Pechvogel

You spill ketchup on your new, white shirt; somehow your mobile phone manages to fall into the toilet; you run your stockings just before an important business meeting. Sound familiar? If misfortune never seems to pass you by, then in German you would be called a "Pechvogel" - a "tar bird." The term comes from the Middle Ages, when people used to smear tar, or pitch, on trees to catch birds. Being caught in a tree and landing on the barbeque? That may never have happened to Donald Duck, but he is one of the most famous "Pechvoegel" in the world.