sad sack

Etymology
US 1920s. Popularized by, a cartoon character and eponymous comic strip published originally June 1942 in , a US Army publication for soldiers, and later syndicated in the US 1940s and 1950s. Presumably from vulgar “sad sack of shit” as cartoonist Sgt. George Baker said he took it from a “longer phrase, of a derogatory nature”. The term originally referred to a well-meaning but inept soldier.

Noun

 * 1) An incompetent or inept person.
 * 2) A perennial failure or victim of misfortune.
 * 1) A perennial failure or victim of misfortune.