Schlemiel

Schlemiel (; sometimes spelled shlemiel or shlumiel) is a Yiddish term meaning "incompetent person" or "fool". It is a common archetype in Jewish humor, and so-called ""schlemiel" jokes" depict the "schlemiel" falling into unfortunate situations.
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". 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" is "irredeemably what they are".
While the etymology of the term is unknown, one popular theory is that it comes from the Hebrew term , meaning "useless". Another theory is that the word is derived from the name Shelumiel, an Israeli chieftain. Others claim that the term originated with the character Peter Schlemihl, the main character of a novella by Adelbert von Chamisso.
According to Harvard University literature professor Ruth Wisse, the schlemiel as a type emerges in the Yiddish literature of the period of Jewish emancipation.