Sprachgefühl … and other impossible words

As a German in New York, when I feel lonely and out of place I read the Merriam Webster Dictionary. It makes me happy to see words like “Fahrvergnügen,” “Zeitgeist,” “Doppelgänger” and “Leitmotiv,” and  I always marvel at the beauty of these compound nouns. I also think it is just aweso

me that Americans think the same way and have made them part of the English language as well. What I find even more amazing is that Elementary and Junior High School students know how to spell German words without ever having used or heard them before. I still remember this very smart kid that came in second at the 2008 National Spelling Bee Contest. This is a competition where children have to spell really impossible words and the winner gets $35, 000  and a picture with the President – all broadcast on prime time TV. And there are plenty of German words.
This year 12-year old Sidharth Chand just rattled off “K-U-L-T-U-R-K-A-M-P-F”.* Amazing!

In New York City there are spelling bee contests for adults only  every month, which is much more fun. First, the words might be a little different from the ones the kids have to spell and  secondly, you feel more allowed to pick on adults when they make mistakes. (“What? You don’t even know how to spell “pornological”? What planet are you living on?”).

Grown-ups are also allowed to memorize words differently. In Oregon for instance, the 56-year old Bill Long participated in the National Senior Spelling Bee and failed to spell “caipirinha” correctly. He punished himself by drinking the Brazilian cocktail for over a week and took the word “learning strategy” to the next level.

I suggest starting a spelling contest only with German words, just because there are so many: Posaune, Achtung, Angst, Blitzkrieg, Hinterland, Kindergarten, Poltergeist, Rucksack, Schnitzel, Verboten, Wunderkind.
I wouldn’t bother with trophies for the winners. Just give them a nice cold beer and some brats and they’ll be happy. Discover your “Sprachgefühl” (an intuitive sense of what is linguistically appropriate) and if you long for something German -  read the Merriam Webster Dictionary.

* “Kulturkampf (literally, “culture struggle”) refers to German policies in relation to secularity and the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, enacted from 1871 to 1878 by the Chancellor of the German Empire, Otto von Bismarck. In the USA, the term Kulturkampf and its calque “culture war” has beenis used since 1960 to describe conflicts between Conservatives and Liberals.”

Annette Baran

One Response to “Sprachgefühl … and other impossible words”

1. Flake Says:
   October 19th, 2009 at 5:58 am

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