Saturday, November 16, 2013

Great Phrases, German and English

This is from Wired magazine.  I found these words humorous, and they describe feelings I've had before but never described to anyone else.  It's great when  you realize that other folks have the same feelings. 

Wort-Verwurstung (Word Sausage-Making)
"For true specificity, you have to go to German, where the grammar allows for seemingly endless compound constructions.  That's what Ben Schott did when compiling his new book, Schottenfreude: German Words for the Human Condition." 

Here are a couple of my favorites:

bostdruck (guest-pressure): The exhausting effort of being a good houseguest. 

Speichelgleichmut (saliva-stoicism): Pretending you haven't been accidentally spat on in conversation. 

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