Schlemiel

[2] 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".

[5] Another theory is that the word is derived from the name Shelumiel, an Israelite chieftain.

[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.