12 December 2008

Weltverbesserungswahn

A Sense of Cycle Motion
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.
Long John Felix
Better for everyone, especially rugrats like this.
Black and White Snow bike
We just have to stick to the path, despite the challenges.
Couple on Square
And looking good while doing it certainly a plus.
at

12 comments:

  1. Gratistotal12 December 2008 at 12:09

    i dont understand this word, no idea about german language!

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  2. Anonymous12 December 2008 at 13:04

    Funny to see a German title on your blog. :) I love my language!

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  3. Unknown12 December 2008 at 16:35

    Beautiful as always!

    xoxo-
    Alice

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  4. Anneke12 December 2008 at 20:39

    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?)

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  5. Colville-Andersen12 December 2008 at 22:01

    I read the word... and definition... in the William Boyd short story Beulah Berlin A-Z.

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  6. Anonymous13 December 2008 at 01:33

    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.

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  7. Anonymous13 December 2008 at 23:44

    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

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  8. Anonymous14 December 2008 at 14:15

    I'll add my 'Zwei Euro Centen':

    Spaß-Maschine

    Mädchen Magnet

    Herz-Beschleuniger

    Eleganz Anwender

    :)

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  9. Anonymous14 December 2008 at 14:33

    too funny. Enter 'Spaß' in Wikipedia, guess what kind of picture is on top?

    Nuff said.

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  10. Brian Barnard14 December 2008 at 18:47

    Enjoying the Friedrich Nietzsche reference in the poster in the background. "Friedrich never came to Sweden? He lived in Denmark" ... yes?

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  11. Colville-Andersen14 December 2008 at 20:19

    that is funny, marc!
    it's not Nietzsche... it's Caspar David Friedrich, the German artist.

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  12. Anonymous21 March 2009 at 04:36

    This is really good.
    Thanks for this nice post.

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