I came across a word today that knocked my imaginary socks off: Bildungsroman! I immediately had to look it up in the dictionary to see if I was being pranked.
I wasn't.
It's a noun. The definition is as follows: "A novel dealing with one person's formative years or spiritual education."
I kid you not. How could I have not known this awesome word existed before this gloomy Saturday morning?
Now I want to be invited to a cocktail party so that I can casually say, "I'm writing a Bildungsroman. Can you dig it?" (It would sound much cooler if I was loaded on gin.)
I wasn't.
It's a noun. The definition is as follows: "A novel dealing with one person's formative years or spiritual education."
I kid you not. How could I have not known this awesome word existed before this gloomy Saturday morning?
Now I want to be invited to a cocktail party so that I can casually say, "I'm writing a Bildungsroman. Can you dig it?" (It would sound much cooler if I was loaded on gin.)
Is this something Douglas Adams and John LLoyd came up with in Meaning of Liff?
ReplyDeleteIf it isn't, then it should be.
Delete"Bildung" means "education" or "formation" in German. "Roman" meas novel in German (Not that I'm fluent in German, however, "roman" means novel in Russian, too, as the word has Germanic origin). "Bildungroman" is COMING OF AGE novel.
ReplyDelete... Well, I didn't mean to sound THAT smart. Sometimes, just can't help myself. He-he.
You are indeed that smart. The dictionary had the origin of the word. I think they did that to add credibility to such an oddity. Now we know that T. writes bildungsroman. He should be proud.
Delete