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Urlaubsreif
I love German word formation creativity! Urlaubsreif is another example from my log list of words that are somehow German-only i.e. usually cannot be translated into other languages with just one word. Urlaubsreif means in desperate need of a holiday and because I consider myself a person in such a state all the linguistic topics that come to my mind right now are somehow holiday-related.
Take the word wellness for example. Another wonderful instance of German importing English words and adapting them for their own needs. All English dictionaries I consulted (Oxford, Longman, Cambridge and Macmillan) barely define this word as health or the state of being healthy. The Langenscheidt German dictionary on the other hand says that die Wellness is the state of being physically healthy, happy and fit and also describes massages, baths and physical exercises offered at the so-called wellness centers.
As I’m dreaming of holidays in such a Wellnessoase at the seaside I came to think about the peculiarity of the name of the Baltic Sea. The Germans pragmatically call their seas according to their geographical location: die Nordsee (the North Sea of course) and die Ostsee (the Baltic Sea, literally: the East Sea). And whereas the North Sea is called the North Sea in most languages, the Baltic Sea changes its name depending on the country. I was trying to find some kind of a pattern behind it but failed disastrously (see: Urlaubsreif). So if you happen to know more about the origins of and tidbits about the name Baltic Sea, do let me know!
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2 comments for “Urlaubsreif”
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Apparently, there’s even a German to blame for naming it “Baltic”. (And, btw, in German we call it Baltisches Meer, too… even though the most common name is simply Ostsee).
Quoting from the English Wikipedia on the etymology of Baltic Sea (you were somehow asking for it in the last paragraph):
“While Tacitus called it Mare Suebicum[2] after the Germanic people of the Suebi, the first to name it also as the Baltic Sea (Mare Balticum) was eleventh century German chronicler Adam of Bremen. The origin of the latter name is speculative. It might be connected to the Germanic word belt, a name used for two of the Danish straits, the Belts, while others claim it to be derived from Latin balteus (belt).[3] However it should be noted that the name of the Belts might be connected to Danish bælte, which also means belt. Furthermore Adam of Bremen himself compared the Sea with a belt stating that the Sea is named so because it stretches through the land as a belt (Balticus, eo quod in modum baltei longo tractu per Scithicas regiones tendatur usque in Greciam). He might also have been influenced by name of legendary island mentioned in The Natural History by Pliny the Elder. Pliny mentions an island named Baltia (or Balcia) with reference to accounts of Pytheas and Xenophon. It is possible that Pliny refers to island named Basilia (“kingdom” or “royal”) in On the Ocean by Pytheas. Baltia also might be derived from “belt” and means “near belt of sea (strait)”. Meanwhile others have concluded that the name of the island originates from the Indo-European root *bhel meaning white, fair. Yet another explanation is that, while derived from the afore mentioned root, the name of the sea is related to naming for various forms of water and related substances in several European languages, that might have been originally associated colors found in swamps. Another explanation is that the name was related to swamp and originally meant “enclosed sea, bay” as opposed to open sea.”
Thank you for your comment, Pablo! And for filtering out the most important information on the etymology of the name ‘Baltic Sea’, very useful!