This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at for further information. She is working on a book titled THE LOST OF THE GOOD SCHMOOZE.Д¬opyright В© 2006 NPR. NORRIS: Diana Boxer is a professor of linguistics at the University of Florida in Gainesville. The schmooze on Capital Hill has made friends with the bribe and that's a sad place to be. No, we should mourn the schmooze because it no longer serves the good of the community.

There is no holding language back in a dynamic society. We should mourn the passing of a good schmooze not because of language change. For lobbyist like Abramoff, don't schmooze, you lose becomes the motto. Schmoozing becomes an activity that serves only the purpose of the highest bidder.

We neither judge the changes nor mourn them.Д«ut when language change reflects degradation in cultural values, the issue at heart is something much more serious. Instead we view language evolution as a natural process. Linguists no longer insist that we uphold the traditional meanings of words. We could view the sleazing of schmoozing as evolution. Today schmoozing means chatting with benefits. Unfortunately, the meaning of schmoozing has come to serve the twin masters of what linguists call interaction and transaction. They come from the warm feelings of just interacting. Good schmoozers in the original sense of the term may get what they want or need. It wasn't about networking or gaining favor. They came away from the experience having opened or strengthened the relationship. It used to be when people schmoozed they felt good about just chatting. Sure it's always been just a short step from schmoozing to flattery. When the term was borrowed it originally meant to have a warm conversation, to shoot the breeze, to pass the time chatting. Its earliest written reference in English dates to 1897. The word Schmooze derives from the Yiddish shomuesn, which in turn derives from Hebrew shmue, meaning rumor. But the term has acquired a bad rap and this latest ethics debacle is a nail in the coffin for what used to mean something positive.

Nobody denies that schmoozing is at the heart of lobbying. And according to commentator and linguist Deana Boxer is has also damaged the perception of another long standing practice in the Capital.Д¬asino Jack Abramoff is sullying the good schmooze. For a long time, lobbying in Washington has had a bad reputation and the scandal has made that reputation even worse. Abramoff pleaded guilty to fraud and tax evasion charges, which he did while exploiting his position as an influential lobbyist. Lobbying reform has moved up the Congressional agenda thanks in no small part to the Jack Abramoff scandal.

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