[slightly OT]: German "englisch" = rare

[Chris F Waigl]

Cohen, Gerald Leonard wrote:

> Would anyone know why one of the German words for "rare" (opposite of well-done) meat is "englisch," which literally means "English"?  Are the British known for preferring their meat rare?
This is what, without actually thinking about the question, I've always
assumed.

In Germany, and even sometimes in France, the English have the
reputation of being specialists in matters of grilled steaks, rightfully
or not. The terms used will be English or French most of the time,
except "(gut) durch(gebraten)" for "well done".

Not long ago someone asked this in de.etc.sprache.deutsch, and no one
there had anything more substantial to offer.
> Does the word refer to the redcoats? Is there another explanation I'm completely missing?
>
No idea.

Grimm has nothing, but it doesn't seem to deal with proper names and
their derived adjectives. The only sense of "englisch" it contains is
the adj. referring to an angel (as in "der englische Gruß").

Chris Waigl

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