schlemiel/ protagonist

[vil]

Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to tell me whether I am right with my interpretation of the expressions in bold in the following sentence?

The influence of Woody Allen's early films on Godse's movie is unmistakable, complete with a neurotic schlemiel protagonist who directly addresses the camera, a la "Annie Hall”.

schlemiel = an awkward or unlucky person whose endeavors usually fail/ a dolt who is a habitual bungler

protagonist = a person who backs a politician or a team/ the principal character in a work of fiction

Thanks for your efforts.

Regards,

V.

[Tdol]

It's the second definition of protagonist here.

[bertietheblue]

I'd never heard 'schlemiel' before, but I immediately guessed it was a Yiddish word - a lot of Yiddish words used in English begin with sch/sh. Most are colloquial and many are used in AmEng only. Here are a few of the more common: schmaltz, schnozz (isn't 'schnozzle' also used to mean a nose?), schmuck, schlump, schlep, schlock, schmooze, shtum, shtick.

All these words appear to be German of origin and usage in AmEng appears to date from the 1930-1960s, which is not surprising as this was a period of mass Jewish migration to the US to escape persecution in Europe.

Here's an article you might find interesting:

American Yiddish words 101

[Barb_D]

A schlemiel isn't really a dolt/idiot -- he just bungles a lot of things and has bad luck.

I would add that while many of these words have "gone mainstream" (often the not-so-nice onces, like schmuck), most are used within the Jewish community.

I wouldn't hesitate to say "You've got some schmutz (dirt) on your shorts" to someone who was Jewish, but I wouldn't use it otherwise.

[Ouisch]

My (Jewish) boss once explained to me that a schlemiel is a guy who always manages to spill his hot soup, and a schlimazel is the guy he spills it on.