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I) a schlemielOriginally Posted By: tsuwmsure, I'll vote for I if no one else will.
(although I don't think we actually need yet another word for schlemiel, as Yiddish already seems to have several (I recall reading somewhere a differentiation amongst shlemiel/shmendrick/shlimazel/schlump/etc. (your spellings may vary.))
he expands on the quote..
"The most popular pair of Yiddish words is “schlemiel &
schlimazel.” Both words refer to unlucky guys. A schlemiel is a bungler who continually causes disasters (accidentally); a schlimazel is a guy who’s continually the victim of disasters (caused by schlemiels).
For example, suppose two waiters accidentally spill hot soup onto your lap — five times each. The waiters are schlemiels; you’re a schlimazel."
And the guy at the next table that laughs at you when it happens is a Schmuck [not to be confused with a putz]. Your brother-in-law is a putz, but your ex-brother-in-law is a schmuck. [Don't ask me to explain; I barely understand it myself, being a goy, but my ex-office-mate would explain to people that for a goy I was a pretty good mensch.]
And then there is a Schmendrick, similar to a schlemiel, but I'm not quite able to explain the difference, except that a Schmendrick is more likely to mess non-physical things up.
"A [schlemiel] is always knocking things off a table; the [nebbish] always picks them up."
- Leo Rosten, The Joys of Yiddish (1968)
Entire Thread Subject Posted By Posted YEGG results bexter 12/09/10 08:09 PM Re: YEGG results tsuwm 12/09/10 08:30 PM Re: YEGG results bexter 12/09/10 08:33 PM Re: YEGG results tsuwm 12/09/10 08:40 PM Re: YEGG results bexter 12/09/10 08:48 PM Re: YEGG results olly 12/09/10 09:14 PM Re: YEGG results tsuwm 12/09/10 09:32 PM Re: YEGG results olly 12/09/10 10:08 PM Re: YEGG results BranShea 12/09/10 10:28 PM Re: YEGG results Candy 12/09/10 10:45 PM Re: YEGG results tsuwm 12/09/10 11:16 PM Re: YEGG results Candy 12/09/10 11:24 PM Re: YEGG results tsuwm 12/09/10 11:29 PM Re: YEGG results Candy 12/09/10 11:20 PM Re: YEGG results LukeJavan8 12/10/10 12:30 AM Re: YEGG results Jackie 12/10/10 01:32 AM Re: YEGG results beck123 12/15/10 11:55 PM
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