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).

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6 Responses to Oy Vey! Dinner for Sch***ks in Brooklyn Heights

  1. AEB August 23, 2010 at 9:38 am #

    “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.

  2. WillowtownCop August 23, 2010 at 3:45 pm #

    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.

  3. WillowtownCop August 23, 2010 at 3:47 pm #

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

  4. danno August 23, 2010 at 3:50 pm #

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

  5. zorg August 23, 2010 at 5:15 pm #

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

  6. Peter Kaufman August 23, 2010 at 11:05 pm #

    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