Schnorrer
Schnorrer (also spelled shnorrer) is a Yiddish term meaning "beggar" or "sponger." (The word Schnorrer also occurs in German with the same meaning.) The English usage of the word denotes a sly chiseller who will get money out of you any way he can, often through an air of entitlement.
The term is often, but not always, used in a negative sense.
It can also be used as a backhanded compliment to someone's perseverance, cleverness, or thrift. For instance, Azriel Hildesheimer, known for his travels around Europe to spread his rabbinical wisdom to the poor, and for his refusal to accept payment for his services, was sometimes referred to as the "international schnorrer" for his reliance on the local community to house and feed him wherever he went. Israel Zangwill best described a schnorrer as a beggar who would chide you for not giving enough.
Schnorrers in film and literature
- Israel Zangwill: The King of Schnorrers (novel, 1894)
- Groucho Marx, in his movies, often assumed the role of a schnorrer. The word is used in the song "Hooray for Captain Spaulding" in the Marx Brothers musical Animal Crackers: "My name is Captain Spaulding/The African explorer/Did someone call me schnorrer?/Hooray, hooray, hooray!"
- The comedian Jackie Mason often pokes fun of the stereotype of Jews as schnorrers.