schmear

{{short description|Word spread in German and Yiddish communities}}

{{For|the card game term|Schmear (cards)}}

{{Expand language|langcode=es|langcode2=pt|date=September 2024|topic=cult}}__NOTOC__

Schmear is a word of Germanic origin, equivalent to "smear" or "spread" (usually fat or butter).

In some Germanic languages, the cognate of smear itself means butter (cf. smör/smør in the North Germanic languages).

The use and spelling of schmear or shmear in American English is a direct loanword from Yiddish, where its original usage referred to cheese.{{Cite web|title=Now Shmear This|url=https://forward.com/articles/1651/now-shmear-this/|website=The Forward |author=Philologos |date=10 February 2006 |access-date=1 August 2020}} In modern usage it has extended to anything that can be spread, such as cream cheese spread upon a bagel.{{Cite news|last=Waldman|first=Amy|date=27 July 1997|title=Sushi With a Schmear?|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/27/nyregion/sushi-with-a-schmear.html|access-date=1 August 2020|issn=0362-4331 |url-access=subscription}}
- {{Cite web|date=19 October 2012|title=SHMEAR ME! ONE SMALL TOWN, CREAM CHEESE RULES. |work= The Post-Standard |location=Syracuse, NY|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-151530407.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019130611/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-151530407.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 October 2012|access-date=1 August 2020}}
- {{Cite web|last=Skenazy|first=Lenore|title=OY VEY ES SCHMEAR! SOMETHING 'UNHOLEY' IS BEING DONE TO THE BAGEL|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/oy-vey-es-schmear-unholey-bagel-article-1.755002 |website=New York Daily News |date=8 June 1997 |access-date=1 August 2020}}

In some cases, it refers to "an entire set or group of related things", or the expression "the whole shmear". It can also refer to bribery, as a "little extra" spread on top.

In card games such as Schafkopf, Pinochle or Sheepshead, schmearing is to play a high-scoring card to a trick in the hope that one's partner will win it (see schmear (cards)).{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}}

As a slang term, the word {{Transliteration|yi|shmir}} in Yiddish can also refer to a slap on the face, primarily when disciplining young children.{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}}