From the Last Page column in the March 2006 Smithsonian magazine, we see a much-needed loan word from German:
Kummerspeck - the excess weight one gains from emotion-related overeating. It means "grief bacon."
My own translation would be more along the lines of "boredom cookie", but its all the same in the end (well, OK; hips).
Another word from
Tingo. At least
this one seems to be used in German.
I know only about ten words in German (not including things you can order in a restaurant) but I wonder if the English word cummerbund is related to the prefix/root used here.
Hello and good evening.
The possible relation between cummerbund and Kummerspeck did intrigue me. According to my dictionaries, the former goes back to Persian "kamar" (waist), having reached the English language via Hindi "kamarband" (ca loinband)
The latter actually means additional fat because of worry, more often than not "Liebeskummer" (lovesickness). So you put on weight with man/woman problems, acchieving the exact opposite of what you desperately need.
"Kummer" derives from Middle High German "kumber" (waste, debris; trouble, stress, grief) and was borrowed from Middle Latin "cumbrus" (entanglement, dam).
It is related to "kümmerlich" (poor, miserable) and "Kümmerling" (weakling).
In some German regions "Kümmerling" also names a bitter "Schnaps". I suspect what people actually mean is "Kümmel" (caraway seed or cumin), as the taste, if I remember correctly, reminds you of these spices.
So, if you have "Kummer" or possibly weltschmerz, you have a couple of quick Kümmerlings and the world might look better (I doubt, esp. as it does not exactly help to reduce your waistline, v.s.)
Hans-Hermann
Vielen Dank fuer diese ausfuehrliche, etymologische Analyse. Kuemmerling wird hoffentlich nicht in die Staaten exportiert.
Ah yes, for the record.
I asked Sebastian Voigt, a nice German from Germany, to reply to the messages in this thread, (It's not like I was interfering with any continuous conversation) and he did. He will be back here later this month so if anyone wants to chat in German he will be pleased to oblige.
Milo.