English
schlub
Schlub comes from Yiddish זשלאָב ‘goyish bumpkin, redneck’, from Polish żłób ‘manger, trough’, and ultimately from Proto-Slavic *žȇlbъ.
- Proto-Slavicc. 400–900 CE*žȇlbъ‘groove, furrow, manger’reconstructed
- Old Polishmodernżłób
- Polishmodernsame form‘manger, trough’
- Yiddishmodernזשלאָבzhlob‘goyish bumpkin, redneck’
- Englishearliest quotation 2000schlub
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Slavicc. 400–900 CE*žȇlbъ‘groove, furrow, manger’reconstructed
- Old Polishmodernżłób
- Polishmodernsame form‘manger, trough’
- Yiddishmodernזשלאָבzhlob‘goyish bumpkin, redneck’
- Englishearliest quotation 2000schlub
Earliest quotation: 2000, Frank Stiffel, The Oxymoron Factor – Franek: Stranger in My Land: “It wasn’t sufficient for Mother to use the rolling…”
The story
Originated in Eastern Europe as part of klezmer musician cant (Klezmer-loshn). In its original sense, the word only applied to non-Jewish males. 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.
Every English word from Proto-Slavic *žȇlbъ
Today it means
noun A person who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, unattractive or unkempt.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Slavic *žȇlbъ / schlub