schlock, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

schlock n.

also schlocker, shlock, slock

[Ger. Schlag, a blow; thus merchandise that has been ‘knocked about’]

1. cheap, inferior merchandise; anything, concrete or abstract, e.g. a piece of popular culture, defective or in poor taste.

1915		implied in schlock shop
c.1930		(ref. to late 19C) N. Kimball Amer. Madam (1981) 219: It was a tough joint for sailors, shady peddlers of slock, dock wallopers.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1960		Mad mag. Sept. 29: My name is Ira Schlock. I’m a movie producer.
1967		Maclean’s (Toronto) Apr. 26: We can do every style of ad, depending on what fits the client. The only thing we don’t do is schlock.
1978		D. DeLillo Running Dog (1992) 148: Before pop art, there was such a thing as bad taste. Now there’s kitsch, schlock, camp and porn.
1983		Christian Science Monitor 14 Dec. 1: Some call it ‘infotainment,’ meaning information that is entertaining. Others call it ‘docu-schlock’.
1988		Stage (London) 25 Feb. 28/2: To the more hip [...] Barry Manilow is regarded as the epitome of show business schlock.
1991		D. Gaines Teenage Wasteland 196: It was dismissed as mindless schlock.
1999		Indep. Rev. 18 June 16: A fine balance between winsome melody and out-and-out schlock.
2000		Guardian Rev. 4 Feb. 7: A reworking of a low-budget 50s schlocker by the master craftsman William Castle.
2002		‘Touré’ Portable Promised Land (ms.) 7: Yes, he loved Stevie’s entire catalog, even the 80s shlock like Jungle Fevers.
2023		(con. 1962) J. Ellroy Enchanters 192: [of a movie audition] Lois read for schlockman Maury Dexter [...] Lois read for schlock king Dexter.

2. a large amount.

1939

J. Weidman What’s In It For Me? 339: Quite a big slock today, Nissem.

3. (drugs) narcotics, usu. heroin.

1942		Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Sl.
1959		J.E. Schmidt Narcotics Lingo and Lore.

4. nonsense, rubbish.

1996		‘How to Rob the Banks Legally’ Usenet:misc.wanted 19 July 🌐 Does anyone really believe this schlock?
2005		C. Mooney ‘Out of Balance’ at www.csicop.org/doubtandabout/ufos 3 Mar. 🌐 Where does Jennings get off simultaneously bashing the Roswell [UFO] story and yet taking all the other schlock so seriously?

schlockmeister (n.) [-meister sfx]

(US) a successful seller of cheap, meretricious goods; also attrib.

1969		New Yorker 19 July 20: Real people are pretty grungy actors when you come right down to it. Like all those schlockmeisters on ‘Candid Camera’.
1991		World and I June 🌐 [headline] Samuel Arkoff: Schlockmeister Extraordinaire.
2004		www.allhealthlinks.com 🌐 This kung fu thriller from schlockmeister director ted v. mikels finds the cia mixing it up with an organized crime syndicate.

schlock shop (n.) (also schlockhouse, schlock store) [SE shop/joint n. (1)/store]

a store selling flashy but cheap clothes; also attrib.

1915		N.-Y. Trib. 25 July 12/1: Damaged articles [...] are sold [...] to the ‘schlock’ store proprietors.
1957		‘Ed Lacy’ Lead With Your Left (1958) 84: [...] window shopping in a couple of schlock stores.
1967		J. Sherwood Stradella 30: We’re going to the schlock shop.
1970		J. Flaherty Managing Mailer 163: He [...] attacked any Jew who rented a slum or operated a ‘schlock shop’ in the ghetto.
1971		L. Bangs in Psychotic Reactions (1988) 9: The song was a shlockhouse grinder, completely fatuous.
1982		Morris & Morris Dict. Word and Phrase Origins 306: The term schlock shop is also heard, meaning a store specializing in worthless or nearly worthless merchandise.
1997		J. Kellerman Clinic 52: The kind of thing you get in a Hollywood Boulevard schlock shop.
2006		B. Serotte Fortune Teller’s Kiss 206: Another Turk in the neighborhood owned a ‘schlock-shop’ store on 36th Street, near Macy’s, that sold only five-dollar dresses.