Chuck Schumer’s enemies can’t resist cursing him out in Yiddish
He was elected after being called a ‘putzhead.’ Now the head of the Jewish GOP is calling him a schmuck
Chuck Schumer’s enemies just can’t resist cursing him out in Yiddish.
On Thursday, Norm Coleman, the national chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition, referred to Schumer as “Chuck Schmuck.”
The term is commonly used to insult someone as a jerk, but its literal meaning — a reference to male genitalia — is considered so vulgar in certain circles that some Yiddish purists deem it unprintable.
Coleman’s use of the word recalled a moment 26 years ago when another vulgar Yiddishism — “putzhead” — was used by a prominent Republican against Schumer. The comment made national headlines and helped Schumer win his seat in the U.S. Senate.
Schumer, a Democrat from New York, is now the Senate majority leader and the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in U.S. history. His office did not immediately respond to an email sent Thursday requesting comment.
The Schumer-D’Amato race
The earlier Yiddish controversy unfolded in 1998. Schumer was a congressman from Brooklyn seeking to unseat Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, a three-term incumbent from Long Island, when D’Amato called Schumer a “putzhead” in a private meeting. D’Amato initially denied using the term, but word got out, and the controversy made headlines for days leading up to the election.
D’Amato — nicknamed “Senator Pothole” for his legendary attention to constituent needs — was vulnerable on other issues, but his use of the Yiddish slur was deemed beneath the dignity of a U.S. senator, and his denying having said it helped nail his defeat.
Schumer ended up trouncing D’Amato 54-44 in the election.
Both “putz” and “schmuck” are vulgar Yiddish slang for penis, but both have more generic uses — “putz” to refer to a bumbling fool, and “schmuck” to an all-around jerk.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO