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schlimazel

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Noun

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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 2024-05-16:
      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

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Translations

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References

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