LL-L "Etymology" 2013.03.04 (03) [DE-EN]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L - 04 March 2013 - Volume 03
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From: Dick van Faassen <faasco at gmail.com>

Subject: LL-L "Lexicon" 2013.03.04 (01) [EN-NDS-NL]



Hallo Ron,

Zeilen brassen is to psition sails to the wind.
But "verbrassen" means to spill money for drinking alcohol or for
useless things.
Are there similar words in othr languages?

Groetn,

Dick.



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From: R. F. Hahn sassisch at yahoo.com

Subject: Lexicon



Dear Dick,



I wonder if the nautical term is unrelated.



I wrote:



Verbrassen in the sense of 'to squander' is used in German and in Low Saxon
of Germany as well.

Apparently, it comes from Low Saxon *brassen* 'to change the position of a
sail.'



In Standard German it tends to be *verprassen* (see Marlou below) 'to
squander', also *prassen* 'to squander resources on extravagant food and
drink', and derived from that *Prasser* 'spendthrift'.



According to the *Herkunftsduden*, this is derived from Middle German *
brasten* ~ *brassen *(with the same meaning) around 1500 CE which derived
it in this sense from Middle Low Saxon. Middle German also had the
iterative-intensive verb form *brasteln*, cognate of German
*prasseln*'crepitate', 'rattle', 'crackle', 'clatter'. Old English has
*brastliān* with the same meaning. In Norwegian it is *brase*.

So the suggestion is that living large, feasting, carousing etc. is
associated with noise-making. (Cf. German *in Saus und Braus leben* 'to
have a lavish lifestyle').


Old English *brastliān* also has the meaning 'to yell', 'to roar', Old
German *brastōn* 'to make a loud noise', and Old Norse *brasta* 'to boast
loudly'.

I am now wondering if Low Saxon *Brass* 'fury', 'rage' is related to this,
as in *in (de) Brass kamen* 'to become angry'. Or is it related to
*brassen*'to adjust a sail to the wind' (= 'to pick up speed', cf.
German
*in Fahrt kommen* 'to pick up speed', 'to become furious')?



Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
Seattle, USA



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From: M.-L. Lessing <marless at gmx.de>

Subject: LL-L "Lexicon" 2013.03.04 (01) [EN-NDS-NL]



George Best: „Ich habe viel Geld für Alkohol, Frauen und schnelle Autos
ausgegeben, den Rest habe ich einfach verprasst.“ (*„I spent a lot of money
on booze, birds and fast cars – the rest I just squandered.“*)



Musste einfach mal sein :-)



Hartlich



Marlou



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