Lord help me, I'm reading the Wikipedia article on Dick in a Box.

[cataplum]

• I am going to try out not having a car. Between the time and frustration spent finding parking, the expense of insurance, gas, and maintenance (about $2500/year!), and the environmental impact (yep, I'm a San Franciscan!), I've decided to go car-free. Once Raber and Clara leave at the end of next weekend, I'll park the trusty Camry over at Mom and

Comments

Great question.

[slartucker]

For reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:German_loanwords

I'll give several answers, depending on where I was starting the bar.

In Hyde Park: definitely "Festschrift"
In New York: "Gesundheit"
In New Hampshire: "Drachenfutter" ("dragon fodder," but wikipedia says: "a gift brought home by a husband to console, calm or bribe their wife when they have been out too late, often after drinking, or visiting a bar, restaurant or casino.")
In San Francisco I would continue the pretension and step up the self-referential irony with "Uberfremdung"

Re: Great question.

[cataplum]

Brilliant. Of the four, I think "Gesundheit" is the weakest, probably because it's the most familiar. Why'd you choose it?

Thanks for the link, too! Leave it to ol' Wikipedia to create categories you never knew you needed.

Re: Great question.

[slartucker]

I was picturing an old Jewish woman in a nice suit (think Juno from Beetlejuice) saying "Gesundheit! What can I get for you?"

The sad thing is I really *can* picture a Festschrift popping up in Hyde Park. It would have to be in the former location of Stay Up 4 Ever, which now houses the Med Bakery. The OI would probably hold their faculty meetings there...

My favorite wikipedia page is still definitely List of lists of lists.

[agnoster]

"Weltanschauung" or "Bundesverfassungsgerichtshofbetriebsfelderkundigungspraktikum".

Didn't know you were younger than I am - zarbi! Good job on ditching the car and, er, celebrating independence from foreign oil. You're not only saving the environment, you're saving lives! :-)

[circe_pleading]

a linguist's brain is in many ways a rather scientifical mathematical thing, like I hear those engineer-folk are...

[_mercygirl_]

Wissenschaft!

Obviously a cult thing...