Die Angst vorm Weltschmerz
[I've written that text Friday evening but as I've already written enough that day and Saturday too I decided to to post it today automatically in case I don't manage to be online due to my soccer duties...]
In the morning I continued reading Tuesday’s newspaper (one paper for a whole week, that’s economical..) and finally, three days later, I also read the article about the Oilers-Hurricanes-couple Florian mentioned…
On that same page I found an article which contained two very interesting terms. Just to show you that it’s not only the poor German language that’s being invaded and polluted by evil English terms but that we’ve managed at least a few exports too. First the definitions:
Weltschmerz
Pronunciation: 'velt-"shmerts
Etymology: German, from Welt world + Schmerz pain
1: mental depression or apathy caused by comparison of the actual state of the world with an ideal state
2: a mood of sentimental sadness (1)
angst
Pronunciation: 'ä[ng](k)st, 'a[ng](k)st
Etymology: Danish & German; Danish, from German
: a feeling of anxiety, apprehension, or insecurity(2)
And here are the two quotes from the article:
“The [window banners in my neighbourhood] have begun to fade like the flag on my mom's car. They have begun to fade like the Oilers tattoos on the chubby cheeks of the boy on my bus, burying his head in a Harry Potter book to remedy his heartbreak. His weltschmerz. My weltschmerz. Your weltschmerz.“
“Admit it: somewhere, deep inside, you enjoy the angst. It reminds you, today, that you are alive.”(3)
Mentioning this I remember another episode closely related to this issue. A couple of weeks ago, the finals of the “CanWest CanSpell National Spelling Bee” – according to the Edmonton Journal “the world's most prestigious bee” (spelling bee = Buchstabierwettbewerb) – took place in Washington D.C. Canada's top speller was Finola Hackett, a 14-years-old girl from Alberta. In the end she was “just” second because she had problems with exactly the word “weltschmerz”.(4)
Afterwards various letters to the editor (which I unfortunately can’t find online) praised her and claimed she would have deserved victory. One person pointed out, that this word actually isn’t used at all in German. Another jeered it was a disgrace that the Americans needed an outdated German term in order to steal the title from that brave and excellent Canadian girl who had deserved it. (What they did of course not mention is that the word with which Katharine Close from New Jersey won the title was “ursprache”(4) – which, I think, is even less frequently used!)
(1) Merriam-Webster Online, http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/weltschmerz, accessed 23 June 2006.
(2) Merriam-Webster Online, http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/angst, accessed 23 June 2006.
(3) Todd Babiak: “Oilers gave us great happiness - and the gift of angst. All the best and most authentic things have a core of sadness about them”, in: Edmonton Journal, 20 June 2006, http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=70984836-99d5-4923-935c-6ec0dde3c15e, accessed 23 June 2006
(4) Alexandra Zabjek: "Defeated by 'weltschmerz' in the Scripps final round", http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=48eb0039-d76f-4357-928d-1ed9804a7cd5&k=8997
In the morning I continued reading Tuesday’s newspaper (one paper for a whole week, that’s economical..) and finally, three days later, I also read the article about the Oilers-Hurricanes-couple Florian mentioned…
On that same page I found an article which contained two very interesting terms. Just to show you that it’s not only the poor German language that’s being invaded and polluted by evil English terms but that we’ve managed at least a few exports too. First the definitions:
Weltschmerz
Pronunciation: 'velt-"shmerts
Etymology: German, from Welt world + Schmerz pain
1: mental depression or apathy caused by comparison of the actual state of the world with an ideal state
2: a mood of sentimental sadness (1)
angst
Pronunciation: 'ä[ng](k)st, 'a[ng](k)st
Etymology: Danish & German; Danish, from German
: a feeling of anxiety, apprehension, or insecurity(2)
And here are the two quotes from the article:
“The [window banners in my neighbourhood] have begun to fade like the flag on my mom's car. They have begun to fade like the Oilers tattoos on the chubby cheeks of the boy on my bus, burying his head in a Harry Potter book to remedy his heartbreak. His weltschmerz. My weltschmerz. Your weltschmerz.“
“Admit it: somewhere, deep inside, you enjoy the angst. It reminds you, today, that you are alive.”(3)
Mentioning this I remember another episode closely related to this issue. A couple of weeks ago, the finals of the “CanWest CanSpell National Spelling Bee” – according to the Edmonton Journal “the world's most prestigious bee” (spelling bee = Buchstabierwettbewerb) – took place in Washington D.C. Canada's top speller was Finola Hackett, a 14-years-old girl from Alberta. In the end she was “just” second because she had problems with exactly the word “weltschmerz”.(4)
Afterwards various letters to the editor (which I unfortunately can’t find online) praised her and claimed she would have deserved victory. One person pointed out, that this word actually isn’t used at all in German. Another jeered it was a disgrace that the Americans needed an outdated German term in order to steal the title from that brave and excellent Canadian girl who had deserved it. (What they did of course not mention is that the word with which Katharine Close from New Jersey won the title was “ursprache”(4) – which, I think, is even less frequently used!)
(1) Merriam-Webster Online, http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/weltschmerz, accessed 23 June 2006.
(2) Merriam-Webster Online, http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/angst, accessed 23 June 2006.
(3) Todd Babiak: “Oilers gave us great happiness - and the gift of angst. All the best and most authentic things have a core of sadness about them”, in: Edmonton Journal, 20 June 2006, http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=70984836-99d5-4923-935c-6ec0dde3c15e, accessed 23 June 2006
(4) Alexandra Zabjek: "Defeated by 'weltschmerz' in the Scripps final round", http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=48eb0039-d76f-4357-928d-1ed9804a7cd5&k=8997
relationes - 2006/06/26 02:18