Etymograph

English

schlubby

Schlubby comes from Yiddish זשלאָב ‘a schlub, a boorish bumpkin, particularly if…’.

  1. Yiddishmodernזשלאָבzhlob‘a schlub, a boorish bumpkin, particularly if not Jewish’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1974schlubby

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Yiddishmodernזשלאָבzhlob‘a schlub, a boorish bumpkin, particularly if not Jewish’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1974schlubby

Earliest quotation: 1974, Genevieve Stuttaford, A Short Review of the Magazine Reviewers: “It's a wasted review copy, sending “schlubby” nonfiction to…”

Formed from schlub + -y

Proto-Slavic *žȇlbъ ‘groove, furrow, manger’

Old Polish żłób

Polish żłób ‘manger, trough’

Yiddish זשלאָב ‘goyish bumpkin, redneck’

English schlub

The story

From schlub + -y; schlub is derived from Yiddish זשלאָב (zhlob), perhaps from Polish żłób (‘manger, trough; furrow, large groove in the soil’).

Every English word from Yiddish זשלאָב

Today it means

adj Clumsy, oafish, or socially awkward; unattractive or unkempt.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Yiddish זשלאָב / schlubby

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