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Reumütiger Lernmuffel
I've been a little down on myself about my language learning lately. For instance, I'm feeling terribly guilty about not stopping in to chat with Liu laoshi, but I'd have to seriously bone up on my Chinese before doing so. Every time I sit down with it, I realise with chagrin how much I've lost from being out of class for a few months. So I'm wondering if it might help for me to jot down new words and expressions I've learned on a daily basis. That way, I could look back and see that I am acquiring new vocab.
While I was home sick, I read a fair bit of German and here are some of new words I got out of it: Garçonnière, Portier, Plafond [all Austriacisms], Manschetten, Muffel, Rollkragen, Brandung, Sprechanlage, Altweibersommer [im Sinne von schwebenden Spinnfäden], aper, apern.
So far, my favourite discovery is Muffel. The basic meaning is "sourpuss", but as a second element in compounds it means "one who dislikes", e.g. Krawattenmuffel "someone who dislikes wearing ties", Morgenmuffel "someone who's crabby in the mornings", etc. Before the departmental meeting this morning, I shared my joy with a couple of German-speaking co-workers. Later, after our boss had informed us that the head of the organisation wanted us all involved in the current round of strategic planning and one of these co-workers balked, Pablo said, "You're being a Strategiemuffel!" It was impossible to settle down again after that.
However, it's hard not to love the southern German words aper "free from snow" or apern "to become free from snow" either. Looking them up helped jog my memory concerning the word Firn which basically means "snow left over from previous winters" but has been borrowed into English as a technical term for a kind of ice. We're catching up to the Eskimos all the time!
Edited to add:
Spanish: naco, fresa (roughly the Mexican equivalent of a pijo), huaso, lecho.
While I was home sick, I read a fair bit of German and here are some of new words I got out of it: Garçonnière, Portier, Plafond [all Austriacisms], Manschetten, Muffel, Rollkragen, Brandung, Sprechanlage, Altweibersommer [im Sinne von schwebenden Spinnfäden], aper, apern.
So far, my favourite discovery is Muffel. The basic meaning is "sourpuss", but as a second element in compounds it means "one who dislikes", e.g. Krawattenmuffel "someone who dislikes wearing ties", Morgenmuffel "someone who's crabby in the mornings", etc. Before the departmental meeting this morning, I shared my joy with a couple of German-speaking co-workers. Later, after our boss had informed us that the head of the organisation wanted us all involved in the current round of strategic planning and one of these co-workers balked, Pablo said, "You're being a Strategiemuffel!" It was impossible to settle down again after that.
However, it's hard not to love the southern German words aper "free from snow" or apern "to become free from snow" either. Looking them up helped jog my memory concerning the word Firn which basically means "snow left over from previous winters" but has been borrowed into English as a technical term for a kind of ice. We're catching up to the Eskimos all the time!
Edited to add:
Spanish: naco, fresa (roughly the Mexican equivalent of a pijo), huaso, lecho.