B Baedeker - click here Baedeker , baedeker n.
a guidebook to countries or a country, a guidebook to places, a guidebook to other things such as restaurants usually for travellers [< Karl Baedeker (1801-1859), publisher of a series of travel guidebooks < Bädeker, Bädker, Bödeker, Böcker, Bäker, the Low German form of the name Böttcher "vat maker", not related to Bäcker "baker"].
  • "When he catches sight through his window of a group of strangers, Baedekers in hand, asking directions of a policeman, he merely hopes that they won't seek out, through this tangle of streets, the traghetto San Gregorio...." Ian Littlewood, A Literary Companion to Venice , 1995, p. 4.
  • "But as a general thing all the circus folk preferred to roam among the native people and native scenes, and even found some scenes that the Baedeker guidebooks neglected to mention." Gary Jennings, The Center Ring: Spangle #2 , 1999, p. 132.
  • "Rimbaud never travelled with a Baedeker and showed no interest in any particular category of art or architecture." Graham Robb, Rimbaud: A Biography , 2001, p. 1.
  • "This is as good a place as any to say that I am not lost without a Baedeker." James Thurber, My World and Welcome to It , 1969, p. 224.
  • "The man had already made all the arrangements and now he stood waiting on the platform, smiling cheerfully, red Baedeker guide in hand." Kevin Baker, Dreamland: A Novel , 2002, p. 68.
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Baedeker Blitz , Baedeker raids n.
a series of raids conducted by the German Luftwaffe during World War II on cities of cultural and historical interest in England reputedly chosen from the Baedeker tourist guide to Britain. Bauhaus
Bauhaus n.
from Bau "construction, architecture, a building" + Haus "a house, a building": an architectural school founded in Germany in 1919, known for its experimental use of metal, glass, etc. in buildings. See also gasthaus, hausfrau and plattenbau.
  • "As always, the atmosphere there was chaotic; all the phones were ringing, but there was no receptionist in the little waiting area by the elevators, which was decorated with faded, taped-up posters for a 1929 Bauhaus Exhibition in Berlin and an old science-fiction movie called The Forbin Project." Michael Crichton, Disclosure , 1993.
  • "When the Lovell family Chevy pulled up in front of these blocky, Bauhaus-like structures in the steady drizzle, Marilyn's mood sank." Jim Lovell & Jeffrey Kluger, Apollo 13 , 1995.
  • "Oil paintings of benefactors hung in the lobby of Gilman—'the idiot children of the rich,' said the dean, as he gave me a quick tour—and in the Bush Library, a four-story circular structure, concrete and brick and of a sturdy Bauhaus demeanor, with high beamed ceilings, the stacks dotted with study carrels, the building eerily empty, devoid of students." Garrison Keillor, Wobegon Boy , 1997, p. 7.
  • The Dessau Bauhaus Building 1926-1999 , by Margret Kentgens-Craig, 1999.
  • Biedermeier to Bauhaus , by Sigrid Sangl, Barbara Stoeltie and Rene Stoeltie, 2001.
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European Pine Marten (Martes martes), Corbet, Pareys Buch der Saeugetiere, 1982
baum marten n.
from Baummarder "tree marten": (the brown fur of) the European (Pine) Marten (Martes martes)
  • "The pine marten (M. martes) of European and Central Asian forests is also called baum marten and sweet marten." "marten", Britannica.com .
  • "The baum marten (or pine marten), with a yellow throat, and the stone marten (or beech marten), with a white throat, are found in Europe and Asia." "Marten", Microsoft® Encarta® 98 Encyclopedia.
Beck's New!Beck's n.
a brand of beer from Germany [< Beck, Becke, Becker, Böck, Bäck, Bäcker, a common German surname, Bäcker "baker"].
berg n.
related to Berg "mountain": an iceberg: Merriam-Webster says iceberg probably comes from Norwegian or Danish isberg, but to me German Eisberg also seems conceivable. [Middle High German berc; Old High German berg.] See also burg.
  • "Antarctica continually sheds accumulating ice as glaciers calve bergs—some as big as Rhode Island." Eugene Linden, Time , May 12, 1997.
Bildungsroman , bildungsroman n.
from Bildungsroman "education novel": a novel focussing on the moral and spiritual development of the main character, an Entwicklungsroman .
Birkenstock n. usually pl. Birkenstocks
from Birkenstock "Birkenstock": brand name of a leather and cork sandal made in Germany by the Birkenstock company, which goes back to Johann Adam Birkenstock in 1774 [< German Birke "birch" + Stock "stick, staff"]. See also alpenstock.
blende n.
from blenden "to blind": an ore especially of certain metallic sulfides, having a fairly bright luster [German blenden < Old High German blenten, related to Old English blind]. See also hornblende.
  • "Sphalerite, also known as zinc blende, is a very important zinc ore and is mined in many parts of the world." "Sphalerite", Microsoft® Encarta® 98 Encyclopedia.
blitz, Blitz n., v.t.
from Blitz "lightning": a fast intensive campaign; a blitzkrieg; an air raid; a rush of the passer by the defensive linebackers in American football; a type of chess game in which one has little time to move, similar to rapid and lightning chess. See also Baedeker Blitz.
  • "M-O [Mass-Observation] really came into its own during World War II, with its observations of the behaviour of ordinary Londoners during the Blitz." Stephen Moss, A Bird in the Bush: A Social History of Birdwatching , 2004, p. 128.
  • "Ever since Israel blitzed the Arabs in 1967's Six Day War—taking the Sinai and Gaza from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria and the West Bank from Jordan—the concept of 'land for peace' has been the cornerstone of all efforts to negotiate an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict." Christopher Dickey & Daniel Klaidman, "A Blueprint For Peace", Newsweek , Apr. 22, 2002, p. 17.
  • From the Crash to the Blitz: 1929-1939 , by Cabell B.H. Phillips, 2000.
  • "... one of the guests (a famous celebrity who shall remain nameless) got so blitzed on booze, and God knows what else, that she passed out right in the middle of the living room floor." Fran Drescher, Enter Whining , 1996, p. 48.
  • "Deutsche Telekom goes public with a successful sales blitz." James O. Jackson, Time , Dec. 2, 1996.
  • "Bullock's quest for the truth began, he told me, in the midst of the Blitz." Ron Rosenbaum, "Explaining Hitler", The New Yorker , May 1995.
  • "In a blitz of polar air one night they lost thirty head of cattle and chipped them from the ice a week later like the fallen statures of an ancient creed." Nicholas Evans, The Horse Whisperer , 1995, p. 128.
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blitzkrieg n., v.t.
from Blitzkrieg "lightning war": a swift surprise offensive; blitz.
  • "Everybody had humped it all day, taking down trees and whacking off the branches, kicking and stumbling through the brush in a blitzkrieg of mosquitoes and hard-earned sweat, and now they'd passed round the smokes and the pot and the last of the sticky red wine, the pale green half-gallon jugs already filled back up with Tom Krishna's gaseous home-brewed beer that looked like motor oil drippings and didn't taste a whole lot better." T.C. Boyle, Drop City , 2004, p. 280.
  • The Path to Blitzkrieg: Doctrine and Training in the German Army, 1920-1939 , by Robert Michael Citino, 1999.
  • "Just two days after issuing a statement downplaying the suit, AOL—famous for blitzkrieg marketing tactics—reconsidered and announced a full retreat: the company will throttle back efforts to sign up new subscribers and invest $350 million to upgrade its networks." Daniel Eisenberg and Anita Hamilton, Time , Jan. 27, 1997.
  • Balance of Power "Most of the quality were staying an extra day, just to avoid the stampede; but the smaller delegations, co-ops, representatives, and consortia preferred to blitzkrieg the bellhops and crowd the cashier rather than pay for another exorbitant night at the Chateau Hôtel Casino." Dafydd ab Hugh, Balance of Power (Star Trek: The Next Generation) , 1995.
  • Hitler's Blitzkrieg Campaigns: The Invasion and Defense of Western Europe, 1939-1940 , by J.E. and H.W. Kaufmann, 1993.
  • "The blitzkrieg to cut Finland in half was to be abandoned after the heavy losses and the Finns could gradually be withdrawn to other fronts." Eloise Engle & Lauri Paananen, The Winter War: The Soviet Attack on Finland 1939-1940 , 1973, p. 104.
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bratwurst, copyright (c) 2002 Robbin D. Knappbratwurst n.
from Bratwurst "meat sausage": a kind of sausage ideally made of pure pork that is usually fried [< German Brät, Brat "finely chopped, raw sausage meat before filling into skins" < Middle High German brate < Old High German brato "pure meat (not mixed with other ingredients), soft parts" (related to German Braten "roast meat", not related to braten "to fry" as some dictionaries state and many German speakers themselves also believe) + Wurst "sausage"]. See also wurst and knackwurst.
  • "So they're getting in their bratwurst and their baked beans in the backyard [barbecue]... They're smelling the beans and the brats." Garrison Keillor, "The News from Lake Wobegon", A Prairie Home Companion, Sept. 6, 2008.
  • "I had seen all of my relatives, eaten a yard of bratwurst, fished for crappies, heard dozens of stories of shame and degradation, and was cured of my fevered thoughts about Jean." Garrison Keillor, Wobegon Boy , 1997, p. 105.
  • "Half an hour after the plane landed, I was in a south Minneapolis backyard sitting on green grass next to a bed of irises, feasting on sweet corn and bratwurst, drinking green nectar, talking about old times like they were back again." Garrison Keillor, insert in Lake Wobegon Loyalty Days , CD, 1989. bratwurst - 10 Things I Hate About You - Click here
  • "It says here you exposed yourself in the cafeteria."
    "I was joking with the lunch lady. It was a bratwurst."
    "Bratwurst? Aren't we the optimist?"
    10 Things I Hate About You , starring Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles & David Krumholtz, 1999.
  • "'Bratwurst and sauerkraut,' said Marietta, twirling a strand of blond hair between her fingers. 'Wiener schnitzel and kreplach.'" Tama Janowitz, By the Shores of Gitchee Gumee , 1996, chapter 1.
  • "[The bag] looked like a bratwurst and he guessed it weighed about ten pounds." Stephen King, Desperation , 1996.
  • "German beer became a national drink, and a number of German dishes captured the American fancy, including bratwurst, Wiener schnitzel, German potato salad, and apple strudel." Don Heinrich Tolzmann, "German Americans", Microsoft® Encarta® 98 Encyclopedia.
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Bremsstrahlung, bremsstrahlung n.
from Bremsstrahlung "braking radiation": in physics, the electromagnetic radiation produced by the sudden retardation of a charged particle in an intense electric field (as of an atomic nucleus); the process that produces such radiation [German bremsen "to brake" < Bremse "a brake" < Late Middle Low German bremse "nose clamp for horses" < Middle Low German premse, premese < pramen "to press" + Strahlung "radiation" < strahlen "to radiate" < Strahl "ray" < Middle High German stral, strale < Old High German strala "arrow, stripe"]. This entry suggested by Georg Kreyerhoff.
Buba, BuBa n.
See Bundesbank.
bund , Bund , often pl. bunds n.
a German government bond denominated in deutschemarks [< Bund- ("federation") in Bundesbank, influenced by English bond]. This entry suggested by Josef Weidacher.
The Bundesbank Myth, by Jeremy Leaman Bundesbank , Deutsche Bundesbank , Buba , BuBa n.
"Federal Bank": the German central bank [< Bundes- "federal" + Bank "bank"].
bunds n.pl.
See bund.
burg, -burg n.
related to Burg "castle, fortress": city, town. Actually comes from Middle English burg, burgh, burch; Old English burg; Anglo-Saxon burg, burh, buruh, related to Old High German burg "fortified place (on a hill)". Probably also related to Old English beorg "hill" and Old High German berg "hill, mountain". The meaning has therefore changed from "hill" to "fortress on the high" to "walled town" to "town". Thus the place-name endings -berg, -burg, -burgh, -boro, etc. are basically only spelling variants.
  • "'Just let me check here—this one house—and then this burg is history,' he said, and turned into the driveway of a small ranch-style home on the left side of the street." Stephen King, Desperation , 1996.
burger, -burger n.
See hamburger.

Please do not plagiarize. If you would like to use this information in a print or electronic publication, please ask me for permission first and cite this page as:
Knapp, Robbin D. 2009. "GermanEnglishWords.com: B". In Robb: GermanEnglishWords.com . Jan. 6, 2009.

 

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