Tuesday, January 20, 2009

German word of the week

The German word of the week (courtesy of Deutsche Welle) is:

Eierlegende Wollmilchsau
"Germans have, apparently, never subscribed to the premise that you can't make all the people happy all the time. That's the idea behind the word "Eierlegende Wollmilchsau." Who wouldn't be happy to have a pig that lays eggs, gives milk and produces wool before it's turned into a tasty Sunday roast? These days, the term has come to mean any person or device that's able to be used in a wide variety of ways -- like an alarm clock that makes coffee and toast or a cell phone that reminds you to pickup the dry cleaning."
According to Babel Fish, Eierlegende Wollmilchsau translates directly into English as "Egg-laying woolly milch sow".




That'll do, Eierlegende Wollmillschau. That'll do.

11 comments:

Doc said...

I've got a couple of acres out back. The article didn't mention where I could get a couple of these did it?

Doc

Dino said...

as your German reader i just want to point out that i NEVER heard of this word

SkylersDad said...

When I get mine I shall call him Wilbur.

Joe said...

Skylersdad, yes. But make sure you pronounce the "W" as a "V".

Katy, I meant to run these by you. These are from the Deutsche Welle website. They have a weird news section I visit, and I noticed that in the sidebar they have a feature on learning German words and phrases. They don't say if these are limited in use to a specific region or area.

Doc, I'm putting in an order for a few of them myself. I'll let you know.

Gifted Typist said...

Brilliant, Bubs.
I love those awkward German words. My other fave word - besides Walthamstow - is Liebfraumilch. Because I don't have an opportunity to say that, I've replaced the milk I give to my children wit the word Liebfraumilch and water has become Walthamstow.
In my house, them's the rulz.
It's true.
Do you think I;m mentally ill?

Anonymous said...

Egg laying wooly milk sow. That's a pretty good insult in and of itself.

Shelley Jaffe said...

Killer wrap-up line, and who has de mad Photoshop skillz, nein?

lisahgolden said...

I took one semester of German at I.U. It was a small disaster. I spoke it with a French accent, constantly craved wienerschnitzel and only retained one phrase: Ich haben hunger (sp?)

It came in handy when I needed to be for weinerschnitzel.

Anonymous said...

Hey, that kind of looks like my Uncle Birdie. What the hell?

Anonymous said...

Wow! That's some sow! How long will it be before one of those Eierlegende Wollmillschaus is genetically engineered?

Anonymous said...

Hi there, in Germany the right spelling of this word ist: Eierlegende Wollmilchsau. Have fun and a save day.