Thursday, December 26, 2013

Fwd: schmaltz: Dictionary.com Word of the Day

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dictionary.com <doctor@dictionary.com>
Date: 2013/12/26
Subject: schmaltz: Dictionary.com Word of the Day
To: "Hector William G." <hectorpinillos@gmail.com>

Word of the Day for Thursday, December 26, 2013

schmaltz \shmahlts, shmawlts\, noun:

1. Informal. exaggerated sentimentalism, as in music or soap operas.
2. fat or grease, especially of a chicken.

The declining use of schmaltz, once a favored ingredient for spreading, frying, and flavoring, is a case in point. Formerly common delicacies, well loved among the immigrant and second generations, are relegated to the status of fond memory.
-- Anne Kaplan, Marjorie Hoover, Willard Moore, The Minnesota Ethnic Food Book, 1986

"...And I'm not going to argue with you because you can argue the schmaltz out of a matzoh and I haven't got the strength for that today."
-- Rhoda Lerman, God's Ear: A Novel, 1989

Schmaltz comes from the Yiddish shmalts and the German Schmaltz meaning "fat." It entered English in the 1930s.

Read the full entry | See synonyms | Comment on today's word | Suggest tomorrow's word

Yesterday's word | Previous words | Help

Words of the Day? How about words of timeless wisdom?

Introducing our Quotes channel! "Life itself is a quotation." - Jorge Luis Borges
Check out the Quote of the Day ››

What Does Yule Really Mean?

The lyric from "Deck the Halls" goes "Troll the ancient yuletide carol." Amidst all the fa-la-la-ing, did you ever ask yourself exactly what yuletide is? Yule is the ancient name in the Germanic lunar calendar for a winter festival corresponding to December and January. Later, yule referred to the twelve-day holiday associated with the Feast of...
Read more ››

Dictionary.com Word of the Day	You are subscribed to the Word of the Day as: hectorpinillos@gmail.com
Subscriber since: June 03, 2013 Unsubscribe from the Word of the Day	To subscribe to the Word of the Day by email, please send a blank message to: join-wordoftheday@lists.lexico.com
©2013 by Dictionary.com, LLC. 555 12th Street Suite 500 Oakland CA 94607	Subscriptions to the Word of the Day can also be managed online
	Tell a friend about the Word of the Day!