Monday, February 28, 2011

Word of the Day - And something I am sometimes good at, sometimes achingly not so much

Sitzfleisch

PRONUNCIATION:
(SITZ-flaish, ZITS-)

MEANING:
noun:
1. The ability to sit through or tolerate something boring.
2. The ability to endure or persist in a task.

ETYMOLOGY:
[From German Sitzfleisch, from sitzen (to sit) + Fleisch (flesh). Earliest documented use: Before 1930.

NOTES:
Sitzfleisch is a fancy term for what's commonly known as chair glue: the ability to sit still and get through the task at hand. It's often the difference between, for example, an aspiring writer and a writer. Sometimes the word is used in the sense of the ability to sit out a problem -- ignore it long enough in the hope it will go away.

Taken from Wordsmith.org

1 comment:

Yoga Teacher Training said...

Sitzfleisch must be a kind of discipline. I think it has to be learned. It also sounds a bit more encompassing as the ability to sit out a problem -- ignore it long enough in the hope it will go away is also trait.