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Today it means

schtum

deliberately silent, especially about something one is expected to reveal

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Where does the word "schtum" come from? It comes from Yiddish shtum, and was adopted directly into English (1950s).

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Where does the word "schtum" come from? It comes from Yiddish shtum, and was adopted directly into English (1950s).

Schtum’s story begins in Yiddish: shtum meant “silent, mute.” Silent, mute, from German stumm (mute). It reached English by 1950s as schtum. Yiddish 'shtum', mute; British criminal slang 'keep schtum'. Today, schtum means deliberately silent, especially about something one is expected to reveal.

  1. Stage 1 · Yiddish · 1800s shtum "silent, mute", silent, mute, from German stumm (mute).
  2. Stage 2 · English · 1950s schtum "silent, especially deliberately withholding information", Yiddish 'shtum', mute; British criminal slang 'keep schtum'.

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