WHAT A MORNING AT THE OFFICE! I'M REALLY PAYNG THE PRICE FOR 5 DAYS OFF!
So time for a little diversion.
Yiddish is a fascinating although dying language. It's dying because Jews like me are marrying latin goys from Venezuela, and it's fascinating because it contains words and expressions that describe things in a way that no other language can describe. This isn't being ego-centric, it's just the case, as the following examples illustrate.
The Shlameel, the Shlamazel, and the Doppess.
The Shlameel is the waiter who spills the bowl of soup on a customer. He basically never does anything right.
The Shlamazel is the CUSTOMER who gets the soup spilled on him. Everything bad happens to him.
And the Doppess is sitting at the next table, observing the tragedies of the world, going tsk, tsk, tsk…but not doing anything to help, like handing him a napkin.
Try and find words to describe these personalities in English. You may find some close ones, but they're not the same.
And my favorite--a shnurer. (Pronounced "shna-rer," as if that helps you at all.)
A schnurer is a cheap person taken to a new level. As long as it is FREE, he wants it. A schnurer will stuff himself on oysters at a free buffet--even though he HATES oysters.