Sunday, May 21, 2006
(10:01 AM) | Adam Kotsko:
A Post That Should Not Be Read
The German language is famous for its ability to create new compound words in order to capture human experience more precisely. Last night, Anthony asked if German had a word for the wet spot in the bed after sexual intercourse. Whether or not such a term is already extant, I figured it was theoretically possible and set to work with a dictionary. Keeping in mind that I have had no formal training in the art of creating compound German words, here is what I came up with:GeschlechtsverkehrfolgendefeuchtigbettstelleLiterally (at least as far as I can tell), that is "sexual-intercourse-following-moist-bed-spot." If there are any more versed in German lore -- ideally native German speakers -- who can improve upon this attempt, I would be eager to learn. (For instance, I know that German sometimes throws an "s" in between two parts of a compound word, but I haven't been able to pick up on a pattern for when this should be done. I put an "e" at the end of "folgend" in order to improve the flow, rather than based on any concrete reason; this may not be allowed in real life.)
