schlemiel

Although the series treats Blauner as a fretful schlemiel in early episodes — almost the moment we meet him, we hear about his hemorrhoids — he’s allowed to be a man of action later on.

Ms. Williams and Marshall’s chant of “schlemiel, schlimazel” as they skipped together became a cultural phenomenon and oft-invoked piece of nostalgia.

“No, like an utter schlemiel, I just walked in there. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

And so the schlemiel became a stand-in for a generation.

Herschel is neither a sentimental schlemiel nor a twinkly old-world grandpa, but rather an impatient, sometimes intolerant striver with a violent streak.