A.Word.A.D​ay--schlem​iel

[Kai Frederik Lorentzen]

>>  No discussion of schlemiel would be complete without mentioning
schlimazel, one prone to having bad luck. In a restaurant, a schlemiel
is the waiter who spills soup, and a schlimazel is the diner on whom
it lands.<<

*SCHLAMASSEL*  /n fam (missliche Lage)/  dilemma, difficulty, quandary, emergency; scrape, predicament;
/Am sl/fix, jam, mess, stew, hot water;/(Durcheinander) Am fam/  mix-up, pretty pickle, nice go;
pretty muddle, hell of a fix;/im Schlamassel sein (od sitzen od stecken) fam/  to be in hot water,
to be in the soup, to be on the spot,/Am fam/  to be in for it, to be hard up, to be stuck fast,
to have a tough time. [Deutsch - Englisch, Taschenwörterbuch (Klett)]



On 28.09.2011 14:09, Dave Monroe wrote:

> A.Word.A.Day
> with Anu Garg
>
> schlemiel or schlemihl or shlemiel
>
> PRONUNCIATION:
> (shluh-MEEL)
>
> MEANING:
> noun: An inept, clumsy person: a habitual bungler.
>
> ETYMOLOGY:
> > From Yiddish shlemil, from Hebrew Shelumiel, a Biblical and Talmudic
> figure who met an unhappy end, according to the Talmud. Earliest
> documented use: 1892.
>
> NOTES:
> No discussion of schlemiel would be complete without mentioning
> schlimazel, one prone to having bad luck. In a restaurant, a schlemiel
> is the waiter who spills soup, and a schlimazel is the diner on whom
> it lands.
>
> USAGE:
> "Warren is an endearing schlemiel who is all awkward gestures,
> inexpressive shrugs, and with a physical clumsiness."
> Set Misses Mark But Cast's Touch is Sure; Dominion Post (Wellington,
> New Zealand); Mar 3, 2008.
>
> Explore "schlemiel" in the Visual Thesaurus.
>
> http://www.visualthesaurus.com/
>
> http://wordsmith.org/words/schlemiel.html
>
>

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