Health care here and there

One thing is for sure: Nowhere in the industrialized world would people put up with a system like the one in the US, and if they had one, they wouldn't resist change to that degree. A reader raised the issue, so let's see...

Words of the Month: Pechvogel, Glückspilz

Pechvogel combines Pech (misfortune, bad luck) with Vogel (bird). The word denotes a person who has bad luck, like a soccer player who scores an own goal--he or she will be the Pechvogel of the match. More generally, the word denotes a person who seems to have always bad luck. The word is used in German where in English one would perhaps use "bad news bear".

Glückspilz is its antonym. It combines Glück (good fortune, happiness) with Pilz (mushroom) and refers to a person in luck, particularly one who always seems to have luck.

More in my first comment...

[Source: Wild Things in the German Language: Kindle version | iBook version]

Word of the Month: Wanderlust

This word is in the language, but I like to talk about it anyway (see my first comment). It's composed of two Words: wandern (to hike, stroll, travel by foot) and Lust (desire). In its milder form, Wanderlust indicates a fondness for travelling, especially for travelling abroad; in its stronger form, it implies a real itch or restlessness--people overcome by Wanderlust do not want to stay home, and when they return from a (possibly extended) trip, immediately start thinking about the next one.

Summer food

Cool tips for hot days...

On race and class relations

A reader posted a comment about the Crowley/Gates case, and I want to expand the topic somewhat...see my response.

The thread now has drifted to the politics of resentment, a topic I find fascinating as it took me a long time to realize the degree to which resentment permeates perceptions and politics in the US. (8/19)

Wetlands (Feuchtgebiete)

A reader asked about "Wetlands", which is a translation of the German novel Feuchtgebiete, a bestseller in Germany when I was there the last time. I can't really contribute to a discussion as I haven't read the book except for the first few pages (in a bookstore)--so, it's up to readers to take the lead in this.

Word of the month: Sachzwang

Here's another something+zwang word without exact English equivalent that I find useful. It's composed of Sach, short for Sache ("thing, object") and Zwang ("compulsion, pressure, constraint"). The term denotes the necessity to do something that is inherent in a situation or, as my dictionary so coyly puts it, a "compulsion by the object in question"--no wonder I'm using the German term even in English!

Examples and pronunciation note in my first comment.