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News & ArtsTuesday, March 31, 2009
Drunk Frühjahrsmüdigkeit
Posted by Lindy West on Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 1:38 PM
Frühjahrsmüdigkeit, to my great delight, is the German word for "spring fever."
Except, to my great disappointment, it's the bad kind of spring fever:
a state of low energy and weariness experienced by many people in springtime
And not the good kind:
an increase in energy, vitality and particularly sexual appetite
Boo! Is there a German word for the good kind? Is it as good as Frühjahrsmüdigkeit? I love German.
Baby swamp rabbit photo (the kind that tried to eat Jimmy Carter!) courtesy Wikipedia.
2
oooh, ja, der Hase! Er/sie ist sehr hubsch (Kein umlaut; es tut mir leid.
(I just finished my foreign language requirement. I love German as well!)
(I just finished my foreign language requirement. I love German as well!)
3
German has got to be the ugliest language on the planet. I think it has something to do with all those consonants.
6
Most German words like this are just pushed together other words: Früh-jahr-müdig(s)-keit = early-year (spring)-tired-ness.
So a little German reverse engineering and we get
Frühjahrwachsamskeit or possibly Frühjahrgeilskeit?
So a little German reverse engineering and we get
Frühjahrwachsamskeit or possibly Frühjahrgeilskeit?
7
Lindy, I knew a German psychiatrist who told me that most suicide attempts occur not on the holidays but towards mid-spring, when hopes have been raised by nice weather and more activity that things will change. And when they don't, that's when people really want to give up. Thank God our weather hasn't gotten any better yet.
11
3 - spoken by the right people (and not in grainy old Nazi assembly speeches) German can sound beautiful and whispery with all those consonants. I would say offer up Cockney English as the ugliest on the planet.
Die Frühlingsunruhe might also be a better alternative. 'Spring restlessness' is the direct translation.
Die Frühlingsunruhe might also be a better alternative. 'Spring restlessness' is the direct translation.
13
@11 - I agree, German can be a beautiful language spoken by the right people. Some dialects of German do hit my ears wrong, esp. some Austrian varieties - listening to two little old ladies talking on the streetcar in Vienna one day made me want to puke.
14
@11
Fruehlingsunruhe is good; I had thought maybe Fruhelingsrastlosigkeit (both mean "spring restlessness").
German doesn't always have the right nuance of the concept you need, and this is likely an example.
Here's another example: German doesn't have a way to say "my ears popped" like when you drive over the pass. They can only say "I've got pressure on my ears" and then no way to describe the release.
Fruehlingsunruhe is good; I had thought maybe Fruhelingsrastlosigkeit (both mean "spring restlessness").
German doesn't always have the right nuance of the concept you need, and this is likely an example.
Here's another example: German doesn't have a way to say "my ears popped" like when you drive over the pass. They can only say "I've got pressure on my ears" and then no way to describe the release.
16
I think it all has to do with the accent- who doesn't get the hairs on the back of their neck standing on end a little when they hear some redneck American accent?
19
Mein lieblings deutsch Wort ist "katzenjammer". Aber ist laggerkoller auch gut.
Fruehlingsglucklichzeit! Ich kann nicht deutsch sprechen!
Fruehlingsglucklichzeit! Ich kann nicht deutsch sprechen!
20
I'm starting a blog called "dumboverload" and featuring Lindy's posts at least once a week, maybe FUCKING TWICE! YAY
21
"Frühlingsgefühle haben" actually means "to be in love" - it's not specifically related to spring, even if there might be more chance of falling in love when the orchards are blossoming and the birds are nesting.
And as to ugly German dialects: try Saxonian. But whatever some dialects may sound like: the language that Goethe, Heine, Rilke undsoweiter wrote can't be bad. Listen to some Schubert songs.
And as to ugly German dialects: try Saxonian. But whatever some dialects may sound like: the language that Goethe, Heine, Rilke undsoweiter wrote can't be bad. Listen to some Schubert songs.
22
Lindy -
I sent your post to my German ex-husband. His response follows:
The opposite to the Frühjahrsmüdigkeit is the Frühjahrsputz.
People are encouraged to get rid of the bad winter feelings. They clean up their apartments, rooms, houses. They eat fresh fruits and vegetables and then get rid of all of these negative feelings. They clean the outside of their environment, broom the rooms, clean the windows and then their mentality changes as well. Then, as the grass becomes full green and the flowers are coming out to bloom, mankind does the same.
I sent your post to my German ex-husband. His response follows:
The opposite to the Frühjahrsmüdigkeit is the Frühjahrsputz.
People are encouraged to get rid of the bad winter feelings. They clean up their apartments, rooms, houses. They eat fresh fruits and vegetables and then get rid of all of these negative feelings. They clean the outside of their environment, broom the rooms, clean the windows and then their mentality changes as well. Then, as the grass becomes full green and the flowers are coming out to bloom, mankind does the same.
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