*SHYSTER
This
Americanism was probably coined early in the nineteenth century,
since its first recorded use, as cited in the Dictionary
of American English,
was in 1846. The Dictionary
of Slang and Unconventional English suggests that shyster is a variant of shicer,
“a person or thing of no account, worthless,” although the latter
may actually be the newer word. In any event, there is some reason to
believe that both are derived from the German (possibly through
Yiddish) Scheisse.
Walter
Matthau, above, as William H. "Whiplash Willie" Gingrich, is perhaps the
quintessential portrayal of a shyster, an unscrupulous professional, especially in a law practice or politics, in the film The Fortune Cookie (1966).
*Inspired
by Charles Funk (1881–1957)
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