Living languages need and subsequently bear new words, primarily for terms our ancestors didn't know. Luther, when translating the Bible into German, created neologisms for Latin words like Morgenland (the land where the morning sun rises) for orient, Schauplatz (the site where something can be looked at) for a scene, Ehrgeiz (craving honor) for ambition, and Vorhaut for the prepuce. Question: Was the English word foreskin known before the German Vorhaut?
Later in the middle of the 17th century, a guy called Philipp von Zesen fought the pernicious influence of French on the German language and created words like Abstand for distance, Anschrift for adresse, Mundart for dialect, Leidenschaft (creating suffering) for passion, Rechtschreibung for orthographie, and Emporkömmling for parvenu.
American English words nowadays adopted in German are primarily due to technical developments even though German native words exist. They are rarely used. For to browse, the old German verb stöbern could be revived, and Klappliste could replace the drop-down list. Having learned computers in an English-speaking environment, I find it challenging to integrate the perfect German term Festplatte for a hard disk into my vocabulary.
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| Sascha Lobo in 2009 (©Mattias Bauer/Wikipedia) |
*Sascha Lobo, NEON: Wortschatz: 698 neue Worte für alle Lebenslagen, rororo, November 2011
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Here are more of his exciting creations:
Affärmann is the male part in an affair playing on the resemblance with Fährmann (ferryman).
Unterlastung is the contrary to Überlastung (overload or overstrain).
The neologism verversprechen plays on the German double meaning, for versprechen means either a promise or a slip of the tongue. The new word actually means that a politician's promise before the election was just a slip of the tongue.
Dreifel is a superlative of Zweifel, playing on the words zwei for two and drei for three.
Namnesie is an illness progressing with age, not remembering names from the word Amnesie (amnesia).
Schnice is a German brew of schön and nice.
With komplimieren, we may have a new German verb for English to compliment, resembling the pronunciation of komprimieren (to compress).
Ultratasking is the superlative of multitasking.
The German word Eifer for zeal, favor, eagerness now has a new form, iFer. It is the obsession to be the first to acquire the latest Apple gadget.
Many of Sascha's 698 neologisms are either just fun or nuts. On the other hand, he has pointed out the need for creating new and fitting words for all situations. He calls for adding to the classical three educational Rs (Reading, writing, 'rithmatic) the verse:
Rechnen und Lesen,
Schreiben und Zesen,
thus honoring Philipp Zensen's efforts in the 17th century.
Affärmann is the male part in an affair playing on the resemblance with Fährmann (ferryman).
Unterlastung is the contrary to Überlastung (overload or overstrain).
The neologism verversprechen plays on the German double meaning, for versprechen means either a promise or a slip of the tongue. The new word actually means that a politician's promise before the election was just a slip of the tongue.
Dreifel is a superlative of Zweifel, playing on the words zwei for two and drei for three.
Namnesie is an illness progressing with age, not remembering names from the word Amnesie (amnesia).
Schnice is a German brew of schön and nice.
With komplimieren, we may have a new German verb for English to compliment, resembling the pronunciation of komprimieren (to compress).
Ultratasking is the superlative of multitasking.
The German word Eifer for zeal, favor, eagerness now has a new form, iFer. It is the obsession to be the first to acquire the latest Apple gadget.
Many of Sascha's 698 neologisms are either just fun or nuts. On the other hand, he has pointed out the need for creating new and fitting words for all situations. He calls for adding to the classical three educational Rs (Reading, writing, 'rithmatic) the verse:
Rechnen und Lesen,
Schreiben und Zesen,
thus honoring Philipp Zensen's efforts in the 17th century.
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