shmen

n. a (college or university) freshman. Also plural. Subjects: English, Education

Editorial Note: This term is usually gender-neutral.

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Citations: 1985 William Safire New York Times Mag. (Sept. 22) “T’sup on campus” p. 14: Let us assume that “wench” is a current sexist way of making a masculine or neuter noun apply to women. We can hypothesize that “shwench” is a feminine form of “shmen.” From this breakthrough, we can then ask: What word used frequently by sophomores has “shmen” as its last syllable? 1987 Orange County Register (California) (Nov. 26) “Sports People” p. C2: His best wide receiver was out for the season after injuring a shmen, a sophomore and a converted quarterback to run the deep routes. 2004 Megan Peck The Dartmouth (Hanover, Conn.) (Sept. 10) “Storied Dartmouth traditions stand test of time”: The College now officially calls all new students “first-years” in order to be more inclusive and politically correct. However, the unique Dartmouth slang “shmen,” which describes all new students, is still part of the common Dartmouth student’s lexicon.

Posted 14 Sep 04 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Reader comments:

The term ‘shmen (or ‘shwomen) seems especially prevalent at Dartmouth College, where its initial sound has come to modify other words to indicate that they relate to freshmen: ‘shmob (freshman mob) and ‘shmenu (freshman “menu” or the Freshman Book/Green Book, a photograhpic directory of new students).

by Reader 17 Feb 06, 0709 GMT

Originally a jab at political correctness, the modification of this slang word to “‘shpeople” and “‘shperson” have also become increasingly popular on campus.

by Reader 29 Jun 06, 0825 GMT