Sprachgefuhl

Because of this morning's post, a friend alerted me to this word:



She got it from a word-a-day mailing list. The email goes on:

If you have Sprachgefuhl, you have an ear for idiomatically appropriate language. The best illustration of Sprachgefuhl, or the lack of it, was an 1855 Portuguese-English phrase book intended to help Portuguese speakers master the English language.

Titled "English As She Is Spoke", it was authored by one Pedro Carolino. The only problem was that Pedro didn't know any English. On the plus side, he did have a Portuguese-French phrase book. Pedro simply picked up a French-English dictionary and tried the circuitous route: Portuguese to French to English. The result was such gems as:

Names for body parts:
"Of the Man: The inferior lip; The superior lip; The fat of the leg."

Food:
"Eatings: Some black pudding; A little mine; Hog fat; Some wigs; Vegetables boiled to a pap."

Swimming instructions:
"For to swim: I row upon the belly on the back and between two waters."

Idioms:
"Idiotism: Cat scalded fear the cold water."

This book was even used as a textbook in the Portuguese colony of Macao. I regret to say they eventually stopped using it. Imagine, in just a few years, we could have witnessed a lovely new strain of the English language take root.

Pedro was simply ahead of his time. Today anyone can achieve the same results with computer translation: http://google.com/language_tools

I love this word. It is vaguely autological and yet vaguely heterological at the same time. Germans have wonderful words, but the people themselves are not known for their Sprachgefuhl in English, g'bless'em.

Also, the diversity of Sprachgefuhl is why the division of labor allows me the job I have and also why my job is simultaneously fun, educational, and humbling.