GERMAN WORD OF THE DAY: VERSCHLIMMBESSERUNG

Word that many other languages wish they had - like Schadenfreude (glee at another’s demise or what you feel when someone you quietly despise puts their foot in it).

1920s Berlin newspaper add for facial cream containing radium - it would have certainly given your teint that desired glow (good thing) but probably not for long (definitely bad).

Verschlimmbesserung means “to make a hash of something while attempting to fix it” or “to spoil something by trying to improve it”. This is what happens when, for instance, you decide to create a new cycling path for Berlin two-wheeled commuters (a good thing) but forget that there is a tree bang in the middle of the planned path (a bad thing AND a true story).

The word is older than most of us think: it dates back to the second half of the eighteenth century (which tells you something about human capacity to verschlimmbessern). And it was created through a process known in linguistics as Kontamination (lexical contamination), where one word “bleeds” into or blends with another one, creating a new meaning (also known as portmanteau words): Verbesserung (improvement) was combined with Verschlimmerung (decline) and voilà! Behold a word that will carry you through many ambivalent moments in life.