nebbish

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The Word of the Day for October 8 is: 

nebbish   \NEB-ish\   noun
     : a timid, meek, or ineffectual person 

Example sentence:
     Larry's character in the play was a nervous, awkward 
nebbish of a man, utterly devoid of chutzpah. 

Did you know?
     "From what I read . . . it looks like Pa isn't anything 
like the nebbish Ma is always making him out to be . . . ." 
Sounds like poor Pa got a bum rap, at least according to a 1951 
book review that appeared in The New York Times. The unfortunate 
Pa unwittingly demonstrates much about the etymology 
of "nebbish," which derives from the Yiddish "nebekh," 
meaning "poor" or "unfortunate." Used interjectionally in 
Yiddish -- "poor thing!" -- the word was borrowed from 
Czech "nebohy." The not-so-ineffectual-after-all Pa also 
contributed something else -- the 1951 reference is the first 
known written instance of the word "nebbish" with its modern 
English sense.