marcus_b
Posts:
1,138
Registered:
2/5/06
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Re: Need German equivalent of "crank"
Posted:
Nov 28, 2006 12:11 AM
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Larry Hammick wrote:
> > There may be some irony in this. Since 'krank' in German
> > basically means 'sick', and 'Er ist krank [im Kopf]' might be used to
> > mean 'He is sick [in the head]', I would guess that our use
> > of the word 'crank' to describe someone who is basically a
> > nut of some kind is derived from the German.
>
> Quite possible IMO.
>
> "Crank" in our sense seems to be have originated in the 20th Century.
> Maybe it derives from talk of "crank telephone calls" or "crank
> letters". Math cranks do have a tendency to pester people with
> communications.
>
Hard to know. I bet the etymology and sequence of usages are not
well documented. Someone noted essentially that 'feeling crank'
is synonymous in some parts of England with not feeling well. That
seems almost directly descended from the German 'krank'. As they
say, the short words in English are Germanic and the long
ones are French and Latin. So I would be inclined to think 'crank
telephone calls' were so-called because they were initiated by
cranks, i.e., sickos of one kind or another.
> Off topic, remember the great news correspondent Walter Cronkite?
> Adapted from Krankheit, I'll bet.
Uh ... yeah ... uh ... you might want to review the rest of what
I posted in that regard ... You should hear my imitation of Charles
Kuralt trying to imitate Walter Cronkite ... who was indeed great in
his way, but not in the same league as Edward R. Murrow. And that's
the way it is, Monday, November 27, two thousand and six.
Marcus.
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