“Peggy Sue Got Maried” was played on “regular” T.V. the other night. I noticed they edited over the word “Schmuck” and replaced it with “Simp”. Now know what the word “Schmuck” means, but I could have sworn I’ve heard it on regular T.V. many times. In fact, I remember seeing it in Mad Magazine a Zillion times. What the heck? Is it all of a sudden an offensive word worse than what is already alowed on television?
I believe it’s Yiddish and refers to a penis. However I’m recalling this second hand, so don’t take it as gospel.
It is a vulger Yiddish term for penis. The closest English equivalent would be cock.
Haj
Vulgar
That is pathetic. One good thing about Ireland, is that they rarely edit movies, programmes etc… we get the Osbournes here and nothing is edited; I never realised all the swear words were beeped out in the US!!!
Swear words of any kind are part of everyday language - its a bit of a “nanny state” thing for TV companies to change them or beep them out.
Like I said, I know what it means.
But I’ve heard it on regular television several times. And what about Mad Magazine using it all these years. Mad isn’t like, Hustler Humor or anything.
Did all of a sudden someone decide it’s too horrible of a word to say???
Schmuck derives from the German, where it means “decoration” or “Jewel,” and from there it became Yiddish slang for “the family jewels.” It’s mildly offensive, but on par with calling somebody a “dick.”
If you REALLY want to be offensive, use the Yiddish word “putz.” That really is closer to “cock,” and is never used in polite company.
Barry
Was it on TNT? just curious. . .
The thing about regualr TV is they are very prudish, for aparently no reason. I remember watching The Breakfast Club on regular televion a few years ago and they edited Jon Bender’s line “Eat my shorts” to “Eat my socks.” I am convinced that they didn’t want the reference to the Simpsons in their broadcast, which doesn’t make any sense, but it’s the best explanation I could come up with for the aparent obscene nature of the word “shorts.”
Apparently, the censors don’t realize what the Red Hot Chili Peppers use their socks for.
Australia is also good about not editing out the swear words in movies etc. when they air on television. When i moved to the States, the prudishness demonstrated by the network censors was something i found truly amazing. I sometimes wonder why they bother even airing some movies on network television, because there ends up being more dubbing than original dialog. It’s pretty pathetic watching a movie like “Goodfellas” or, last night, “The Birdcage,” and hearing statements like “Freak you,” or “Forget the Senator,” or “Give me the gosh-darned gun.” Yes, that’s right, they quite frequently even censor “God-damned.” I don’t watch movies on TV any more, for that very reason.
Because i don’t have cable, i never get to see shows like “The Sopranos” and “Sex and the City” (i wouldn’t watch the latter anyway). But when i lived in Australia, these shows were on free-to-air network television and none of the swearing was edited out. There’s no way that would happen here in the US. Nudity is also often heavily censored when movies are shown on TV in America, although blowing people away with guns is generally fine.
Well, pkbites it seems to me that there is no strict code for what to bleep out and what to let slide by. Sometimes a word, schmuck, for example, can be said and sometimes it cannot. That’s what I’ve always though anyway. I always assumed it all depended on what channel you were watching at what time. Damn on PAX at 1 pm? Probably not. Damn on Comedy Central at 11 pm? Damn Straight.
In 5th grade I got in trouble for writing in my class journal (only read by the teacher) that so and so was a schmuch
The SDMB, however, are not polite company :wally
The ad campaign for the movie “It Runs in the Family” features Kirk Douglas calling Michael a schmuck.
I always thought it just meant something along the lines of “idiot” or “loser”; but then again I’m just a goyische girl.
A friend and I have always referred to her husband (now ex) as Schmuck, still do, but not in front of his kid. He was certainly not a jewel of any kind, he was more apt to be like where Christopher Walken’s character in Pulp Fiction hid the watch during his years in the POW camp.
Thanks for the definition of schmuck, I too thought it meant a idiot-fool or ass. Now everytime I hear someone called a Schmuck I’ll picture them as a penis.
I heard somewhere (maybe even here!) that schmuck referred to a flaccid penis, while putz referred to an erect penis. That would seem to make sense in terms of usage, as schmuck is generally used to refer to a general jerk or fool, while putz is used to refer to a more agressive jerk or fool.
As far as the censorship…it makes no sense at all. I was watching Robocop on TV, and they changed the word “asshole” to “airhead”…apparently “asshole” was too offensive, but seeing a guy get soaked in toxic waste, then having his skin melt off, and then having him explode when hit by a car was hunky dorey.
I believe “shmuck” is the preferred spelling- my Leo Rosten book is on too high a shelf tonight; “schmuck” is the Americanized form. My dad speaks Yiddish. We always used the word in the same way as one would call a person a dickhead.
Impossible to beat this:
When I lived in Valencia, Spain, I saw a hard-core porno over the live airways late at night!!! The spaniards are not prudes! Any way, I was surprised
Peggy Sue Got Married was probably edited for television quite some time ago, when standards were a bit different. Even though now it is OK to say “schmuck” on TV, they are going to go through the expense of reediting a film that they are probably paying bottom dollar to show just to return the word to its rightful place. There may even be legal issues that don’t allow them to alter the film again without permission or something.
That should be “…they aren’t going to go through the expense…”