noun a bungler with chronic bad luck. Yiddish. During the opening montage of the US situation comedy Laverne and Shirley (ABC, 1976–83), the lead characters, played by Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams, skip down a Milwaukee sidewalk singing '1–2–3–4–5–6–7–8, Shlemiel, shlamazzel, Hassenpepper Incorporated', giving 'shlemiel' its highest profile to date US, 1948