# Yiddish: Shemozzle [schmozzel - shlimazl - shemozzel - shmozzel - shmozel - shemozel]



## L'irlandais

Hello,
In the context of a post match interview last week-end ;  Paul 'O Connell, captain of the Munster rugby team said _"I think we started off really well, and I suppose the *schmozzel* there, kind of put us off our game a bit, and we stopped playing."_  I know that it means a mistake or mess-up, which works well in the context of things not going according to their pre-match team strategies.  My question is as follows - is this word from yiddish?
If so what is the etymology of this slang term ;  is it perhaps for *schmo*, a variant of schmuck?

Post script :  Perhaps it's just an Irish invention, along the lines of* the word *schmilblick*, coined here in France back in 1949 by Pierre DAC.  *(Albeit with quite different meanings.)


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## rubidou

first things that springs to my mind:
שמוץ (dirt) which would be pronounced 'shmoots' 

but then again, I rather doubt this word also applies to _mess-up_, (as in _dirt_ by extension)

or maybe he said שלימזל (shlimaazl) = bad luck, misfortune?


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## L'irlandais

Guten Abend rubidou,
While he definitely said schmozzel, and this distinctly means a mistake (things not going according to plan),  I do still think you may have something there, with shlimaazl for bad luck.
A corruption due to our broader pronunciation of vowels in Munster perhaps?


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## origumi

if _shlimazl_, remember that this is #2 in "The world's most difficult word to translate" list (second to Congolese _ilunga_).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3830521.stm


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## rubidou

Bonsoir L'irlandais,
yes ... I also thought there might have been some corruption as you call it, or some sort of mixing up of words.

Origumi, thanks for the link. מענין מאוד


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## elianecanspeak

I could not find "schmozzel"  שמאזל in my Yiddish-English dictionary but found this in Wikipedia (List of English words of Yiddish origin  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Yiddish_origin):

Shemozzle (slang) quarrel, brawl (perhaps related to schlimazel, q.v.) (OED). This word is commonly used in Ireland to describe confused situations during the Irish sport of hurling, e.g. 'There was a shemozzle near the goalmouth'. In particular, it was a favourite phrase of t.v. commentator Miceal O'Hehir who commentated on hurling from the 1940s to the 1980s.

מאזעל "Mazel" means "luck" (from the Hebrew).


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## L'irlandais

Nice one elianecanspeak,
I stand corrected on my original interpretation of what was said.  He was clearly speaking about a row which broke out.  (My bad.)
Interesting about the Gaelic sports connection, many on the Munster Rugby team have a background in hurling & Gaelic football, so that explains where he picked up the turn of phrase.
I believe your spelling is the correct form, over my earlier proposition of schmozzel.
Cheers!  much appreciated.


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## sound shift

Cassell's Dictionary of Slang says this is "coined in UK and not 'real' Yid."


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## elianecanspeak

Current usage: I googled "shemozzel OR shmozzel OR shmozel OR shemozel" and got about 450 hits.  600+ more when I inserted a c before the hs. (Some were proper names).  I went through a few pages and the pattern seemed to be that it was used to mean *"a big mess"*.  It was not restricted to sports, and there were a number of Australian posts using the word.  I was interested in _German language context, _but found _only 11 entries _when I added "und der ist".

تريد بالفعل منع *shmozel* من مراسلتك؟ | حكيم – [automatic translation:  Do you really want to prevent *shmozel* of your writing?]

OMG what a *shemozzel*  it's going to take me a week to catch-up on all the antics going on here

Ich war morgens ein bisschen reiten und dann bin ich vom pferd gefallen … Wir sind dann halt ins Krankenhaus und die wollten mich für 3 Stunden zur überwachung da behalten...als wir dann schließlich wieder nach hause kamen, war das eigentliche *schemozzel* vorbei 

This is the funniest misleading part of the whole *shemozel*. There have been litterally thousands, probably tens of thousands, of RODUMs submitted in that time. I've personally submitted probably a couple of hundred on behalf of ms soldiers.

Blimey, what a *shemozzel*. Not for me thanks. A couple of choruses of abide with me, a few lines by Christina Shelley

you've opened a can of worms here havent been back from the honeymoon 2 days and you've started a bloody *shmozzel*

The whole world cup *shemozzel* is corrupt

But a case of 'email *schmozzel*' requires putting the dates in order

Add in colloquialisms, slang, and four different dialects and you get a *schmozel* . Couple that with the fact that Gaelic has no relationship ...

In life, the lightest turn of a radio dial can make the difference between what sounds like a *schmozel* and what sounds like a beautifully crafted symphony.

*Urban dictionary* http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Schmozel (pronounced shmozil)       gives a much broader usage: _A universal word that applies to just about everything. It can be used anywhere, anytime._
Schmozel (pronounced shmozil) over to my place for a bit of a schmozel. I'm out of money so I'm going to schmozel some from my parents.


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