schlenter, adjective and & noun

/ˈʃlentə/
Forms:
Also shlenter, slenter.
Origin:
Dutch, Afrikaans, YiddishShow more Dutch and Afrikaans slenter trick, knavery. The -ch- spelling probably reflects the influence of Yiddish in diamond mining during the 19th century.
Note:
Used also in Australian and N.Z. English (perhaps from South African English).
A. adjective
1. Pretended; dishonest, crooked; inferior.
1891 A. De Bremont Gentleman Digger 99‘Of course,’ whispers the seller who had pushed his way to the side of the buyer, ‘this sale was only schlenter’.
1892 J.R. Couper Mixed Humanity 384Numerous were the offers to subscribe handsomely to the stakes in the event of the challenge being no ‘schlenter’ one.
1900 T. Froes Kruger & Co. 14Messrs. Evans and Fursey..were determined that no slur should remain upon them, so far as having supplied ‘schlenter’ goods to Pretoria was concerned.
1911 L. Cohen Reminisc. of Kimberley 50Give him three suits of home-spun. The ones with the schlenter linings.
1957 B. O’Keefe Gold without Glitter 123If I thought the only way I could get around that Strydom dame..was working a schlenter mine, I’d do it, too.
2. Of minerals offered for sale: fake or counterfeit.
1892 J.R. Couper Mixed Humanity 265A new branch of industry had started in Kimberley, the manufacture of ‘schlenter’ stones, a name given to diamonds made of glass.
1924 L. Cohen Reminisc. of Jhb. 165Confidence men found customers in plenty for schlenter gold bricks and amalgam.
1932 Zionist Record 25Our courts employ schlenter as a word requiring no further definition, in the sense of fake when applied to mineral products.
1937 H. Klein Stage Coach Dust 112Schlenter diamonds, as the fakes were called, were manufactured in vast quantities in Germany, and being so like real diamonds were extremely useful to the individual digger to drop into the pans of their rotating washing machines to test the honesty of their native boys.
1974 Sunday Times 24 Nov. 4What makes the event more gratifying still is the fact that they sold schlenter uranium.
1975 Sunday Times 15 June 4The Precious Jewels Club: Boys learn to tell the difference between genuine and schlenter diamonds.
1981 P. Dane Great Houses of Constantia 149Thirteen bars of gold..were in fact ‘schlenter gold’, which is brass mixed with other metals and gilded.
B. noun
1.
a. A fake diamond.
1899 G.C. Griffith Knaves of Diamonds 35Good Lord, man, can’t you see they’re all schlenters?
1931 G. Beet Grand Old Days 60This done, he secretly salted the claim with a big ‘schlenter’, or dud diamond.
1946 L.G. Green So Few Are Free 127‘Schlenters’, bits of glass shaped roughly from bottle stoppers to resemble diamonds. They have none of the peculiar soapy feel of the genuine diamond, but they pass muster sometimes in a hurried deal at night.
1950 E. Rosenthal Here Are Diamonds 198No South African word is more frequently used in fiction connected with the Diamond diggings than ‘Schlenter,’ for a fake stone, a word which seems to have come from the Yiddish.
1969 J.M. White Land God Made in Anger 131Schlenters, or slenters, are fake diamonds. The best Schlenters in South West are made from the marbles in the necks of the lemonade or mineral-water bottles that can be found in dozens at the old German diggings.
1985 W. Smith Burning Shore 465The quickest way is to dip it into a glass of water my dear. If it comes out wet, it’s a schlenter. If it comes out dry, it’s a diamond.
b. rare. Fake gold.
1911 Blackburn & Caddell Secret Service 132He had paid £400 for a brick of gilded lead worth at least, at Johannesburg rates, elevenpence per pound. The gold of this standard is known as ‘Schlenter’ on the Rand.
2. transferred sense
a. An illegal or dishonest scheme or action, a ‘fiddle’; a confidence trick.
1980 Rhodeo (Rhodes Univ.) JuneSwaggering round the hills he crooned ‘A schlenter here, a schlenter there, schlenter schlenter everywhere’.
1981 Sunday Times 22 Feb. 22No one is going to sell a pass law schlenter to the straight-talking Ben Mokaetle.
1988 Star 9 Jan. 1An SAP spokesman confirmed that police in Pretoria were never short of complaints about ‘schlenters’ of all kinds.
1991 P. Edgecombe Informant, Durban, KwaZulu-NatalSchlenter. Bad or shady deal or action.
b. A confidence-trickster. Also schlent nonce.
1987 Student party invitation, GrahamstownHear ye all okes, schlents and other bra’s of the house! A celebration..will be held on Saturday 25 April.
1992 Natal Mercury 3 Aug. 6The South African schlenter is immoral in business or personal dealings; the Aussie/Pommie counterpart lacks morals in more intimate activities.
Pretended; dishonest, crooked; inferior.
fake or counterfeit.
A fake diamond.
Fake gold.
An illegal or dishonest scheme or action, a ‘fiddle’; a confidence trick.
A confidence-trickster.
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