Word of the month: Frechdachs

Dachs is the the German name for a badger (because of its short legs, a Dachshund is able to follow a badger into its burrow). The adjective frech can mean anything from "rude" or "impudent" to "sassy" or "cheeky." The latter, almost positive, meaning is implied in Frechdachs, which Germans use in contexts where one would use "whipper-snapper" or "little rascal" in English, i.e. to refer to a somewhat sassy child. And I have no idea how badgers got involved in all of this.

Addendum (5/23/2012): As was doing research for my book, Wild Things in the German Language, I came across some explanations. According to one of them, Frechdachs is a mnemonic to help students of Latin remember that audax means frech in that language. I find this explanation somewhat more plausible than a second one, which claims that frech survives in Frechdachs in the now obsolete meaning of "brave" and that badgers got a reputation for bravery because they were willing to defend their burrow, when they had young, even against larger predators.

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

Books on Politics

There are some very interesting books out that deal with various aspects of the current political situation. We start with a comment by one of our "regulars" on The Forty Years War by Len Colodny and Tom Schachtman and Bomb Power by Gary Wills.

Word of the month: Vorfreude

Word of the Month: Index

Vorfreude combines the prefix vor (similar to the English prefix "pre") and Freude (joy, pleasure). The term denotes a form of anticipation that imagines future pleasures ahead of time. When we were kids, for example, we experienced an intense Vorfreude in the weeks before Christmas. Right now, I have similar feelings when I think about the soccer World Cup that will start in S. Africa in mid-June.

Note on pronunciation: Vor is pronounced like English "for"—i.e. the "v" sounds like English "f", not like English "v"; the diphthong "eu" is pronounced like the "oy" in "joy"; and the ending "e" forms a full third syllable with the preceding "d". Try do say "FOR • froy • dah"!

Bauhaus at MOMA

Reminder: The Bauhaus 1919–1933: Workshops for Modernity exhibition closed on Jan. 25 at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. I've been there twice--my later comments were written after my second visit. I would have gone a third time if had had the opportunity--I loved the exhibition so much--it hit me on a very visceral level.

← table lamp by Wilhelm Wagenfeld

Word of the month: Salonlöwe

A Salonlöwe ("lounge lion") is a socialite displaying more style than substance (all that attention paid to hair!). Eine Person, die zwar sehr elegant und gebildet, aber auch sehr oberflächlich ist ("a person who is very elegant and well-educated, but also very shallow") is one definition I found on the web.

It's tempting to compare the German animal to the English "lounge lizard", but I have the sense that the German expression does not connote a slithering parasite, a gigolo who lives off women, which the English definitions of "lounge lizard" stress.

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

Happy New Year to all my friends!

The English invasion

The Liebeskummer thread drifted at the end into comments by me on the avalanche of English words currently hitting German. I think this topic deserves a thread in its own right, and I moved the comment I made there to the no. 1 spot here.

FIFA World Cup 2010: The 8 starting groups

On Dec. 4, the 8 groups to start the first phase in World Cup play next year will be determined in Cape Town in a ceremony broadcast to the entire world, emceed by one of S. Africa's most notable exports, Charlize Theron. This thread will give readers a chance to comment--I'll start with a preview...