Chrysti The Wordsmith: German Adoptees

Greetings from Montana State University in Bozeman this is Christie the wordsmith. Because English is classified as a Germanic language it contains many structural and etymological elements of that tongue. But German immigrants to North America in the 19th century added many of their terminologies to the linguistic Popery that is the American English language the word hinterland was introduced to English speakers in the late 1800s in English hinterland refers to the back country or wilderness but in its original language the word literally means behind land a loafer is a mooch or an idler loafer is an alteration of the German land life for meaning vagabond or tramp in the late 1930s. Americans began to use the word loafer as a word for the informal no lace shoes that perhaps a casual stroller might wear. A glitch is a malfunction a mishap a snag. English speakers inherited this word from the German verb Galician meaning slide or slip smut meaning obscene or pornographic literature derives from

schmutz German for dirt or filth. If you love to travel you have wanderlust borrowed it directly from German wanderlust or vonder lost as it's pronounced in the language is a combination of von down to wander and lost meaning pleasure joy delight or longing. I'm Christie the wordsmith from Montana State University in Bozeman. Be sure to visit me on line at wordsmith radio dot org. Kristi the wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry. Zoot web dot com.