It s so easy you could do it yourself if you weren t just interested in harassment Some etymologists believe shyster is a derivative of Shakespeare s character Shylock in The Merchant of Venice used to describe a devious scheming person of Jewish background who will try any scam in the book to make a buck In 1895 Funk s Standard Dictionary defined a shyster as a lawyer who practices in an unprofessional or tricky manner especially one who haunts the prisons and lower courts to prey on petty criminals In Shakespeare s play other characters call Shylock a currish Jew whose desires are wolvish bloody starved and ravenous he is accused of being the devil in the likeness of a Jew 21 23 22 Dec 2004 UTC