schummeln

Meaning

to cheat (especially in games, but also in business, school, etc.)

Concepts

cheat

chisel

diddle

fudge

Synonyms

mogeln

abgucken

spicken

spinxen

abschreiben

schwindeln

kiebitzen

mauscheln

Schmu machen

tricksen

bedubbe

abkupfern

abspicken

betrügen

falsch spielen

meißeln

pfuschen

täuschen

überlisten

Translations

aldatmak

tricher

barare

imbrogliare

hacer trampa

trapacear

engañar

bedriegen

belazeren

vals spelen

sjoemelen

enganar

iludir

roubar

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈʃʊməln/

Etymology

Cognate with Dutch: schommelen

In summary

There are two main theories, which need not be mutually exclusive but may complement each other.
* From dialectal schummeln, originally probably “to move back and forth”, whence various attested senses: “waver, totter; rock, swing, push; chase off; abscond, steal away; take clandestinely; rummage; bustle about; do housework”, etc. In favour of this derivation speaks that the sense “to cheat” was sometimes associated with “trickery through swift movements”, especially in the context of gambling. The verb schummeln (in the above-mentioned senses) is found in dialects as far south as Tyrol, but Adelung considered it chiefly Low German and the earliest attestations are of late Middle Dutch scommelen (1410: “to do kitchenwork”, 1530: “to rock, move back and forth”); hence probably of northern origin through Middle Low German *schummelen, eventually perhaps onomatopoeic. Compare modern Dutch schommelen. Compare also German verschaukeln (“to cheat”), from schaukeln (“to rock, swing”).
* Through a dialectally attested sense “to trade (of a Jewish merchant)”, from Yiddish שום (shum), an acronym for the cities of Speyer, Worms, Mainz, the so-called Schum cities, old centres of Jewish religion and trade. However, a verb derived from this acronym is not attested in Yiddish and the sense “to trade” may be derived from the sense “to cheat”, rather than vice versa.