{"id":10571,"date":"2011-07-04T10:37:34","date_gmt":"2011-07-04T10:37:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2011\/07\/04\/on-the-etymology-of-shyster\/"},"modified":"2011-07-04T10:37:34","modified_gmt":"2011-07-04T10:37:34","slug":"on-the-etymology-of-shyster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2011\/07\/04\/on-the-etymology-of-shyster\/","title":{"rendered":"On the Etymology of ‘Shyster’"},"content":{"rendered":"

I've often wondered about the etymology of 'shyster.' From German scheissen<\/em>, to shit? That would fit well with the old joke, "What is the difference between a lawyer and a bucket of shit?' "The bucket." I am also put in mind of scheusslich<\/em>: hideous, atrocious, abominable. Turning to the 'shyster' entry in my Webster's, I read, "prob. fr. Scheuster<\/em> fl. 1840 Am. attorney frequently rebuked in a New York court for pettifoggery." <\/span><\/p>\n

According to Robert Hendrickson, Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins<\/em>, p. 659:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Shyster<\/em>, an American slang term for a shady disreputable lawyer, is first recorded in 1846. Various authorities list a real New York advocate as a possible source, but this theory has been disproved by Professor Gerald L. Cohen of the University of Missouri-Rolla, whose long paper on the etymology I had the pleasure of reading. Shakespeare's moneylender Shylock has also been suggested, as has a racetrack form of the word shy<\/em>, i.e., to be shy money when betting. Some authorities trace shyster to the German Scheisse<\/em>, "excrement," possibly through the word shicir<\/em>, "a worthless person," but there is no absolute proof for any theory.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A little further research reveals that Professor Cohen's "long paper" is in fact a short book of 124 pages published in 1982 by Verlag Peter Lang. See <\/span>here<\/span><\/a> for a review. Cohen argues that the eponymous derivation from 'Scheuster' that I just cited from Webster's is a pseudo-etymology. 'Shyster' no more derives from 'Scheuster' than 'condom' from the fictious Dr. Condom. Nor does it come from 'Shylock.' It turns out my hunch was right. 'Shyster' is from the German Scheisser<\/em>, one who defecates.<\/span><\/p>\n

The estimable and erudite <\/span>Dr. Michael Gilleland<\/span><\/a>, self-styled antediluvian, bibliomaniac, and curmudgeon, who possesses an uncommonly lively interest in matters scatological, should find all of this interesting. <\/span>I see that the Arizona State University  library has a copy of Gerald Leonard Cohen's Origin of the Term "Shyster." <\/em>Within a few days it should be in my hands.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I've often wondered about the etymology of 'shyster.' From German scheissen, to shit? That would fit well with the old joke, "What is the difference between a lawyer and a bucket of shit?' "The bucket." I am also put in mind of scheusslich: hideous, atrocious, abominable. Turning to the 'shyster' entry in my Webster's, I … Continue reading “On the Etymology of ‘Shyster’”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-language-matters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10571\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}