"the whole schlemiel"

Julia Achenbach julia.achenbach at UNI-OLDENBURG.DE
Thu Aug 20 20:57:09 UTC 2009


The term/name 'schlemiel' rings a bell (please do not break out into
laughter): schlemiel is a character on Sesame Street - in the English
version I believe he was simply called the 'Salesman'.
He was the one who always wore a trench coat and tried to sell 'an A' or
other things to Ernie.
Maybe the person using this term was referring to this character (and
maybe his Yiddish origin), implying that the reform, in his opinion, is
somewhat dubious.

That would be my guess.

- Julia


--
BA-Student...nothing more, nothing less!

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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