"a schlemiel of" meaning 'a lot of'

[Dan Goncharoff]

Isn't the phrase "the whole spiel", pronounced in German "shpeel", and
meaning "performance"??
DanG

On Fri, Apr 15, 2011 at 12:22 PM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "a schlemiel of" meaning 'a lot of'
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> What I heard in 1959-60, from fellow-child Johnny Taylor, was "the whole
> shmiel." I remember because it sounded so weird and because it my first
> encounter with a "shlemiel"-like word.
>
> GB proves I'm not crazy with six exx., the earliest alleged to be from
> 1974.
>
> There are also 3,700 raw Googlits for "the whole schmiel" in that spelling
> alone.
>
> GB has a number of "whole schlemiels" back to 1978.
>
> JL
> On Fri, Apr 15, 2011 at 10:55 AM, Mark Mandel <thnidu at gmail.com> wrote:
>
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> > Poster:       Mark Mandel <thnidu at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: "a schlemiel of" meaning 'a lot of'
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > I've heard "schlemiel" used where I'd expect "shmear", as in "the whole
> > ___"
> > meaning "the whole thing / the whole mess / everything / all of it".
> > Made-up
> > example:
> >
> > "And what a breakfast! Coffee, bagels, lox, cream cheese, onion, orange
> > juice, oatmeal, toast, jam, French toast and *real* maple syrup ... the
> > whole {shmear / schlemiel}!"
> >
> > I'd guess this person heard such usages and inferred that "schlemiel"
> meant
> > something like "a large amount".
> >
> > Mark Mandel
> >
> > On Fri, Apr 15, 2011 at 10:47 AM, Barbara Need <bhneed at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Overheard at the Post Office:
> > >
> > > At Thanksgiving "we had a schlemiel of guests." It was clear from the
> > > context that she was using this to express quantity--some comment
> > > about a shy child followed. I don't see anything like it via Google.
> > > Any thoughts?
> > >
> > > Barbara
> > >
> > > Barbara Need
> > > Etna, NY
> > >
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