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Baedeker, baedeker n.

a guidebook to countries or a country, a guidebook to places, a guidebook to other things such as restaurants usually for travellers [< Karl Baedeker (1801-1859), publisher of a series of travel guidebooks < Bädeker, Bädker, Bödeker, Böcker, Bäker, the Low German form of the name Böttcher "vat maker", not related to Bäcker "baker"].

• "When he catches sight through his window of a group of strangers, Baedekers in hand, asking directions of a policeman, he merely hopes that they won't seek out, through this tangle of streets, the traghetto San Gregorio...." Ian Littlewood, A Literary Companion to Venice, 1995, p. 4.
• "But as a general thing all the circus folk preferred to roam among the native people and native scenes, and even found some scenes that the Baedeker guidebooks neglected to mention." Gary Jennings, The Center Ring: Spangle #2, 1999, p. 132.
• "Rimbaud never travelled with a Baedeker and showed no interest in any particular category of art or architecture." Graham Robb, Rimbaud: A Biography, 2001, p. 1.
• "This is as good a place as any to say that I am not lost without a Baedeker." James Thurber, My World and Welcome to It, 1969, p. 224.
• "The man had already made all the arrangements and now he stood waiting on the platform, smiling cheerfully, red Baedeker guide in hand." Kevin Baker, Dreamland: A Novel, 2002, p. 68.
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Baedeker Blitz, Baedeker raids n.

a series of raids conducted by the German Luftwaffe during World War II on cities of cultural and historical interest in England reputedly chosen from the Baedeker tourist guide to Britain.

• The Great York Air Raid: The Baedeker bombing attack on York, April 29th, 1942, Leo Kessler, 1979.

Bauhaus n.

from Bau "construction, architecture, a building" + Haus "a house, a building": an architectural school founded in Germany in 1919, known for its experimental use of metal, glass, etc. in buildings. See also gasthaus, hausfrau and plattenbau.

• "As always, the atmosphere there was chaotic; all the phones were ringing, but there was no receptionist in the little waiting area by the elevators, which was decorated with faded, taped-up posters for a 1929 Bauhaus Exhibition in Berlin and an old science-fiction movie called The Forbin Project." Michael Crichton, Disclosure, 1993.
• "When the Lovell family Chevy pulled up in front of these blocky, Bauhaus-like structures in the steady drizzle, Marilyn's mood sank." Jim Lovell & Jeffrey Kluger, Apollo 13, 1995.
• "Oil paintings of benefactors hung in the lobby of Gilman—'the idiot children of the rich,' said the dean, as he gave me a quick tour—and in the Bush Library, a four-story circular structure, concrete and brick and of a sturdy Bauhaus demeanor, with high beamed ceilings, the stacks dotted with study carrels, the building eerily empty, devoid of students." Garrison Keillor, Wobegon Boy, 1997, p. 7.
• The Dessau Bauhaus Building 1926-1999, by Margret Kentgens-Craig, 1999.
• Biedermeier to Bauhaus, by Sigrid Sangl, Barbara Stoeltie and Rene Stoeltie, 2001.
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baum marten n.

from Baummarder "tree marten": (the brown fur of) the European (Pine) Marten (Martes martes)

• "The pine marten (M. martes) of European and Central Asian forests is also called baum marten and sweet marten." "marten", Britannica.com.
• "The baum marten (or pine marten), with a yellow throat, and the stone marten (or beech marten), with a white throat, are found in Europe and Asia." "Marten", Microsoft® Encarta® 98 Encyclopedia.

Beck's n.

a brand of beer from Germany [< Beck, Becke, Becker, Böck, Bäck, Bäcker, a common German surname, Bäcker "baker"].

• "THE MOST FAMOUS GERMAN WORD IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE", Beck's beer magazine advertisement, 1984. Wishful thinking, common to advertising copy.
• "He passed out Beck's beer to nearly all the other passengers." Thomas J. Stanley, Millionaire Women Next Door: The Many Journeys of Successful American Businesswomen, 2004, p. 198.
• Beck's at Wikipedia

berg n.

related to Berg "mountain": an iceberg: Merriam-Webster says iceberg probably comes from Norwegian or Danish isberg, but to me German Eisberg also seems conceivable. [Middle High German berc; Old High German berg.] See also burg.

• "Antarctica continually sheds accumulating ice as glaciers calve bergs—some as big as Rhode Island." Eugene Linden, Time, May 12, 1997.

Bildungsroman, bildungsroman n.

from Bildungsroman "education novel": a novel focussing on the moral and spiritual development of the main character, an Entwicklungsroman.

• "Lewis' Bildungsroman is an ironic twist on the 19th century romantic novels he studies in his library carrel." Alessandra Stanley, "Quixotic Quest", review of Lewis Percy by Anita Brookner, Time, Mar. 19, 1990, p. 83.
• The Way of the World: The Bildungsroman in European Culture, by Franco Moretti, 2000.
• The Female Bildungsroman in English: An Annotated Bibliography of Criticism, by Laura Sue Fuderer, 1991.
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Birkenstock n. usually pl. Birkenstocks

from Birkenstock "Birkenstock": brand name of a leather and cork sandal made in Germany by the Birkenstock company, which goes back to Johann Adam Birkenstock in 1774 [< German Birke "birch" + Stock "stick, staff"]. See also alpenstock.

• "Thin ankles will look like trees stuck in concrete in clumpy shoes such as Birkenstock clogs." Trinny Woodall & Susannah Constantine, What You Wear Can Change You Life, 2005, p. 151.
• "The woman was short, small and slender, with curly gray hair cut close to her head, in a loose green sack of a dress, a necklace made of chunky glass beads, and Birkenstocks over black tights." Jennifer Weiner, Goodnight Nobody: A Novel, 2005, p. 192.
• "She's stomping around my room in her Mao jacket and Birkenstocks, shaking her glossy curls, her eyes, behind the lenses of her glasses (I guess revolutionaries working to empower the masses don't wear contacts), filled with bitter tears." Meg Cabot, The Princess Diaries, Volume V: Princess in Pink, 2004, p. 207.
• "She wears thick baggy clothing and wool socks and Birkenstocks and she wears silver rings on her fingers and a turquoise pendant around her neck." James Frey, A Million Little Pieces, 2003, p. 48.
• "Believe it or not, your feet may grow as much as a full size during pregnancy. If all else fails, think Birkenstocks!" Ann Douglas, The Mother of All Pregnancy Books: The Ultimate Guide to Conception, Birth, and Everything in Between, 2002, p. 253.
• "He was the first one with Birkenstocks, the first with bell-bottoms, the first with sideburns off, and the first with diversity." Michael Crichton, Disclosure, 1993.
• "One guy went home before the meeting to change into Dockers and a button-down shirt to be more 'appropriate,' only to discover that his associates and a few of the senior staff were attending in T-shirts and Birkenstocks." Bill Gates, Business @ the Speed of Thought: Succeeding in the Digital Economy, 1999.
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blende n.

from blenden "to blind": an ore especially of certain metallic sulfides, having a fairly bright luster [German blenden < Old High German blenten, related to Old English blind]. See also hornblende.

• "Sphalerite, also known as zinc blende, is a very important zinc ore and is mined in many parts of the world." "Sphalerite", Microsoft® Encarta® 98 Encyclopedia.

blitz, Blitz n., v.t.

from Blitz "lightning": a fast intensive campaign; a blitzkrieg; an air raid; a rush of the passer by the defensive linebackers in American football; a type of chess game in which one has little time to move, similar to rapid and lightning chess. See also Baedeker Blitz.

• "... one of the guests (a famous celebrity who shall remain nameless) got so blitzed on booze, and God knows what else, that she passed out right in the middle of the living room floor." Fran Drescher, Enter Whining, 1996, p. 48.
• "Ever since Israel blitzed the Arabs in 1967's Six Day War—taking the Sinai and Gaza from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria and the West Bank from Jordan—the concept of 'land for peace' has been the cornerstone of all efforts to negotiate an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict." Christopher Dickey & Daniel Klaidman, "A Blueprint For Peace", Newsweek, Apr. 22, 2002, p. 17.
• "Bullock's quest for the truth began, he told me, in the midst of the Blitz." Ron Rosenbaum, "Explaining Hitler", The New Yorker, May 1995.
• "Deutsche Telekom goes public with a successful sales blitz." James O. Jackson, Time, Dec. 2, 1996.
• "In a blitz of polar air one night they lost thirty head of cattle and chipped them from the ice a week later like the fallen statures of an ancient creed." Nicholas Evans, The Horse Whisperer, 1995, p. 128.
• The Kaizen Blitz: Accelerating Breakthroughs in Productivity and Performance, by Anthony C. Laraia, Patricia E. Moody & Robert W. Hall, 1991.
• From the Crash to the Blitz: 1929-1939, by Cabell B.H. Phillips, 2000.
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blitzkrieg n., v.t.

from Blitzkrieg "lightning war": a swift surprise offensive; blitz.

• "The blitzkrieg to cut Finland in half was to be abandoned after the heavy losses and the Finns could gradually be withdrawn to other fronts." Eloise Engle & Lauri Paananen, The Winter War: The Soviet Attack on Finland 1939-1940, 1973, p. 104.
• "Most of the quality were staying an extra day, just to avoid the stampede; but the smaller delegations, co-ops, representatives, and consortia preferred to blitzkrieg the bellhops and crowd the cashier rather than pay for another exorbitant night at the Chateau Hôtel Casino." Dafydd ab Hugh, Balance of Power (Star Trek: The Next Generation), 1995.
• "Just two days after issuing a statement downplaying the suit, AOL—famous for blitzkrieg marketing tactics—reconsidered and announced a full retreat: the company will throttle back efforts to sign up new subscribers and invest $350 million to upgrade its networks." Daniel Eisenberg and Anita Hamilton, Time, Jan. 27, 1997.
• The Path to Blitzkrieg: Doctrine and Training in the German Army, 1920-1939, by Robert Michael Citino, 1999.
• Hitler's Blitzkrieg Campaigns: The Invasion and Defense of Western Europe, 1939-1940, by J.E. and H.W. Kaufmann, 1993.
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bratwurst n.

from Bratwurst "meat sausage": a kind of sausage ideally made of pure pork that is usually fried [< German Brät, Brat "finely chopped, raw sausage meat before filling into skins" < Middle High German brate < Old High German brato "pure meat (not mixed with other ingredients), soft parts" (related to German Braten "roast meat", not related to braten "to fry" as some dictionaries state and many German speakers themselves also believe) + Wurst "sausage"]. See also wurst and knackwurst.

• "I had seen all of my relatives, eaten a yard of bratwurst, fished for crappies, heard dozens of stories of shame and degradation, and was cured of my fevered thoughts about Jean." Garrison Keillor, Wobegon Boy, 1997, p. 105.
• "Half an hour after the plane landed, I was in a south Minneapolis backyard sitting on green grass next to a bed of irises, feasting on sweet corn and bratwurst, drinking green nectar, talking about old times like they were back again." Garrison Keillor, insert in Lake Wobegon Loyalty Days, CD, 1989.
• "It says here you exposed yourself in the cafeteria."
  "I was joking with the lunch lady. It was a bratwurst."
  "Bratwurst? Aren't we the optimist?"
  10 Things I Hate About You, starring Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles & David Krumholtz, 1999.
• "'Bratwurst and sauerkraut,' said Marietta, twirling a strand of blond hair between her fingers. 'Wiener schnitzel and kreplach.'" Tama Janowitz, By the Shores of Gitchee Gumee, 1996, chapter 1.
• "[The bag] looked like a bratwurst and he guessed it weighed about ten pounds." Stephen King, Desperation, 1996.
• "German beer became a national drink, and a number of German dishes captured the American fancy, including bratwurst, Wiener schnitzel, German potato salad, and apple strudel." Don Heinrich Tolzmann, "German Americans", Microsoft® Encarta® 98 Encyclopedia.
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Bremsstrahlung, bremsstrahlung n.

from Bremsstrahlung "braking radiation": in physics, the electromagnetic radiation produced by the sudden retardation of a charged particle in an intense electric field (as of an atomic nucleus); the process that produces such radiation [German bremsen "to brake" < Bremse "a brake" < Late Middle Low German bremse "nose clamp for horses" < Middle Low German premse, premese < pramen "to press" + Strahlung "radiation" < strahlen "to radiate" < Strahl "ray" < Middle High German stral, strale < Old High German strala "arrow, stripe"]. This entry suggested by Georg Kreyerhoff.

• "We can study along the same lines [as Thomson scattering] classical bremsstrahlung, i.e., radiation by a charge suddenly accelerated." Claude Itzykson & Jean-Bernhard Zuber, Quantum Field Theory, 1986, p. 39.
• "The power radiated in Bremsstrahlung (B) and radiative recombination (R) is also shown." Martin V. Zombeck, Handbook of Space Astronomy and Astrophysics, 1990, p. 280.
• Polarization Bremsstrahlung (Physics of Atoms and Molecules), V.N. Tsytovich & I.M. Oiringel, 1993.
• "The unique construction of thin layered lead encapsulated in acrylic completely attenuates Beta emission and errant Bremsstrahlung." Cone Instruments Nuclear Medicine Supplies and Accessories, hospital supply catalog, 2001/2002.
• "Phosphorus-32 produces Bremsstrahlung, a high energy secondary photon radiation." Radiation Safety, scientific supply catalog, 2002.

Buba, BuBa n.

See Bundesbank.

bund, Bund, often pl. bunds n.

a German government bond denominated in deutschemarks [< Bund- ("federation") in Bundesbank, influenced by English bond]. This entry suggested by Josef Weidacher.

• "However, as the rapid convergence of Eurozone bond yields shows, monetary union has greatly reduced what investors call country risk, so that all Eurozone members' bonds are now regarded as being (almost) as good as the old German bunds." Niall Ferguson, Colossus: The Price of America's Empire, 2004, p. 232.
• "Once you've learned the ropes, consider moving up to stock index futures or the futures on the German Bund, both among the favorite vehicles of professional day-traders." Alexander Elder, Come Into My Trading Room: A Complete Guide to Trading, 2002, p. 145.
• "In the United States, it [the safest bond] had to be the thirty-year Treasury; in Germany, the ten-year Bund." Roger Lowenstein, When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management, 2001, p. 145.
• "For example, consider a trader who is active in the Bund option market, and who is trying to find a simple way to integrate a volatility skew into his theoretical pricing model." Sheldon Natenberg, Option Volatility & Pricing: Advanced Trading Strategies and Techniques, 1994, p. 408.

Bundesbank, Deutsche Bundesbank, Buba, BuBa n.

"Federal Bank": the German central bank [< Bundes- "federal" + Bank "bank"].

• "In contrast, the Deutsche Bundesbank controlled policy without government interference (Schaling 1995; 95-6)." Kelly H. Chang, Appointing Central Bankers: The Politics of Monetary Policy in the United States and the European Monetary Union, 2003, p. 1.
• "The French seldom disagreed with the BuBa's 'sound money' policies." John Gillingham, European Integration, 1950-2003: Superstate or New Market Economy?, 2003, p. 234.
• "Buba Knows Best?" Daniel Yergin & Joseph Stanislaw, The Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy, 2002, p. 345.
• "What if he asks me a question about interest rates? What if he wants to talk about the Bundesbank or American growth prospects? But all he says is 'Harrods, please,' to the driver." Sophie Kinsella, Confessions of a Shopaholic, 2001, p. 152.
• "One time, I had a really large position in Deutsche marks when the Bundesbank came in and decided to punish the speculators." Jack D. Schwager, Market Wizards: Interviews with Top Traders, 1993, p. 36.
• "Hans Zietmeyer, the high priest of the Bundesbank, chimed in just solemnly." Jordan Bonfante, "A German Requiem", Time, July 6, 1998.
• History of the Bundesbank: Lessons for the European Bank, by Jakob De Haan, 2000.
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bunds n.pl.

See bund.

burg, -burg n.

related to Burg "castle, fortress": city, town. Actually comes from Middle English burg, burgh, burch; Old English burg; Anglo-Saxon burg, burh, buruh, related to Old High German burg "fortified place (on a hill)". Probably also related to Old English beorg "hill" and Old High German berg "hill, mountain". The meaning has therefore changed from "hill" to "fortress on the high" to "walled town" to "town". Thus the place-name endings -berg, -burg, -burgh, -boro, etc. are basically only spelling variants.

• "'Just let me check here—this one house—and then this burg is history,' he said, and turned into the driveway of a small ranch-style home on the left side of the street." Stephen King, Desperation, 1996.

burger, -burger n.

See hamburger.

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