Traumneustartversuch (trawm - noy - shtarht - fair - zooch)

Ever thought, 'There should be a German word for that'? Well, now there is.

That's the premise of Schottenfreude, Ben Schotts's excellent new tome - German words for the human condition. The header of this blog being the (usually futile) attempt to return to the plot of a dream after having being woken. Broken down into its German compound construction: DREAM - RESTART - EXPERIMENT. As someone who dreams a lot, and vividly, I've been looking for years for a word to define the very thing I would love to be able to do, but can't.

Here's another one: Eisenbahnscheinbewegung (eye - zen - bahn - shine - beh - veh - goong) - The false sensation of movement when, looking out from a stationary train, you see another train depart. RAILWAY - ILLUSION - MOTION.

Great, aren't they? I can't recommend this book highly enough. So if you want to know the phrase for the urge to turn and glare at a bad driver you've just overtaken or the pressure to make small talk with people you interact with every day, this miscellany has got your name written all over it.