זשלאָב

From Polish żłób (“manger, trough; furrow, large groove in the soil”).

Originated in klezmer musician cant (Klezmer-loshn). The nature of the semantic shift from "manger, crib" to "boorish goy" remains unclear. In any case, by the year 1869, it had become common enough to be included in a Russian-Yiddish dictionary published in Zhytomyr. Jewish immigrants brought the word to the United States, where it is best known under the form schlub. In the Russosphere, the word жлоб (žlob) spread seemingly through criminal slang, which is considerably influenced by Odessan.

In its original sense, the word only applied to non-Jewish males. Strom (2002) lists "zhlobukhe-elzet" as a synonym, "zhlobevke" and "zlobike" (זלאָביקע) as female counterparts.

• IPA^(key): /ʒɫɔb/

זשלאָב • (zhlob) m, plural זשלאָבעס (zhlobes)

1. (slang, derogatory, ethnic slur) A schlub, a boorish bumpkin, particularly if not Jewish.

• → English: schlub
• → Polish: żłób (semantic loan)
• → Russian: жлоб (žlob)

• Robert A. Rothstein, "Klezmer-loshn", in American Klezmer: Its Roots and Offshoots edited by Mark Slobin, University of California press, 2002.
• Avrom-Yitskhok Trivaks, “Klezmer-Loshn: Di Yidishe Zhargonen,” in Bay Undz Yidn, edited by M. Vanvild, Pinkes Gaubard, Warsaw, 1923, as cited in
• Yale Strom, The Book of Klezmer: The History, the Music, the Folklore. A Cappella, 2002.
• Жлоб // Из истории русских слов. — М. : Школа-Пресс, 1993. — →ISBN.
• Astravux, Aljaksandar (2008), “žlob”, in Idyš-bjelaruski slównik [Yiddish–Belarusian Dictionary], Minsk: Mjedisónt, →ISBN, page 902
• Justus van de Kamp et al., “זשלאָב” in Jiddisch-Nederlands Woordenboek [Yiddish-Dutch Dictionary], Amsterdam: Stichting Jiddische Lexicografie, 1987-present (ongoing). [1].