Words, words, words (and phrases): Ersatz

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Thursday, 25 March 2010

Ersatz

Ersatz is a German word literally meaning inferior substitute or replacement. Ironically the word was popularised in the English language during the war with Germany when coffee was scarce and ersatz coffee (made with all sorts of things!) replaced the real thing becaue of rationing.

Introduction

My daughter Helen commented in November 2008 in her Blog that she was now keeping a notebook of new words that she came across during her reading. "This week I bought a lovely little leather bound book to write new words in as I read them . I've added a few from "1984", but my favourite has to be persiflage (from the French persifler) which means banter." I later discovered that my older daughter, Bryony, also kept a similar notebook.

This inspired me to create a Word blog. This will include both new words, favourite words and the origins of phrases that we commonly use. A definition and some comment, perhaps even a relevant quotation, will acompany the word or phrase.

Thursday, 25 March 2010

Ersatz

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