▪ I. schmaltz, n.
(ʃmɒlts, ʃmalts)
Also schmalz, shmaltz, etc.
[a. G. and Yiddish schmalz fat, dripping.]
1. Melted chicken fat; schmaltz herring, a form of pickled herring.
| 1935 L. Zara Blessed is Man ii. ii. 232 Two or three other kegs of schmalz herring and such for pickling. 1951 L. W. Leonard Jewish Cookery vi. 42 (heading) Rendering chicken or goose fat (schmaltz). 1959 20th Cent. June 583 Shops all choked with..schmaltz herring. 1960 A. Wesker I'm talking about Jerusalem i. 13 All right, so it's shmultz herring and plum pudding. 1968 M. Richler Cocksure viii. 46, I don't want this apartment stinking of schmaltz herring. 1974 New Yorker 3 June 80/2 If a diner thinks the mashed potatoes might be improved by a bit of schmalz—liquid chicken fat—he pours some out of a dispenser. 1976 Ibid. 16 Feb. 58/1 The newest supermarket in Washington Avenue specializes in Cuban food instead of schmalz herring and stuffed kishke. |
2. colloq. Sentimentality, emotionalism; excessively sentimental music, writing, etc. Also attrib.
| 1935 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Nov. 71/2 Schmaltz (cf. the German schmalz, meaning grease) is a derogatory term used to describe straight jazz. 1938 Manch. Guardian Weekly 2 Sept. 188/3 Sometimes they play ‘schmaltz’ or ‘salon’ (ordinary jazz). 1944 [see ham n.1 B. 1]. 1950 Here & Now (N.Z.) Nov. 27/2 Howard Wyatt has an impressive technique for his age, and his greatest lack is what has come to be known as schmalz. A certain amount..of this quality is necessary, and..I'd recommend a serious study of the ‘white’ jazz exponents. 1956 [see Disneyesque a.]. 1957 J. D. Salinger Zooey in New Yorker 4 May 37/1 Will you be content with that standard box-office schmalz? 1960 Guardian 7 July 6/3 A purveyor of ‘Schmalz’ in long-winded repetitive symphonies. 1967 Spectator 24 Nov. 634/2 Some Presidents could turn..these frustrations to good account by retailing their moral and physical struggles... Lyndon Johnson spares us none of this schmaltz. 1977 Spare Rib June 46/4 She..is saying with appalling schmaltz that ‘Josh's warm, funny smile was where I lived now’. 1978 Observer 19 Nov. 31/1 ‘What we call honest sentiment,’ he says in equally honest puzzlement, ‘you call schmaltz.’ |
▪ II. schmaltz, v. colloq.
(ʃmɒlts, ʃmælts)
Also schmalz, shmaltz.
[f. prec.]
trans. To impart a sentimental atmosphere to; to play (music) in a ‘corny’ or sentimental manner. Also with up.
| 1936 Amer. Mercury May p. x, Schmalz it, play it long⁓haired. 1966 D. Skirrow It won't get you Anywhere xxxi. 143 She was like the white light of early morning, before the hot sun schmalzes up the scene. 1968 L. Rosten Joys of Yiddish 351 To shmaltz (‘to shmaltz it up’): to add ‘corn’, pathos, mawkishness. 1969 A. Laski Dominant Fifth ii. 41 He..tried to lighten his touch; no use giving this—visitor—the notion that they schmaltzed it up. |