What it means
A very British way of telling someone to pipe down and keep absolutely quiet, usually because there's a secret floating about and you don't want them blurting it out. Schtum comes from Yiddish shtum, meaning silent or mute, and it settled nicely into UK slang. You'll hear it for surprise plans, gossip, family news, work drama, the lot.
Usage examples
"Oi, keep schtum about the surprise do, yeah? If Nan clocks it, she’ll start asking what time to turn up and ruin it."
"Keep schtum about the engagement next Saturday, mate, his mum still thinks they are just dating and we want to spring it at the family lunch with the champagne ready in the fridge."
"The whole office knew about the redundancy memo by Thursday but everyone agreed to keep schtum until Monday, no leaking to other teams, no whining to the union rep before the meeting."
"Keep schtum till Friday, alright? If Josh finds out we're taking him away for his birthday, the whole thing's knackered."
"I told you that in confidence, so keep schtum and don't go chucking it in the group chat."
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Where it comes from
Schtum came into British English from Yiddish shtum, meaning silent or mute. It settled especially well in London speech through Jewish communities, then spread wider across the UK. Keep schtum turned into a tidy little way of saying stay quiet, don't spill it, and keep your gob zipped.
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