Word of the Week: Sitzfleisch

Sitzfleisch: The ability to endure or persist in an endeavor through sedentary determination. A borrowing from German, it literally means "sit-flesh"; a comparable English idiom might be "chair glue." 

Two illustrations:

Sitzfleisch: a term used in chess to indicate winning by use of the glutei muscles--the habit of remaining stolid in one's seat hour by hour, making moves that are sound but uninspired, until one's opponent blunders through boredom. — Frank Vigor Morley, "My One Contribution to Chess", Chess Notes, Faber & Faber (1947). (Source: Wiktionary.)

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I worked in the Hallmark public relations department for a man named Conrad Knickerbocker, the public relations manager, who had already begun publishing book reviews and fiction. After I got to know Knick a little, I asked him timidly how you become a writer. ... He said, "Rhodes, you apply ass to chair." I call that solid-gold advice the Knickerbocker Rule¹. — Richard Rhodes, How to Write: Advice and Reflections (1995).

Other sitz- words that have been adopted into English include sitz bath (a shallow bath taken in a sitting position, with only the hips and pelvic region immersed); sitzkrieg (warfare characterized by lack of aggression or progress; the opposite of blitzkrieg); and sitzmark (the impression made in snow by a skier falling backward, a k a butt-plant).

Image from Zazzle.

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¹ I never knew Knickerbocker, so I call it sitzfleisch.

Comments

[Jag]

I am sitzen-stonished!

I love the German ability to append words to great effect. My favourite sitzen expression encountered during research for my book was 'sitzen-pisser' meaning an unmanly man (one who pees sitting down).

Sadly that gem didn't make it into the final book, however the following German agglomeration did - they have a single word that means the “disappointment one feels when something turns out not nearly as badly as one had expected”.

If you'll forgive the shameless self promo, my book covers 1,000+ similar expressions from 10 languages: "I'm Not Hanging Noodles on Your Ears" from National Geographic. More details at www.hangingnoodles.com

PS - the title is the Russian equivalent of our I'm not pulling your leg.

[Duchesse]

Whew, feared it was the fleisch that's dumplisch in mein pantyhosen.