Martha tries to unravel the tangled etymological web that connects gossamer, spiders, geese, and warm weather in a late autumn.
flugtag n.— «More than 30 human-powered aircraft designs will take part in Red Bull’s Flugtag competition on Aug. 3, behind the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau. It’s part air-show spectacle and part Jackass stunt. Flugtag is a German...
The German word über has found a place in American English. A New Jersey man says he and his colleagues find it to be more versatile than a Swiss Army knife, as in, “He is uber in the middle of that situation,” “That was an uber meeting,” and “You...
Googleganger n.— Note: From the German word “doppelgänger,” meaning a look-alike or a double of a person. «It was an honest mistake: Eve’s name kept showing up on X-rated sites when her mother Googled it to keep tabs on her daughter. But that Eve...
doty house n.— «The building that houses the Gallery was built by a family who moved out-of-state, and it has a unique story of its own. Mike explains the gallery building is an Amish “doty” house; doty being the German word for grandparents. A...
scherenschnitte n.— «Jeri discovered paper cutting, or scherenschnitte in a book on early American art and she’s been doing it ever since. That’s right its called “scherenschnitte,” which is actually a German word for “scissor snipping.”» —“The...