Word origins

• cobra effectThe phenomenon where an attempted solution to a problem has an unintended consequence that makes the original problem worse.
• Coffin TextsA corpus of ancient Egyptian funerary texts of the First Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom consisting of spells to assist the journey of the dead into the afterlife, written on coffins and developed from the earlier Pyramid Texts.
• cold duckA sparkling red wine, often made by blending champagne with red wine, sometimes with additional flavorings added.
• cold feetA feeling of nervousness or anxiety causing one to reconsider a decision about an upcoming event.
• command economyA planned economy in which the government (or some other central authority) is solely responsible for resource allocation, distribution and the setting of prices, with little to no market influence.
• competence-competenceBeing able to decide whether a jurisdictional entity has the power to hear a case.
• concertmistressA female concertmaster.
• Confessing ChurchA movement within German Protestantism during Nazi Germany that arose in opposition to government-sponsored efforts to unify all Protestant churches into a single pro-Nazi German Evangelical Church.
• contraproductiveCounterproductive.
• copper-nickelcupronickel
• County Palatinate of the RhineA former German state of the Holy Roman Empire.
• creative destructionThe process of industrial mutation that continually revolutionizes the economic structure from within.
• critical theoryThe examination and critique of society and literature, drawing from knowledge across social science and the humanities; (in particular) the original ideas developed by the Frankfurt School.
• cross-boneThe sacrum.
• cross-dressingThe wearing of clothing which society considers appropriate for the opposite sex rather than the wearer's sex.
• crowberryEmpetrum; a small genus of dwarf evergreen shrubs that bear edible fruit.
• crownlandIn Austria-Hungary, any of the provinces, or largest administrative divisions of the monarchy.
• cultural BolshevikSomeone accused of cultural Bolshevism.
• cultural BolshevismCulture, and art in particular, that the Nazi party considered to be undesirable or degenerate (entartet) and undermining (zersetzen) the völkisch ideology and party line.
• culture warA political struggle for control over cultural institutions.
• cupronickelAn alloy of copper containing from 10 to 40% nickel.
• Dahl's lawA voicing dissimilation rule in some Northeast Bantu languages.
• dark figureThe estimated number of unreported criminal cases.
• dark matterMatter which cannot be detected by its radiation but whose presence is inferred from gravitational effects.
• daughter languageA language which genetically descends from an earlier parent language.
• day's residueThe elements of the events of the preceding day that subsequently occur in a dream.
• death driveThe drive toward death and self-destruction.
• death wishA desire, especially subconscious, for the death of oneself or of someone else.
• defense mechanismA psychological strategy used unconsciously by people to cope with harmful or stressful situations.
• dehydrasedehydrogenase
• desert foxThe fennec.
• devil dogA US marine.
• diagonalismThe coming together of antagonistic groups around one issue on which they find common ground, for instance the rejection of vaccination.
• dialectical materialismThe concept of reality in which material things are in the constant process of change brought about by the tension between conflicting or interacting forces, elements, or ideas.
• dictatorship of the bourgeoisieA socio-political power wherein the bourgeoisie collectively holds the most influence over politics and the masses, as opposed to the dictatorship of the proletariat.
• dictatorship of the proletariatA socio-political power characterized by a struggle to achieve a communist society, as opposed to the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.
• documentary hypothesisThe hypothesis that the Pentateuch consists of two or more, usually four, originally distinct major documents.
• dogwatchAboard a ship, either of the two short two-hour watches that take place between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.
• double moralA double standard.
• drumfireHeavy, continuous, rapid gunfire.
• dynamo-electric machineA generator that creates electricity using spinning magnets; a dynamo.
• EastalgiaNostalgia for East Germany; Ostalgie
• East Central Germanof or pertaining to the East Central German dialects
• Easter BunnyA symbolic rabbit sometimes depicted delivering Easter eggs to children.
• eighth noteA note having one-eighth the duration of a whole note; a quaver.
• elbow mentalityAn attitude characterized by self-interest and a willingness to prioritize personal benefit or ambition, often above the welfare of an organization or community; a willingness to elbow (verb) past others.
• elective affinityA process by which two cultural forms (e.g. religious, intellectual, political or economic) having certain similarities or kinships enter into a relationship of reciprocal attraction and influence, and mutual reinforcement.
• elephant raceA situation in which one truck tries to overtake another at a slightly higher speed, blocking the road for passenger car drivers behind.
• enhanced interrogation techniqueTorture, especially as performed on detainees by the US Armed Forces.
• enhanced interrogation techniquesTorture, especially as performed on detainees by the US Armed Forces.
• epoch-makingConstituting an epoch; opening a new era; introducing new conceptions or a new method in the treatment of a subject; highly novel and influential.
• equiprimordialExisting together as equally fundamental ab initio; coöriginal.
• erlkingIn German literature and modern folklore, a malicious elf or spirit who preys on children.
• European UnionA supranational organisation, consisting of 27 member states, created in the 1950s to bring the nations of Europe into closer economic and political connection.
• eye musicThe graphical features of musical scores that when performed are unnoticeable by the listener.
• false consciousnessA faulty understanding of the true character of social processes due to ideology.
• family romanceA romantic story about a given family.
• Fanta cakeA German sponge cake with Fanta as the key ingredient.
• farsicknessWanderlust; yearning for far-off places.
• farspeakerTelephone.
• Federal Republic of GermanyOfficial name of West Germany: a former country in Central Europe.
• field marshalIn certain nations the highest military rank, ranking below only the commander-in-chief; now mostly disused, being reserved for wartime or post-wartime use, and having become ceremonial in some countries.
• fill outTo complete a form or questionnaire with requested information.
• final solutionThe planned and attempted mass murder of the European Jews by the Nazis; the Holocaust.
• FinlandizationThe process by which a smaller or less powerful sovereign state comes to abide by a more powerful neighbor's foreign policy rules, while retaining its independence.
• Five ChurchesPécs.
• fog of warThe uncertainty in situational awareness experienced by participants in military operations.
• folkdomcharacter of a people, folklore, that which defines a people’s original nature and culture (or an individual's tie to it)
• folk etymologyA popular explanation for the origin of a term which has been rejected as false by expert etymologists.
• footfolkInfantry.
• forelastNext to last, second to last.
• free corpsSynonym of Freikorps.
• freedom of panoramaA provision in copyright law that permits taking photographs or video footage, or creating other images (such as paintings), of buildings and sometimes artworks that are permanently located in a public place, and publishing such images without infringing copyright.
• free stateA political entity whose political status is less than that of a fully sovereign nation-state, as with the former Congo Free State and the former Irish Free State.
• full-gradeAn ablaut form that is either e-grade or o-grade.
• fundamental rightSynonym of human right, sometimes with subtle differences.
• fusel oilA mixture of several higher-order alcohols (having more than two carbon atoms) formed as byproduct in the normal fermentation process, captured as part of the tailings in distillation. An excessive concentration, as in low-quality moonshine, causes unpleasant taste.
• gastrocriticSynonym of food critic.
• gender starAn asterisk used to separate gendered inflections in the German language to make words gender-neutral.
• General GovernmentAn occupation zone established by Nazi Germany in parts of Poland (including areas that are now part of Ukraine).
• German ConfederationAn association of predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe in the 19th century.
• German Democratic RepublicOfficial name of East Germany (from 1947 through reunification in 1990): a former country in Central Europe.
• German dualismThe period (1740–1866) during which Germany was dominated by the two poles of Austria and Prussia vying for supremacy thereover.
• GermanisticsGerman studies
• German OrderSynonym of Teutonic Knights.
• German ReichA former German country that existed between 1871 and 1945, de facto ending with World War II. Capital: Berlin.
• germ historyOntogeny, specifically as a supposed recapitulation of phylogeny.
• germ plasmThe cytoplasm of germ cells.
• ghost driverwrong-way driver
• ghost stationA disused metro station that is passed through, but not stopped at, by passenger trains.
• glass harpA musical instrument consisting of glasses (typically wine glasses) tuned by putting different amounts of liquid into them. Sound is produced by rubbing one's fingers around the rims of the glasses, causing them to vibrate.
• glutamic acidA nonessential amino acid, α-amino-glutaric acid, occurring widely in animal and plant tissues; the salt, monosodium glutamate is used as a flavour-enhancing seasoning.
• God's acreA Christian place of burial; a churchyard.
• grammatical alternationVerner alternation
• ground pearSynonym of potato (a tuber).
• gummy bearA confectionery made of gelatin in the miniature shape of a toy bear
• gummy bearsA kind of gummy candy, a type of confectionery made from gelatine, in the miniature form of a toy bear.
• hair-saltA habit of epsomite which occurs as silky, hair-like fibers.
• half noteA musical note that is two beats long, which is half the length of a semibreve and equal in length to two crotchets; a minim.
• handfastA hold, grasp; custody, power of confining or keeping.