Definitions
Etymologies
- Yiddish shlemíl, perhaps from Hebrew šəlūmî'ēl, my well-being is God, Shelumiel (a character in the Bible, Numbers 7:36) : šəlūmî, my well-being (šālôm, well-being; see šlm in Semitic roots + -î, my) + 'ēl, God; see אl in Semitic roots.
Examples
“As for the subject heading, this is the definition I was once given by a friend who passed away last year, Harry Edelstein the Matzoh King of Broadway: A schlemiel is the guy who spills the soup.”
“The lean, gifted actor was spellbinding as a scheming producer in "Speed-the-Plow" at the Old Vic a couple of years ago, but he is all wrong to play the kind of schlemiel for which Peter Falk, in the original Broadway production, and Jack”
“Liberalism, which purports to mitigate conflict, was viewed as a kind of schlemiel faith in the conscience of the world.”
“So there you are -- a poor schlemiel who started out as a minor character on the Larry Sanders talk show ends up a minor character among the many others who populated "The Larry Sanders Show.”
The Washington Post: TV review of "The Larry Sanders Show" coming out on box set
“This "shows how little it takes to go from being a schlemiel to being a ..." (a much ruder Yiddish word followed).”
“Yet even though he's playing a sexually frustrated fall guy, a Sicilian schlemiel , Prima's throaty singing is amazingly erotic.”
“· bring home any paycheck less than what that schlemiel, my sister's husband, earns”
The Huffington Post: Deborah Copaken Kogan: Battle Hymn of the Gefilte Fish Wife
“But as Bella Abzug said, the feminist struggle was never simply about ensuring that a female Einstein might be appointed assistant professor; it was also about ensuring that a "woman schlemiel" might get promoted as speedily as a "male schlemiel.”
“Just as tiresome as the regulation egoist is the regulation schlemiel.”
“Justin Rice is hilarious as a sad sack slacker schlemiel.”
The Huffington Post: George Heymont: Pushing The Envelope (VIDEOS)
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘schlemiel’.
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Unsavory characters
absconder, aretaloger, arriviste, avaunter, bamboozler, bandit, banger, barbarian, barmecide, barrator, beldam, blatherskite and 190 more...
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Yiddishkeit
There are a few short lists of Yiddish words, but none appropriate to the glory of the language, and none that are open. Thought I'd start one, and would love contributions. I'm tagging as I go, an...
schmuck, nosh, chutzpah, shtick, kvetch, oy vey, oy gevalt, shvitz, shtik, shiksa, putz, mensch and 94 more...
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Gesundheit
Words that sound like sneezes
zucchini, zoology, wysiwyg, woodchuck, withhold, wichita, vacuum, twelfth, syzygy, synchronous, swatch, supersede and 120 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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Rexicon
brazen, insipid, cuss, penchant, salacious, titillate, lurid, schlemiel, interlope, masquerade, supercilious, action-taking and 51 more...
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Lingu-list
Words from other languages that are used, or would work well, in English. Also known as "loanwords."
hikikomori, ersatz, angst, barbecue, algebra, macho, burlesque, garage, voyeurism, avatar, jungle, looting and 15 more...
john “In 1977, Bella Abzug, the former congresswoman and outspoken feminist, said, ‘Our struggle today is not to have a female Einstein get appointed as an assistant professor. It is for a woman schlemiel to get as quickly promoted as a male schlemiel.�?
The New York Times, No Ordinary Woman, by Judith Warner, October 26, 2008 Oct 26, 2008