What does Shrek mean in Yiddish?

Like any great movie, 2001’s Shrek was based off a weird children’s book.

Shrek!, written by catoonist and writer William Steig, was first released in 1990 as a picture book. It followed the same arc, more or less, but was odd enough that it also received plenty of complaints from parents. If you ask me, that’s how you know it’s a story that’s going to become a great movie.

The 2001 adaptation from Dreamworks certainly kept the spirit of the original story, but took plenty of liberties with it. In the process, it helped turn Dreamworks into a legitimate animation studio, one that could even compete with the almighty Pixar. It grossed over $492 million worldwide, and even won the Palme d'Or at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.

I never stopped to think where the name came from. I guess I just assumed it was a made-up word that sounded like it should fit the main character. But it turns out Steig got the idea for Shrek’s name from a real word in the Yiddish language. What does it all mean?

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