Shm-reduplication is a form of reduplication in which the original word or its first syllable (the base) is repeated with the copy (the reduplicant) beginning with shm- (sometimes schm-), pronounced [ʃm]. The construction is generally used to indicate irony, derision or scepticism with respect to comments about the discussed object:
A classic example of shm-reduplication is “Latin schmatin”, a slang phrase for binomial nomenclature.
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