Schlemiel (Yiddish: שלומיאל; sometimes spelled shlemiel or shlumiel) is a Yiddish term meaning "inept/incompetent person" or "fool".^[1] It is a common archetype in Jewish humor, and so-called "schlemiel jokes" depict the schlemiel falling into unfortunate situations.^[2]

Meaning

The inept schlemiel is often presented alongside the unlucky schlimazel. A Yiddish saying explains that "a schlemiel is somebody who often spills his soup and a schlimazel is the person it lands on".^[3] The schlemiel is similar to the schmuck but, as stated in a 2010 essay in The Forward, a schmuck can improve himself while "a schlemiel, a schlimazel and a schmendrik are irredeemably what they are".^[4]

The etymology of the term is unsure. Ernest Klein in his Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language suggests that the word comes from the Hebrew term shelo mo'il, meaning "useless".^[5] Another theory is that the word is derived from the name Shelumiel, an Israelite chieftain.^[6]

Heyse and some other etymologists suggest that the name comes from the words "shlomi" + "el" in the meaning "God is my salvation", i.e., a Schlemiel hopes that God will save him.^[7]

The term was popularized by the name of Peter Schlemihl, the main character of a 19th century novella by Adelbert von Chamisso.^[7]

According to Harvard University literature professor Ruth Wisse, the schlemiel as a type emerges in the Yiddish literature of the period of Jewish emancipation.^[8]

In culture

• An archetype shlemiel entrepreneur is Menahem-Mendl of Sholem Aleichem.
• In a 1944 essay, Hannah Arendt argues that Charlie Chaplin's Tramp character is a schlemiel whose only comfort is "the kindness and humanity of casual acquaintances".^[9]
• Many of Woody Allen's films feature Allen portraying a schlemiel type, particularly in his relations with women.^[10]
• Larry David's character on the HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm serves as a modern schlemiel, encountering "problems that affect contemporary middle- to upper-class American Jews".^[11]
• In the sitcom Seinfeld, George Costanza "follows the pattern of the classic schlemiel", with Jerry Seinfeld's character serving as his schlimazel.^[12]
• The 1995 Israeli-European animated feature The Real Shlemiel centers on a village of schlemiels, with its rabbi even taking it as a given name.
• Software engineer Joel Spolsky coined the term Schlemiel the Painter's algorithm in 2001, based on a Yiddish joke, to describe a certain type of inefficient software method.
• The titular character of the 2004 comedy film Napoleon Dynamite embodies the traits of the schlemiel, according to researcher David Buchbinder.^[13]
• In the drama series The O.C. (2003–2007), Seth Cohen's personality "is self-deprecating and in line with that of past schlemiels".^[14]
• In the 2009 film A Serious Man directed by the Coen brothers, the character of Larry Gopnik is depicted as a schlemiel.^[15][16]
• In "Park Safety", a 2010 episode of the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation, Ron Swanson states that his clumsy coworker Jerry "is both the schlemiel and the schlimazel".^[17]
• In Thomas Pynchon's novel V., the protagonist Benny Profane is identified as a schlemiel numerous times.