Schembeis

German

Etymology

Ultimately from Yiddish שם (shem, “name; reputation”), reinterpreted as “bad reputation, disrepute”, and Yiddish בית (beys, “house”); both from Hebrew שֵׁם (shém, “name”) and Hebrew בית (báyit, “house”). Compare German Beiz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʃɛmˌbaɪ̯s]
• Hyphenation: Schem‧beis

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Schembeis m or n

1. (cant, slang, Masematte) jail, prison

   Synonym: Gefängnis

   • 1994, Klaus Siewert, editor, Beinahe mulo gedellt…: Textbuch Masematte Ⅲ, Münster/New York: Waxmann Verlag, →ISBN, pages 67–68:

     Der war in eine Bendine, die war mehr son Schembeis, son Stillepenn, wo de nich rein- und nich rausteilachen konntes.

     He lived in a country that was more of a prison, a slammer, that you couldn’t get in and out of.

     (The German sentence is in the Sondersprache called Masematte.)

Usage notes

• Genitive and plural forms are possible. However, the mentioned reference book does not provide any information about possible inflected forms.

Declension

• Nominative Singular: Schembeis (as in son Schembeis = so ein Gefängnis = such a prison)
• Dative Singular: Schembeis (as in im Schembeis = im Gefängnis = in prison)

Synonyms

• (colloquial) Bau, Bunker, Kahn, Kiste, Kittchen, Knast, Loch
• (Austria, slang) Häfen, Kotter

Further reading

• “Schembeis” in Heinz Küpper (1984) Illustriertes Lexikon der deutschen Umgangssprache in 8 Bänden (in German), volumes 7: Sardelle–Susi, Stuttgart: Klett, →ISBN, page 2452.
• Klaus Siewert:
  • as editor:
    • Es war einmal ein kurantes anim... – Textbuch Masematte [I]. 1990
    • Und wenn sie nicht maschulle sind ... – Textbuch Masematte II. 1992
    • Beinahe mulo gedellt ... – Textbuch Masematte III. 1994
  • as author: Olf, bes, kimmel, dollar, hei ... – Handwörterbuch der Münsterschen Masematte. 1993, p. 98: "schemmbeis (N, M) Gefängnis, Knast"