shmatte

shmatte

English

Alternative forms

• schmatte, schmata, schmatta, schmate

Etymology

Borrowed from Yiddish שמאַטע‎ (shmate); originally from Polish szmata.

Noun

shmatte (plural shmattes)

1. (Yinglish) A rag.
2. (Yinglish) An old article of clothing.
3. (fashion industry, clothing retail, slang) Any item of clothing.

Quotations

• 2007 December 12, David M. Halbfinger, “A Film Producer Guided More by His Heart Than by His Calculator”, in New York Times‎:

  I said, Why am I in the shmatte business? Mr. Kimmel said of his beginners luck.

Translations

a rag

Russian: тря́пка (ru) f (trjápka)

Yiddish: שמאַטע‎ f (shmate)

any item of clothing

Russian: шмо́тка (ru) f (šmótka)

References

• http://www.yiddishdictionaryonline.com/dictionary/שמאַטע.html