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Martin Olesh
The answer I would give is somewhere between the two previous answers to this question and I think is what was intended by the author. Literally a mamzer is a bastard and it carries the same connotations as the English word. If you say that your boss is a mamzer you aren't referring to him affectionately. But if you say of a cute,mischievous,charming, wise guy of a kid , he is a mamzer you are conferring a degree of amused affection on his not too grave misdeeds. He deserves a spanking but you have a hard time not smiling at the same time. And a true "mamzer" in this sense is well aware that he is "getting away with murder." The squirrel is a mamzer because he is a cute, brazen and ingenious. Come to think of it a good number of the inhabitants of this book are "mamzerim." (Pl. mamzer.)
Harry Remer
A momzer, momza, mamzer, etc., in the Yiddish my parents and grandparents used, was a smart-aleck, or an truly, unironically adorable child.
Joel Allen
The literal meaning is from the Old Testament ( Mamzer ) and describes the child born out of an incestuous or adulterous union. Nowadays, its Yiddish slang for 'bastard".
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