Only the Germans can give us words like weltverbesserungswahn. We're better off for it.
It can be translated as 'the conviction that the world could be better'. Which is a fine description of why this blog exists.
Better for everyone, especially rugrats like this.
We just have to stick to the path, despite the challenges.
And looking good while doing it certainly a plus.
12 comments:
i dont understand this word, no idea about german language!
Funny to see a German title on your blog. :) I love my language!
Beautiful as always!
xoxo-
Alice
Just like to point out that 'wahn' (similar to Dutch 'waan') means something like delusion, so the delusion that the world could be a better place. Maybe not something to advocate? Maybe 'weltverbesserungssicherheit' is a better word? (is it even a word?)
I read the word... and definition... in the William Boyd short story Beulah Berlin A-Z.
Anneke: re: Weltverbesserungssicherheit ... not a word. While Wahn can mean delusion, I think in this case the best translation would be obsession. It's not just the conviction that the world could be better; you have to be actively working on making the world better to be in the proper Weltverbesserungswahn. It's a great word.
I love German for words like this . . . though my ability to speak German is just soooo limited.
However, I do have a slightly different word to explain why Copenhagenize exists.
If we all spent less time driving, and more time riding about our daily business, perhaps we'll all end up riding economic miracle bikes:
Wirtschaftswunderfahrrad
I'll add my 'Zwei Euro Centen':
Spaß-Maschine
Mädchen Magnet
Herz-Beschleuniger
Eleganz Anwender
:)
too funny. Enter 'Spaß' in Wikipedia, guess what kind of picture is on top?
Nuff said.
Enjoying the Friedrich Nietzsche reference in the poster in the background. "Friedrich never came to Sweden? He lived in Denmark" ... yes?
that is funny, marc!
it's not Nietzsche... it's Caspar David Friedrich, the German artist.
This is really good.
Thanks for this nice post.
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