№ 529. Many Words, Many Worlds

Brad Veley

 

Sometimes a word is not enough. You have to string a number of them to describe one confounding reality. Complexity is in the details. The words help untagle these layers of little gods and tiny devils.

"It was the first thing I found strangely fascinating about German: a word that went on and on until you ran out of breath or got totally lost in the middle. Invariably it had to be hyphenated on to the row below. Geschwindigkeitsbeschränkungen, all 30 letters of it: a very big word for a fairly simple idea (it means speed limits)."

 

Lisa Benson