schlimazel

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Yiddish שלימזל (shlimazl), from Middle High German slim (crooked) and Hebrew מזל (mazzāl, luck)

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʃləˈmɑːzəl/

Noun

schlimazel (plural schlimazels)

  1. (colloquial, chiefly US) A chronically unlucky person.
    • 1962, Philip K. Dick, “The Man in the High Castle”, in Four Novels of the 1960s, Library of America, published 2007, page 46:
      I must have pressed two buttons at once, he decided; jammed the works and got this schlimazl’s eye view of reality.
    • 2004 August 30, Michael Morrissey, “METS GET SLAMMED AGAIN – VENTURA GRANNY KEYS DODGER ROUT”, in New York Post[2]:
      On Jewish Heritage Day, there was ample time to debate whether the Mets are schlemiels or schlimazels with the home team down 8-1 after five. Fans were given shirts that read “Let’s Go Mets” in Hebrew, but “Oy vey!” was more appropriate.
    • 2024 May 16, “Who Wants 30,000 Used Teslas?”, in Intelligencer[3], retrieved 16 May 2024:
      Hertz is an early contender for Wall Street’s schlimazel of the decade, the big unlucky lemon that just can’t seem to get anything right.

Alternative forms

Translations

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 “Words hardest to translate - The list by Today Translations”, in Global Oneness[1], 16 August 2010 (last accessed), archived from the original on 25 January 2009