubs) (derogatory, chiefly New York City or Jewish, informal or slang) A person who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, unattractive or unkempt. ==== Usage notes ==== Most common in Metro New York. Outside that region, usage is more restricted to Ashkenazi Jews. ==== Derived terms ==== schlubby ==== Translations ==== ==== See also ==== === References === Robert A. Rothstein, "Klezmer-loshn", in American Klezmer: Its Roots and Offshoots edited by Mark Slobin, University of California press, 2002. Avrom-Yitskhok Trivaks, “Klezmer-Loshn: Di Yidishe Zhargonen,” in Bay Undz Yidn, edited by M. Vanvild, Pinkes Gaubard, Warsaw, 1923, as cited in Yale Strom, The Book of Klezmer: The History, the Music, the Folklore. A Cappella, 2002. Жлоб // Из истории русских слов. — М. : Школа-Пресс, 1993. — →ISBN. The Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989