# stchum **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 8, 2005, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stchum/288909 "2005-02-08T00:50:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stchum/288909/1 "2005-02-08T00:50:22Z")
Where the hell did this word come from? If I’m correct in my deciphering of the word’s meaning based on how it was used in a thread here recently and in [this](http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial_s&hl=en&q=stchum&btnG=Google+Search) Google search, it means “to keep one’s mouth shut”. Am I correct? How is it pronounced? What is the word’s origin? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stchum/288909/2 "2005-02-08T01:06:30Z")
I believe it is yiddish or derived from yiddish. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stchum/288909/3 "2005-02-08T01:08:13Z")
I thought it was _schtum_, as in _to keep schtum_. It’s not a phrase that gets used very often here. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stchum/288909/4 "2005-02-08T02:48:19Z")
It’s used in the Monty Python sketch in which Hitler is living in England. Episode 12 of the first season. Von Ribbentrop says something like: “Cool it Führer cat! Schtum! Schtum!” The word obviously means “keep quiet” “stop talking” in German. Some Yiddish speakers may have adapted it from German, of course, but it’s not really a Yiddish word. ---
**Author:** ![chukhung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@chukhung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chukhung)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stchum/288909/5 "2005-02-08T03:10:36Z")
This [page](http://english2american.com/dictionary/s.html#schtum) says > [@](#): > > \*\*schtum \*\* \*adj. Pron. “shtoom”. \* Only really used in the context “keep _schtum_”, this means “keep your mouth shut” in the UK. It is derived from the German adjective “stumm”, meaning being either unable or unwilling to speak. Sounds a bit Yiddish to me; not sure. This [page](http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/215700.html) says > [@](#): > > A Yiddish expression, from German stumm meaning silent This [page](http://germanenglishwords.com/rlgs.htm#shtum) says > [@](#): > > _shtum, schtum, shtoom, schtoom, stumm \*\* adj. > related to stumm “silent”: quiet, silent, secretive, unwilling to give information or details about something [Yiddish shtum_, related to German _stumm_ “silent, dumb (unable to speak)”]. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stchum/288909/6 "2005-02-09T09:02:25Z")
I don’t know if this is relevant, but S’Tom is Hebrew for “shut.” One of the “Our Father, Our King” prayers asks G-d to “S’Tom Piyos”, or “shut the mouths of” those who cause people to hate and persecute us Jews. And this prayer long pre-dates the blend of German and Hebrew that became Yiddish.