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Yiddish term meaning "incompetent person" or "fool" From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Schlemiel (Yiddish: שלומיאל; sometimes spelled shlemiel or shlumiel) is a Yiddish term meaning "inept/incompetent person" or "fool".[1] It is a common archetype in Jewish humor, and so-called "schlemiel jokes" depict the schlemiel falling into unfortunate situations.[2]
The inept schlemiel is often presented alongside the unlucky schlimazel. A Yiddish saying explains that "a schlemiel is somebody who often spills his soup and a schlimazel is the person it lands on".[3] The schlemiel is similar to the schmuck but, as stated in a 2010 essay in The Forward, a schmuck can improve himself while "a schlemiel, a schlimazel and a schmendrik are irredeemably what they are".[4]
The etymology of the term is unsure. Ernest Klein in his Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language suggests that the word comes from the Hebrew term shelo mo'il, meaning "useless".[5] Another theory is that the word is derived from the name Shelumiel, an Israelite chieftain.[6]
Heyse and some other etymologists suggest that the name comes from the words "shlomi" + "el" in the meaning "God is my salvation", i.e., a Schlemiel hopes that God will save him.[7]
The term was popularized by the name of Peter Schlemihl, the main character of a 19th century novella by Adelbert von Chamisso.[7]
According to Harvard University literature professor Ruth Wisse, the schlemiel as a type emerges in the Yiddish literature of the period of Jewish emancipation.[8]
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