Laverne & Shirley, schlemiel / schlimazel

Poststructural Pub
1

Many will remember the lyrics from the theme song of Laverne & Shirley
schlemiel, schlimazel …
Like most, I never looked up these words to find out their definitions. The first is a habitual bungler, the second a born loser.

http://www.wordsmith.org/words/today.html

schlimazel or shlimazel (shli-MAH-zuhl) noun

Someone prone to having extremely bad luck.

[From Yiddish, from shlim (bad, wrong) + mazl (luck). A related term is mazel tov (literally, good luck) used to convey congratulations or best wishes.]

A schlimazel can be concisely described as a born loser. No discussion of schlimazel could be complete without mentioning his counterpart: schlemiel, a habitual bungler. They go together:

A schlemiel is one who always spills his soup, schlimazel is the one on whom it always lands.

A schlimazel’s toast always falls butter-side down. A schlemiel always butters his toast on both sides.

2

So what does “Hassenfef Incorporated” mean?

3

It’s a misspelled German word, Hasenpfeffer. That means literally “hare pepper” and is loaf of hare-meat and spices. A very old German dish. Listed in some English-language dictionaries, I seem to recall.

I presume you know what Incorporated means. :wink:

4

you know bloom, I’m liking your sepia self. Very becoming! :smiley:

5

It lends a certain air of dignity and sobriety, doesn’t it? Very appropriate.

6

Ah, I should have remembered that from Bugs Bunny! OT- I have an old aunt that lives in Bay Ridge that we used to call “Aunt Bugs” because of the old style Brooklyn accent.

7

I actually heard these defined just this past week, by Danny DeVito’s character, on an episode of Taxi, that aired on KTUL.

8

I always thought they were saying “positive, incorporated” but the I was always a bit of a mishugene.
Mike

9

I grew up in this culture, surrounded by schlemiel’s and
schlimazls. It’s learned behaviour on both sides,
and while the jokes are amusing, the reality is not.

10

:roll:

Could be a lot worse…

A lot worse,

Slan,
D.

11

I suppose things can always be worse.
This was very bad.

Sorry to be a killjoy.
I know the jokes are funny. The real definition
of a schlimazl is ‘a genius at bad luck.’
But at the end of the day I don’t find
human suffering funny. This in no wayreflects on any of you.

12

Are schmooze, schlep, schtick and klutz also derived from Yiddish?

13

Who does? But it would be worse without the human ability to laugh, even about serious, awful, and painful things.

14

Yah, Yiddish.

15

The trouble is that sometimes jokes perpetuate
the neurosis. I’m a loser, hah, hah, hah!

This is very much a personal peeve.
I 've had trouble with some Woody Allen movies
for this reason. ‘I can’t love anybody,
hah, hah, hah!’

You had to have been there. Thank God America
is a big country. I would have been doomed in
Europe. Best

16

Yes. Realize of course that 90% of Yiddish is German with funky grammar and thick accent.

Klutz = Klotz = block/boulder
Schmooze = schmusen = to cuddle (different meaning in Yiddish, to chat or “network”)
Shtick = Stueck = piece, art work
shlep = schleppen = to drag or carry something that is heavy

And you didn’t ask but I’ll tell you anyway:

shmuk = Schmuck = jewelry, jewels :wink:

17

Neurosis is self-inflicted and doesn’t count as human suffering. Hunger does. :smiley:

18

Sounded this way to me. The only one i knew for sure was shlep. All good New York musician/artsy slang.

I saw a New Testament in Yiddish once. It was very interesting, looked like German written with Hebrew characters. I mention it because it was the only piece of written Yiddish i’ve seen.

19

Neurosis is self-inflicted and doesn’t count as human suffering.

I’m relieved to hear this. But I’m afraid that neurosis
isn’t always self-inflicted. There are cultures
that routinely grind out deeply unhappy
and neurotic people. They start when you
are a child.

20

Don’t we have enough USA-bashing in this forum already! :wink: