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Stephenson is great, but just for the record, the claim that Germans understand "süchtig" as "seeking" goes too far. Süchtig is the adjective to Sucht (addicti
by skosch 8y ago
Stephenson is great, but just for the record, the claim that Germans understand "süchtig" as "seeking" goes too far.
Süchtig is the adjective to Sucht (addiction), not to Suche (search), and although the etymological link is clear, there's nothing romantic or compassionate about the word.
- canhascodez 8y agoThanks: I'm sure I would have gone a long ways before discovering anything more about the context of that statement. However, I note that Stephenson does seem to have described this as a loose translation. Is the German word used as an adjective, or is that also an issue of translation?
- skosch 8y agoSüchtig is an adjective, yes, and 'seeky' is actually a sensible literal translation. But just like the word addicted, it carries the connotation of a destructive obsession, not just a tendency-to-seek-out, and it is just as obliterating a word as its English equivalent.