L
lager beer, lager-beer, lager n.
from Lagerbier "storehouse or stored beer": a beer which is aged for several months after it has been brewed. See further example under stein.
  • "'Now this will be very nice,' he promised and poured me a glass of what turned out to be very warm lager." Bill Bryson, Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe, 1991, p. 18.
  • "The old man munched his sandwich, drank his lager, and watched pretty girls, with a smile of innocent pleasure." Robert A. Heinlein, Citizen of the Galaxy, 1982, p. 252.
  • "Give an Irishman lager for a month, and he's a dead man. An Irishman is lined with copper, and the beer corrodes it. But whiskey polishes the copper and is the saving of him, sir." Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi.
  • "Should he say that the State Constable was enforcing the liquor law on whiskey, but was winking at lager?" Edward Everett Hale, The Brick Moon and Other Stories, 1899.
  • "The popular notion that lager-beer, ale, wine, or alcohol in any other form, is in any degree necessary or beneficial to a nursing woman, is a great error, which cannot be too often noticed and condemned." John Harvey Kellogg, Plain Facts for Old and Young: Natural History and Hygiene of Organic Life, 1877.
  • "'He catapulted balls of fire across the room that Godzilla would be proud of, but this was not enough to win him first prize since the judgement is made on the quality of flames and the singing, and after fifteen bottles of lager he was badly out of tune.'" Wendy Northcutt, The Darwin Awards, 2000, p. 126.
  • "Blackwell hadn't said two words to anybody, drinking lager instead of sake and packing his food away as though he were trying to plug something, some gap in security that could be taken care of if you stuffed it methodically with enough sashimi." William Gibson, Idoru, 1997, p. 248.
  • More books and products related to lager beer, lager
Lammergeier or Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), Bruun, Der Kosmos-Vogelfuehrer, Kosmos, 1982
lammergeier, lammergeyer, lammergeir n.
from Lämmergeier "lamb vulture": another name for the Bearded Vulture (Gypaëtus barbatus), nowadays called Bartgeier in German.
  • "Lammergeyer of the Alps." Caption of an engraving by Chas. Parsons depicting a man fending off an attacking vulture with a stick. Jacob Abbott, Aboriginal America, 1860.
  • "Lammergeier Gypaetus barbatus in Caucasia" A. Abuladze, in Journal für Ornithologie 1994, Sonderheft: Research Notes on Avian Biology 1994. As cited in Aubrecht et al., Avian Conservation Problems in Central and Eastern Europe and Northern Asia, BirdLife Austria, Vienna, 1997, p. 8.
  • "This bird; u catch eny distinguishin marx on it? It woz a lammergeier, thas oll I no, but ther cant b oll that meny ov them aroun thi norf-west cornir of thi grate hol ½ a our ago. Lammergeiers r a bit funy theez days, but Il ask aroun." Iain M. Banks, Feersum Endjinn, 1994, p. 58. This quote suggested by dnh.
lampenflora n.
from Lampenflora "lamp flora": algae and mosses which dwell within the artificial lighting of caves that have been opened to the public. This entry suggested by Kristian Koehntopp.
landau, landaulet, landaulette n.
from Landau: a type of carriage or automobile, named for Landau, Germany.
  • "'Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of the buckles.'" Arthur Conan Doyle, A Scandal in Bohemia: Stories from the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1891.
  • "She had something to suffer perhaps when they came into contact again, in seeing Anne restored to the rights of seniority, and the mistress of a very pretty landaulette; but she had a future to look forward to, of powerful consolation." Jane Austen, Persuasion, 1818.
  • "It was a landaulet, with a servant mounted on the dickey." Washington Irving, Tales of a Traveller.
landlerLändler, ländler, landler, Landler n.
"of or from Landl": a slow folk dance in 3/4 time, considered to be the predecessor of the waltz, named for Landl, Austria; the music for this dance [< dim. of Land "land, country"].
landsknechtlandsknecht n.
from Landsknecht "servant or soldier of the country or land": a European mercenary foot soldier of the 16th century, armed with a pike or halberd.
Landsturm n.
"land storm": in Germany and other countries, a general levy in time of war of men under sixty not already in the armed services or in the reserve.
Landtag n.
"land day": the legislative assembly of a German state.
  • "At this time the future maker of the German Empire rose in the Landtag and made his bow before the world; a young Prussian land-magnate, Otto von Bismarck by name, he shook his fist in the face of the new German liberalism, and incidentally of the new German infidelity:" Upton Sinclair, The Profits of Religion: An Essay in Economic Interpretation, 1918.
  • "The Landtag, exasperated at his high-handed methods, refused to give him the necessary credits." Hendrik Willem Van Loon, The Story of Mankind, 1921.
Landwehr n.
"land defense": in Germany and other countries, the military reserve of trained men. See also Wehrmacht.
langlauf, langlauf n.
from Langlauf "long run": a cross-country ski run.
langläufer, langläufer n.
from Langläufer "long runner": a participant in a cross-country ski run.
lautverschiebung n. [pl. lautverschiebungen]
from Lautverschiebung "sound shift": (linguistics) sound shifting [< German Laut "sound" + Verschiebung "shift"]. This entry suggested by Marek Roth.
  • "Grimm was the first to discover a regular system of displacement of sounds (lautverschiebung) pervading the Gothic and Low German languages as compared with Greek and Latin." William Smith, Dr. William Smith's dictionary of the Bible, 1868-70, p. 3291.
  • "Until a rational account of these changes, comprehended under the name of Lautverschiebung, is given, we must continue to look upon them, not as the result of phonetic decay, but of dialectic growth." Max Müller, Chips from a German workshop, 1871-1881, p. 101.
liverwurst, copyright 2002 Robbin D. Knappleberwurst, liverwurst, leber wurst n.
from Leberwurst "liver sausage": a usually spreadable sausage containing liver. Apparently liverwurst is chiefly American and Australian while the British say liver sausage or liver pudding. Leberwurst is much less common in English. [Leberwurst is a loanword; liverwurst is a part translation]. See also wurst and knackwurst. This entry suggested by Günther Graf.
  • "Some liverwurst so old and gray/One smelled it from a mile away...." Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 1998, p. 117.
  • "She sliced an onion and set it out with liverwurst and mustard and a long reddish herring that looked like a person's tongue. Art fixed himself a liverwurst-onion-herring sandwich that made Diana blanch." Garrison Keillor, Wobegon Boy, 1997, p. 193.
  • "The beer flowed in rivers, and yet the people were always thirsty (the consummation most devoutly wished), or, if not thirsty, huge slices of leberwurst soon made them so." W.W. Wright, Doré. By a stroller in Europe, 1857, p. 248.
  • "The women, health-conscious, ate a sandwich with curd cheese, I had a sandwich with liverwurst." Gert Hofmann, The Film Explainer, 1996.
  • Audrey Hepburn and Walter Matthau in CharadeWalter Matthau as Hamilton Bartholomew: "I've got liverwurst, liverwurst, chicken and liverwurst."
    Audrey Hepburn as Regina Lampert: "No, thank you."
    ...
    Audrey Hepburn: "May I have a sandwich, please?"
    Walter Matthau: "Chicken or liverwurst?"
    Charade, directed by Stanley Donen, 1963.
  • "The liverwurst solution", Robert B. Reich, American Prospect, Jun. 11, 2000, p. 56.
Lebensraum, Lebensraum n.
"living space": living space; territory for political and economic expansion: term of German imperialism.
lebkuchen, Copyright 2002 Robbin D. Knapplebkuchen, Lebkuchen n.
from Lebkuchen "lebkuchen": a Christmas cookie flavored with honey and spices, very similar to gingerbread, also called Pfefferkuchen or brauner Kuchen in parts of Germany. Lebkuchen is used in southern and western Germany and Austria [< Middle High German lebkuoche, lebekuoche < perhaps Middle High German leip, related to English loaf + kuoche "cake"]. See further example under gemutlich. See also kuchen.
  • "In a series of 65 passion sermons, he elaborated a comparison between Christ and a ginger cake—the German Lebkuchen." Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church.
  • "Some cookies are so strongly identified with a particular country--German lebkuchen, for example--they're as national as a flag." "Cookies, Spice, and Everything Nice", Better Homes and Gardens, Nov. 1999.
  • "Classic almond recipes include trout amandine (which means 'with almonds'), marzipan, and German lebkuchen." "Nuts to you", Better Homes and Gardens, Feb. 1997.
  • "Also bake lebkuchen, pfeffernusse, or other cookies that need a few weeks to soften." Janet Bailey, "30 days to a perfect Christmas", Ladies' Home Journal, Dec. 1997.
  • "Certainly some of the things the Trapp family does at Christmas are not entirely suited to the Heath family. I know. I know. And some—give me that much—I didn't even try. Like baking the traditional Spekulatius on December 6 (St. Nicholas's Day), for instance; or the traditional Kletzenbrot on December 21 (St. Thomas's Day); or even the traditional Lebzelten, Lebkuchen, Spanish Wind, Marzipan, Rum Balls, Nut Busserln, Coconut Busserln, Stangerln, Pfeffernusse, and Plain Cookies on December 23." Aloise Buckley Heath, "A Trapp Family Christmas: An NR tradition", National Review, Dec. 31, 2000.
the author in lederhosen, copyright 2002 Gerti Knapp, click to enlargelederhosen, Lederhosen n.pl.
from Lederhosen "leather trousers": knee-length leather trousers worn especially in Bavaria and Austria. In contrast to English the singular Lederhose in German is one pair of leather trousers while the plural Lederhosen is more than one pair. See further examples under dirndl, yodel.
  • "General: Who's not on our side yet?
    Captain: Umm... Switzerland?
    General: Great. We'll kick their little lederhosen butts!" Scott Adams, The Dilbert Future: Thriving on Business Stupidity in the 21st Century, 2000, p. 200.
  • "After bitter legal proceedings, Uwe of Brandenburg found that he had lost everything but his lederhosen knickerbockers." Wendy Northcutt, The Darwin Awards II, 2001, p. 19.
  • "For one thing, there's a good chance that there will be three guys in lederhosen playing polka music, so you have to look carefully through the windows and question the proprietor closely to make sure that Willi and the Bavarian Boys won't suddenly bound onto a little stage at half-past eight, because there is nothing worse than being just about to tuck into your dinner, a good book propped in front of you, and finding yourself surrounded by ruddy-faced Germans waving beer steins and singing the 'Horst Wessel Lied' for all they're worth." Bill Bryson, Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe, 1991, p. 87.
  • "In Mariazell, too, I bought Lederhosen—Austrian leather shorts—suspenders, and knee socks." George W. Long, "Occupied Austria, Outpost of Democracy" National Geographic, Jun. 1951, p. 775.
  • "In his locker downstairs he [the tuba player] keeps a pair of lederhosen for freelance jobs." Garrison Keillor, "The Young Lutheran's Guide to the Orchestra" Lake Wobegon Loyalty Days, Emd/Angel, 1989.
  • "That attendant was wearing lederhosen", Jim Davis, Garfield.
  • 4" Grinch Action Figures: Lederhosen Grinch and Max
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Lehrstück n. [pl. Lehrstücke]
from Lehrstück "teaching piece": a learning or teaching play, a form of theatre used by Bertolt Brecht [< lehren "to teach" + Stück "piece"].
  • "At the height of anti-Wagnerism the pair [Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill] produced both alternative kinds of opera and anti-operatic Lehrstücke, Brecht's greatest critique of opera. Most projects in this period are written with Weill, although he also worked on Lehrstücke with Paul Hindemith and Hanns Eisler." Joy H. Calico, Brecht at the Opera, 2008, p. 6.
  • Lehrstücke at Wikipedia
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leitmotiv, leitmotif n.
from Leitmotiv "leading theme": a clearly defined musical or literary theme.
  • "All the early sagas rest on that idea, which continues to be the Leitmotiv of the biblical tales dealing with the relation of man to God, to the State, to society." Emma Goldman, Anarchism and Other Essays.
  • "In Martin Luther's Christmas hymn 'Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her [From heaven above to earth I come],' which was to become the leitmotiv in each successive cantata of Johann Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio of 1734-35, another angel was presented as saying, to the shepherds of Bethlehem and through them to all the world, 'Euch its ein Kindlein heut' geborn,/Von einer Jungfrau auserkoren [To you this day is born a Child, from an elect Virgin].'" Jaroslav Pelikan, Mary Through the Centuries: Her Place in the History of Culture, 1998.
  • "One theme had recurred so frequently in these conversations that it had become the leitmotif of the trip: 'Please, don't think of us as Russians. We are not Russians. We are Estonians [or Latvians or Lithuanians, depending on the location].'" Jack F. Matlock, Jr., Autopsy on an Empire: The American Ambassador's Account of the Collapse of the Soviet Union, 1995.
  • "Duchamp introduces these two elements in a note, entitled Preface, that would become a leitmotif in his life and work: Given 1st the waterfall/2nd the lighting gas ..." Calvin Tomkins, Duchamp: A Biography, 1998.
  • "The word 'power' runs like a leitmotif through other descriptions of Theodore Senior: he was a person of inexorable drive." Edmund Morris, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, 2001.
  • "I suspect it is a whimsical leitmotif she sees, hydrangeas, ponds, rivers suspended idly in fat and fiber, floating serenely." Spencer Nadler, The Language of Cells: Life As Seen Under the Microscope, 2001.
  • leitmotif, by Dredg, 1999
  • More CDs and products related to leitmotif
New!Liebfraumilch, Liebfraunmilch, Liebfrauenmilch
a style of semi-sweet white German wine [< Liebfrauenmilch "Beloved Lady's (the Virgin Mary's) milk"]. See also frau, milch.
lied, lied, Lied, Lied n. [pl. lieder, lieder, Lieder, Lieder]
from Lied "song": a German lyric or song; the major song form in the 19th and 20th centuries, developed in Austria and Germany. See further example under lederhosen.
Liederkranz, liederkranz n.
"garland of songs": a collection or group of songs; a men's singing society; a soft cheese similar to but milder than Limburger, produced in New York State in 1892: a trademark [< Lieder pl. of Lied "song" + Kranz "wreath, garland"].
  • "The Lansing Liederkranz Club, a German-American singing and fellowship society, was founded in 1868." Tim Martin, "German influence strong here", Lansing State Journal, Jun. 9, 2002.
Linzer torteLinzer torte, linzer torte, linzertorte n.
from Linzer Torte "fancy cake from Linz": a pastry filled with red jam and covered with a lattice crust that is made of finely ground nuts [< Linz "a city in Austria" + -er "from the place of" + Torte "a (fancy) cake"]. loden, Copyright 2001 Robbin D. Knapp
loden, Loden n.
from Loden: a coarse woolen cloth; a coat made of loden; the color of loden.
liverwurst n.
See leberwurst.
loess n.
from Löß: a loam deposit resulting from materials finer than sand deposited by the wind [< lösen "to loosen, dissolve"].
LSD, LSD-25 n.
from LSD: a drug that produces states similar to those of schizophrenia, used in medicine and illicitly as a strong hallucinogen [abbr. of Lysergsäure-Diäthylamid, not of lysergic acid diethylamide, as some dictionaries will have one believe]. This entry suggested by Olaf.
  • "You know what getting back to nature to me is? Just this, living day to day, working hard and taking what the land gives you, and that has nothing to do with face paint or LSD or bell-bottom pants ..." T.C. Boyle, Drop City, 2004, p. 306.
  • "A respected Princeton mathematician gets turned on to LSD, takes a several-year sabbatical in the caves of the Himalayas during which he trips his brains out, then returns to the university and dedicates himself to finding equations to map the shapes in his psychedelic visions." Douglas Rushkoff, Cyberia: Life in the Trenches of Hyperspace, 1994.
  • More books and products related to LSD
luftmensch, Luftmensch n. [pl. luftmenschen]
related to luft "air" + mensch "person": an impractical contemplative person having no definite business or income [< Yiddish luftmentsch < luft "air" < German Luft "air" + mentsch "person" < German Mensch "person"]. See also Luftwaffe, mensch.
  • "Both babas structured their practice as radically disjunctive from the material world through their literal embodiment as luftmenschen." p. 280, "For most old men with access to the rhetorical possibilities of Sannyasa, even a partial relocation of their identity from home to interstice was insufficient to transform their relations with family and neighbors from the pathetic request of the old grandfather to the inviolate liminality of the luftmensch." p. 284, Lawrence Cohen, No Aging in India: Alzheimer's, the Bad Family, and Other Modern Things, 1998.
  • "He is a Luftmensch, a lost soul as adrift as Le Carre's similarly abandoned George Smiley..." Nicholas Fraser, "Darkness visible: the intrigues of Alan Furst", Harper's Magazine, Jul. 2003.
  • "Despite Florence Rubenfeld's 1997 biography of [Clement] Greenberg, the story of how this inveterate luftmensch found his way to art criticism and why he was so well prepared for it has been told only sketchily." Raphael Rubinstein, "The Harold Letters 1928-1943: The Making of an American Intellectual - Review", Art in America, Dec. 2000.
  • "[Gene] McCarthy was a charming guy, but a Luftmensch: In the Senate he had been one of LBJ's pocket votes, had planned to nominate Johnson against Kennedy at Los Angeles in 1960, was raised by Hubert Humphrey in the Minnesota Democratic--Farm Labor Party, and resigned from the national board of ADA in 1960 when we endorsed Jack Kennedy!" John P. Roche, "Indochina revisited; the demise of liberal internationalism", National Review, May 3, 1985.
  • "Sweetness, innocence, violin music and intelligence mingled in his personality. He [Danny Pearl] had something of the luftmensch, the Jewish prince. He did his best thinking, he told his friend Karen Edwards, after he had dropped out of journalism for a while to work at a convenience store in Sun Valley, Idaho, and sat at the counter, bored and lost in thought." Philip Weiss, "Merrily, He Rolled: Pearl Was Exuberant, Deeply Cultured", The New York Observer, Mar. 4, 2002.
  • "If it [the Holocaust] ends the possibility of the Jewish luftmensch, living outside of history, it gives us a people returned to land, to power, and the body, faced with the dilemma of balancing survival with the need to be faithful to a reality larger than the self." Judith Plaskow, "The Spirit of Renewal: Crisis and Response in Jewish Life - book reviews", Tikkun, Jan.-Feb. 1993.
Luftwaffe, Luftwaffe n.
from Luftwaffe "air weapon, air force": the German air force. This entry suggested by Fritz Kuhnd. See also luftmensch.

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Knapp, Robbin D. 2011. "GermanEnglishWords.com: L". In Robb: GermanEnglishWords.com. Jan. 23, 2011.

 

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