schlepp

You don't have the right definition.

Schlepp actually means to drag or wearily carry. You schlepp shopping bags, that sort of thing.

Google Translate claims that to plod in Yiddish is toptshen. I'm assuming you're essentially looking for a word like plod. Are you?

I understood it also to mean "to drag yourself" as in "I have to schlepp up three flights of stairs to visit my brother ". Is that right ?

Y'know, you're right. It can be reflexive like that. "We schlepped out to Brooklyn." I stand corrected. Thank you for the reminder.

The German verb schleppen, which is the origin of schlep means "to drag sth.", "to carry", "to pull", "to tow" ... and "to shlep"

Source

Another way Ive heard it used: I had to schlep all over looking for (take your pick), or Im tired of schleping you back and forth.

schlepping down the stairs doesn't feel right

you can definitely schlep up stairs ... you get the dragging feeling there

________

separately, it seems weird (to me) to use it in the same sentence with Doreen - which doesn't seem like a Yiddish kinda name


(all my Doreens are from the Caribbean)

It's possible to schlepp down stairs, up stairs, or on level ground. Schlepping has more to do with the state of the schlepper than with what this person is walking on.

'He schlepped down the steps of stone to the basement’s inky gloom, hearing Doreen shouting something indistinct.'

I would change this sentence. Schlepp is an informal term. "Basement's inky gloom" sounds literary to me.

on a slightly different direction, consider your audience. If it's for a Scottish audience, using Yiddish-ism's might leave them scratching their wee heads. As it so happens, I have a friend who is a Glaswegian and is Jewish and understands Yiddish; however, she's among a small minority, though.

Using a common Yiddish expression is cute and fun, but if your audience is non-Jews and also knows no Yiddish, you could be leaving them in the weeds.

As a writer, I've always been advised to write from what you know.

I tend to think of "a schlepp" as a trek, an arduous trip, or a burdensome journey, and not something that is usually applied to simply going up or down a flight of stairs. Although, if tired, or in poor shape, one could certainly say, "I schlepped myself up the stairs," or, something like, "I had to schlepp four loads of laundry down to the basement," to emphasize the difficulty the task involved.

I don't think it's really appropriate for you to use "schlepp" to describe someone simply walking down some steps in a slow and dissatisfied manner--that doesn't capture what schlepping connotes. Schlepp pertains to the inconvenience, or difficulty, of doing something, much more than it does to dissatisfaction, and it's really unrelated to speed.

If you said things like, "To get away from hearing Doreen's shouting, he had to schlepp down to the basement's inky gloom," or, "To shut Doreen up, he schlepped down to the basement to get her a hammer," I think you'd be closer to using the verb schlepp in a more accurate way that reflects its connotative meaning.

Anyway, that's my take on it.

Thanks to everyone for your informative comments and suggestions! On reflection, I think I will change 'schlepp' to another word, but now at least I have a clearer understanding of the word.