Understanding German – Schmuck

8-21-15-Bearman-Cartoon-German-Language-Schmuck

Today’s lesson in understanding German is on the word “Schmuck”.   Signage everywhere in Germany/Austria have some version of this word such as here:

Schmuck-Sign

No this isn’t a passageway for jerks.  Schmuck in German means “jewelry” or “adornment” so some variation of it is used on signage by Jewelers.  This is not to be confused with the same word derived from Yiddish that means a “foolish or contemptible person” or literally the word for a male appendage.

Missed the first two words.  Check out the definitions for Rathaus and Ausfahrt

Comments

17 responses to “Understanding German – Schmuck”

  1. duncanr Avatar

    I prefer the yiddish version !

    [all those hollywood movies wherein a character is described as a piece of jewellery must have been very confusing for americans of german extraction] 😆

    1. Bearman Cartoons Avatar

      Me too. Probably where jewelers got a bad name

  2. Bill Murphy Avatar

    After reading these German word cartoons, I’ll bet I would have a blast in Germany!

    1. Bearman Cartoons Avatar

      Hilarity never stops

  3. Tony McGurk Avatar

    I think Yiddish has a greater meaning. Calling someone a piece of jewelry doesn’t carry the same impact.

    1. Bearman Cartoons Avatar

      Well it is an adornment

  4. Tony McGurk Avatar

    Dies ist ein großer Beitrag

    1. Bearman Cartoons Avatar

      damn made me look it up.

  5. Nate Fakes Avatar

    Being German, I love this series!

    1. Bearman Cartoons Avatar

      One final one coming up tomorrow or Monday

  6. lisleman Avatar

    this has me wondering if Germany has a place were their crown jewels are kept, like the UK.

    1. Bearman Cartoons Avatar

      I think there are so many castles, they are spread out

  7. Binky Avatar

    I wonder if this is a comment on what someone thought of jewelers.

    1. Bearman Cartoons Avatar

      That is what I was thinking

  8. […] you missed any of the other words in the series they were: Shmuck, Rathaus, and of course […]

  9. Dave Avatar

    I learned this word when playing the German game “Stone Age” The add on edition comes with extra pieces and some of them are jewelry. All I heard though was shmuck.

    1. Bearman Cartoons Avatar

      Stone Age…was it fun? Did it have to do with the Flinstones? 🙂