schlemiel

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The Word of the Day for August 26 is:

schlemiel   \shluh-MEEL\   noun
     : an unlucky bungler : chump 

Example sentence: 
     "What a schlemiel," sighed Evelyn, watching Frank trip his way up to the 
bowling lane and throw yet another ball straight into the gutter.

Did you know?
     "Schlemiel," from the Yiddish "shlemil," has sometimes been associated 
with Peter Schlemihl, the hero of a story about an unlucky man who sold his 
shadow to the devil, by German writer Adelbert von Chamisso. While this story 
may have helped to popularize "schlemiel," the word probably has much older 
roots. The Hebrew name "Shelumiel" is mentioned in the Bible (Numbers 1:6), and 
the Talmud describes Shelumiel as a man whose behavior earned derision and an 
unfortunate fate.  A "schlemiel" in modern English usage is a chronic blunderer 
or loser, and is sometimes paired with the less common "schlimazel," another 
Yiddish word for an unlucky or bungling person.