Oy Vey! Dinner for Sch***ks in Brooklyn Heights

By on August 23, 2010 9:16 am in Arts and Entertainment

Apart from the just weird fact that mainstream motion picture Dinner for Schmucks is playing at the mostly indie/artsy Brooklyn Heights Cinema, I was more intrigued by a conversation I recently overheard in front of the theater.  Two members of the “Greatest Generation” pondered:

Man: You know schmucks is dirty word.

Woman: Yes.

Man: I can’t believe they’d name a movie that…schmucks.

Well let’s pray that they haven’t heard Cee-Lo’s latest smash hit (NSFW).

Share this Story:

, ,

  • AEB

    “Shmuck,” which describes a person who’s done something dumb, or a fool, is the wrong word in context.

    Should have been shlemiel–an unlucky, awkward person who can never get anything right.

    A fine distinction, perhaps, but one not lost on those who grew up…among these words.

    By the way, this message has been approved by my Grandmother Mildred.

  • WillowtownCop

    The movie is based on a wonderful French farce called The Dinner Game that came out in the late 1990s. It looks like someone bet money on Americans being too stupid and lazy to read subtitles, and won.

  • WillowtownCop

    Le Diner Des Cons actually means “The Idiot Dinner,” but I guess that may have offended someone.

  • http://www.danrosenbaum.com danno

    I bet a bunch of people came in looking for the prix fixe menu…

  • zorg

    Meanwhile, I’m still waiting for “Les herbes folles” (Renais), “Coming soon.”

  • http://inklake.typepad.com Peter Kaufman

    AEB is absolutely right. ‘Schmuck’ is a pretty serious insult – and is not for behavior that would be described as ‘foolish’.

    A few weeks ago, I posted about that very topic on my blog.

    http://inklake.typepad.com/ink_lake/2010/08/schmucks.html

    Peter