Wednesday, February 27th, 2008...8:25 am
Learn-A-Word Wednesday: ersatz \AIR-sahts; UR-sats\
adjective:
Being a substitute or imitation, usually an inferior one.
Then there was the sheaf of hostile letters larded with ersatz sympathy, strained sarcasm or pure spite.
– “Time for GAA to become a persuader”, Irish Times, April 13, 1998Ersatz derives from German Ersatz, “a substitute.”
This word would be great to remember when you’re stuck with a “z” near the end of Scrabble. Maybe you’re thinking “tears” or “rates” and you have that dumb “z” to get rid of somewhere…..doh! “Ersatz”!!! Shoots and scores! (that’s for Dad who’s watching basketball a lot lately)
Not that you’d use this word in actual conversations with actual people.
Although I was feeling sick earlier this week, employing her “horizontal parenting” techniques, and perhaps that might have been ersatz parenting….?
Are you doing an ersatz version of anything?
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3 Comments
February 28th, 2008 at 4:51 am
Horizontal parenting is most def ersatz!
February 28th, 2008 at 8:42 am
Well, I’m sitting here eating my ersatz granola (just a bowl of dry oatmeal with some walnuts tossed in), wearing my ersatz pajamas (some old scrubs from hubby’s closet). I watched American Idol last night, but couldn’t stand the ersatz performances.
I really like the meaning of the word, but it just doesn’t flow right. It sounds like it should be a swear word: “Ersatz! I just stubbed my toe!”
February 28th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Yeah, that’s German for ya. Doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue!
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