Sometimes I listen to Denise talking with her relatives in German, and convince myself that I am able to understand some of what is going on. I don't really. Sadly, my comprehension of the language comes down to just a few words. Having said that, I really like some of those words a lot.
Perhaps my favourite is schadenfreude, which refers to the pleasure we derive from the misfortunes of others. There really is no English word for this, and yet, I for one indulge in it every day, and am pleased that there is a word for it, even if it is in a different language. For example, I was really happy when the Calgary Flames did not make the play-offs, because I have seen them beat the Canucks in the seventh game of a play-off series a few too many times. Were the Flames organization to undergo a massive scandal, with much heart-ache for management, players, and fans, I might be even happier. I was also pleased that Real Madrid fell out of the Champions League, because this year they picked up Christiano Ronaldo, who has to be the most despicable athlete in the world today. Ahh, schadenfreude.
Another is doppelganger, which is a ghostly double of a living person that haunts its living counterpart. Seeing one's own doppelganger is construed by some to be an omen of death. Others use this word to desribe a feeling one has when one has glimpsed one's own image in peripheral vision, even though there is simply no way it could have been a reflection. Again, there is no English equivalent.
My third favourite German word is zeitgeist. Someone has defined zeitgeist for Wikipedia as 'the general cultural, intellectual, ethical, spiritual, and/or political climate within a nation or even specific groups, along with the general ambience, morals, and sociocultural direction or mood of an era'. During the Neville Chamberlain era of Britain, the zeitgeist may have been to appease the upstart dictators so as to lessen the chances of conflict. During the George W. Bush era, the zeitgeist in America may have been that the world is full of enemies, requiring Americans to root them out, capture, imprison, and kill them. Again, we lack an English equivalent to describe such a cool concept.
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3 comments:
gemutlichkeit - anther wonderful German word. BTW, you are mein schatz!
Schweinehud: Literal translation -"pig-dog" is generally used in English-speaking WWII movies as an insult similar to ‘bastard’. In Germany itself, the word as an insult hurled at others has probably been out of use since 1900and now is used to refer to one's inner resistance against making an effort, even if it was for one's own good ("innerer Schweinehund").
Schweinehud: Literal translation is "pig-dog" is generally used in English-speaking WWII movies as an insult similar to ‘bastard’. In Germany itself, the word as an insult hurled at others has probably been out of use since 1900 and now is solely used to refer to one's inner resistance against making an effort, even if it was for one's own good ("innerer Schweinehund").
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