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Aside: I’m a native speaker of American English, and in all my years of reading and conversation I’ve never seen or heard the word “schtum.” Is it a regional th

Aside: I’m a native speaker of American English, and in all my years of reading and conversation I’ve never seen or heard the word “schtum.” Is it a regional thing?

boxed 5y ago
I'm a non-native English speaker and has heard it used many times. But since I'm Swedish it's also instantly understandable for me and so easier to remember maybe.
- sedeki 5y ago
  I'm Swedish and have never seen nor heard "schtum" before. Guess "keeping quiet" didn't come to the author's mind. /s
  - CRConrad 5y ago
    And it didn't sound the least bit familiar from any similar Swedish word...?
    - sedeki 5y ago
      Of course it does, given that there is a cognate Swedish word. I still have never seen "schtum" in English before. Maybe I'm just a schmuck.
      - CRConrad 5y ago
        Ett kutterschmycke.
anextio 5y ago
> Borrowed from Yiddish שטום‎ (shtum, “mute, dumb, voiceless”), from Middle High German stum, from Old High German stum. Cognate with German stumm, Dutch stom, Swedish stum. [1] [1] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shtum#English https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shtum#English
- shimonabi 5y ago
  The funny thing is that in Slavic languages, the word for a German translates to "the mute one". For example, NEMec in Slovenian. Mute, because he can't speak our language.
  - tomsto 5y ago
    Interesting tangent, but I believe this is also a slavic surname and is anglicised as Nimitz. And before you know it you have an aircraft carrier called USS Mute.
  - Tenoke 5y ago
    I've wondered why we have a different word for Germans but never realized that's where it comes from (if it's true).
    - tharkun__ 5y ago
      I only knew it from Hungarian, which I guess is a slavic enough language to compare: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%A9meth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%A9meth: In Hungarian, német means "German" (the word has Slavic origin, literally meaning "he does not speak", since German is not a Slavic language)
      - kingofpandora 5y ago
        Hungarian isn't Slavic.
        petre 5y ago
        The word is probably borrowed into Hungarian from Slavic. We have a similar word in our language as well, but it's used as someone who doesn't understand. Also used interchangeably with Turk.
        anticensor 5y ago
deleted 5y ago
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elromulous 5y ago
I don't think the other reply answered the question. Google trends show 10x as many queries from the UK than US for "schtum". So I would guess your intuition is correct.
sillysaurusx 5y ago
I've never heard of it either. Grew up in the midwest, lived on the west coast. I guess you could say we've been keeping schtum about it.
robotresearcher 5y ago
Fairly common in UK English, particularly in London which has long-term Jewish community. It's slangy and self-consciously borrowed, like 'schlep' or 'schmuck' in New York English.
- fy20 5y ago
  I was born and raised in the UK and have never heard of it. No Jewish friends or family though.
  - bencollier49 5y ago
    Very much a London-centric word, originally. And it seems like people of a certain age heard it all over the country on telly.
  - mdda 5y ago
    Definitely a thing in the UK : http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/onlyfools/lingo/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/onlyfools/lingo/
perardi 5y ago
Ahhhhh, I had to look at the byline carefully. This article is syndicated from the The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/revealed-home-cure-covid-could-available-year/ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-diseas... Which explains the British idiom in a Anglo paper in a bilingual city in Canada. (Bonjour-Hi!)
justinator 5y ago
It's a perfectly cromulent word.
- cognaitiv 5y ago
  https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/what-does-cromulent-mean https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/what-does-crom...
  - lstamour 5y ago
    Without any context, Apple’s Dictionary lookup serves up the definition of “cromulent” from both OED and New OED entries. It was apparently added in 2017 according to a Reddit thread, and in 2018 according to this list: https://public.oed.com/updates/new-words-list-june-2018/ https://public.oed.com/updates/new-words-list-june-2018/ Merriam-Webster added “embiggen” but declined to add “cromulent”: https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-43298229 https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-43298229
ggm 5y ago
Common in the wider Jewish community in the UK. Universally understood now by most british people. In widespread use. Was in Monty Python, back in the 70s.
fortran77 5y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiddish_words_used_in_English#S https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiddish_words_used_in_English#...

Aside: I’m a native speaker of American English, and in all my years of reading and conversation I’ve never seen or heard the word “schtum.” Is it a regional thing?

boxed 5y ago

I'm a non-native English speaker and has heard it used many times. But since I'm Swedish it's also instantly understandable for me and so easier to remember maybe.

sedeki 5y ago
I'm Swedish and have never seen nor heard "schtum" before. Guess "keeping quiet" didn't come to the author's mind. /s
- CRConrad 5y ago
  And it didn't sound the least bit familiar from any similar Swedish word...?
  - sedeki 5y ago
    Of course it does, given that there is a cognate Swedish word. I still have never seen "schtum" in English before. Maybe I'm just a schmuck.
    - CRConrad 5y ago
      Ett kutterschmycke.

anextio 5y ago

> Borrowed from Yiddish שטום‎ (shtum, “mute, dumb, voiceless”), from Middle High German stum, from Old High German stum. Cognate with German stumm, Dutch stom, Swedish stum. [1] [1] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shtum#English https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shtum#English

shimonabi 5y ago
The funny thing is that in Slavic languages, the word for a German translates to "the mute one". For example, NEMec in Slovenian. Mute, because he can't speak our language.
- tomsto 5y ago
  Interesting tangent, but I believe this is also a slavic surname and is anglicised as Nimitz. And before you know it you have an aircraft carrier called USS Mute.
- Tenoke 5y ago
  I've wondered why we have a different word for Germans but never realized that's where it comes from (if it's true).
  - tharkun__ 5y ago
    I only knew it from Hungarian, which I guess is a slavic enough language to compare: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%A9meth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%A9meth: In Hungarian, német means "German" (the word has Slavic origin, literally meaning "he does not speak", since German is not a Slavic language)
    - kingofpandora 5y ago
      Hungarian isn't Slavic.
      - petre 5y ago
        The word is probably borrowed into Hungarian from Slavic. We have a similar word in our language as well, but it's used as someone who doesn't understand. Also used interchangeably with Turk.
        anticensor 5y ago

deleted 5y ago

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deleted 5y ago

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elromulous 5y ago

I don't think the other reply answered the question. Google trends show 10x as many queries from the UK than US for "schtum". So I would guess your intuition is correct.

sillysaurusx 5y ago

I've never heard of it either. Grew up in the midwest, lived on the west coast. I guess you could say we've been keeping schtum about it.

robotresearcher 5y ago

Fairly common in UK English, particularly in London which has long-term Jewish community. It's slangy and self-consciously borrowed, like 'schlep' or 'schmuck' in New York English.

fy20 5y ago
I was born and raised in the UK and have never heard of it. No Jewish friends or family though.
- bencollier49 5y ago
  Very much a London-centric word, originally. And it seems like people of a certain age heard it all over the country on telly.
- mdda 5y ago
  Definitely a thing in the UK : http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/onlyfools/lingo/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/onlyfools/lingo/

perardi 5y ago

Ahhhhh, I had to look at the byline carefully. This article is syndicated from the The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/revealed-home-cure-covid-could-available-year/ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-diseas... Which explains the British idiom in a Anglo paper in a bilingual city in Canada. (Bonjour-Hi!)

justinator 5y ago

It's a perfectly cromulent word.

cognaitiv 5y ago
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/what-does-cromulent-mean https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/what-does-crom...
- lstamour 5y ago
  Without any context, Apple’s Dictionary lookup serves up the definition of “cromulent” from both OED and New OED entries. It was apparently added in 2017 according to a Reddit thread, and in 2018 according to this list: https://public.oed.com/updates/new-words-list-june-2018/ https://public.oed.com/updates/new-words-list-june-2018/ Merriam-Webster added “embiggen” but declined to add “cromulent”: https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-43298229 https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-43298229

ggm 5y ago

Common in the wider Jewish community in the UK. Universally understood now by most british people. In widespread use. Was in Monty Python, back in the 70s.

fortran77 5y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiddish_words_used_in_English#S https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiddish_words_used_in_English#...