The curse of polygottalism

[muckefuck]

I had a very pleasant lunch today with a coworker. (At the end she said, "That was very enjoyable. We almost didn't mention work at all!") At one point I wanted to tell her what kind of novel I was reading at home. I started to say "policier" but realised I needed another word because that wasn't English. But all I could think of as an alternative was "Krimi". After struggling for a bit, I finally just confessed my confusion and she said, "Detective fiction?" (Fortunately, she's the sympathetic sort who would never accuse me of showing off.)

Comments

Sehr geehrter Herr Polygott, (sic)

[anicca-anicca.livejournal.com]

That's funny. "Krimi" is a tough one. I remember asking you just that ages ago. I think what you gave me at the time was "mystery novel", but there's really no one good equivalent for "Krimi" in English. They all sound kind of contrived, (I know from the funny looks I got from shop assistants when asking for the xy section) and are not as comprehensive as "Krimi".

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

That was the problem I had with this one: It's not truly a "mystery"--or, if so, it doesn't follow classic mystery structure.