schlock

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Related to schlock: schlocky

schlock

also shlock (shlŏk)Slang

Something, such as merchandise or literature, that is inferior or poorly made.

adj.

Of inferior quality; cheap or shoddy.

[Possibly from Yiddish shlak, apoplexy, stroke, wretch, evil, nuisance, from Middle High German slag, slak, stroke, from slahen, to strike, from Old High German slahan.]

schlock′y, shlock′y adj.

Our Living Language A number of English words borrowed from Yiddish (a variety of German with an admixture of Hebrew and Slavic elements) are recognizably of foreign extraction because they begin with sound combinations (shl-, shm-, shn-) not found at the beginnings of native English words. Schlock is such a word; it is descended from a Middle High German word for a hit or blow, and thus came to refer to damaged merchandise, and then to merchandise of poor quality. Other words beginning with this and similar sound combinations are Yiddish also: schlep, schmooze, schmuck, and schnoz. These words may not be equally common in all regions of the United States; they are most frequently heard in areas with sizable Jewish populations that either speak Yiddish or are descended from Yiddish speakers, such as New York City. Of course, not all Yiddish words borrowed into English begin with the sound (sh); one need only think of bagel, lox, blintz, nosh, meshuga, and kibitz to get a feeling for the variety of words that Yiddish-speaking Jews brought with them to America.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

schlock

(ʃlɒk)

goods or produce of cheap or inferior quality; trash

adj

cheap, inferior, or trashy

[Yiddish: damaged merchandise, probably from German Schlag a blow; related to slay]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

schlock

or shlock

(ʃlɒk)

n. Slang.

something of cheap or inferior quality.

[1910–15; appar. < Yiddish shlak apoplectic stroke, evil, nuisance, wretch (compare Middle High German slac(g) blow; see slay)]

schlock′y, adj. schlock•i•er, schlock•i•est.

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Noun

schlock - merchandise that is shoddy or inferior

dreck, shlock

merchandise, product, ware - commodities offered for sale; "good business depends on having good merchandise"; "that store offers a variety of products"

jargon, lingo, patois, argot, vernacular, slang, cant - a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves); "they don't speak our lingo"

Translations

schlock

n (dated esp US sl: = trash) → Mist m (inf), → Schund m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

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Early reports from British retailers m the Wall Street Journal quoted some using words like "schlock" and "rubbish"--probably aren't indicative, as the vast majority of goods are sold at the venues, when people are caught up in the excitement of the moment and in souvenir-buying mode, and also in general as well as dedicated shops in the host country.