At the end of Friday’s Dialog in Deutsch session, one of the group leaders asked me if I knew the words vergeuden or die Vergeudung. I had to say “no” and it was a challenge even to repeat them! She smiled and said that they meant “to waste” or “to squander” something or “a waste.” Canoo.net gave this definition: etwas planlos/sinnlos/unrationell* aufwenden – “to use/spend something in an aimless, pointless or inefficient way.” Eager to know more, I discovered some of the common accompaniments to these words using DWDS.de:
- von Ressourcen, Steuergeldern, Steuermittel, Arbeitskraft, Rohstoffen, Energie, Geld
- Kraft, Talente, Jahre, Menge, Milliarden, Viertel, Lebenszeit, Gut
- unverantwortliche, sinnlose, gigantische, volkswirtschaftliche, nutzlos, unnötig
- Behörden, Staat, Einführung, Regierung, Politik
- in Warteschleifen, im Kampf, von Arbeitsstunden, an Stellen, mit Dingen, mit Diskussionen, mit Streit, auf Weise, zu Energie, zu Zeit, für Projekte
Dict.cc offered a couple of idiomatic phrases in English that can be translated using vergeuden: “to flog a dead horse” – Kraft vergeuden – and “to spend money like water” – Geld vergeuden.
While some might disagree, discovering more about about how one talks about wasting time, etc., in German was not aimless or pointless or inefficient exercise for me!
*Unrationell is a member of the –ell family of false friends (e.g., punktuell – “selective,” eventuell – “possibly,” aktuell – “topical”). Confusingly, there is another form of suffixation with –ell and –uell that are cognates (e.g., bakteriell and manuell), you can learn about them here: http://www.canoo.net/services/WordformationRules/Derivation/To-A/Suffixe-F/ell.html?lang=en)
Earthquake Words/Erdbeben Wörter 