Comments on: Swarming to Schwärmerei?

By: Bernard

Bernard — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 09:52:17 +0000

I follow most of your argument, until you said the acceptance of the word (‘grant citizenship to [it]‘) ought to wait till at least an American uses it. Unless you were joking, I feel I should point out that the English language is used in many countries and usage in America doesn’t justify any word’s acceptance more justifiably than collective usage by other English-speaking nations or peoples.

By: Paul Francis Perry

Paul Francis Perry — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:16:59 +0000

I notice Schwärmerei occurs at least a dozen times in Dorothy Sayer’s Lord Peter Wimsey mystery “unnatural Death” (1927).
Although I suppose that use by Dorothy Sayers is hardly a guarantee that a word is in widespread English use.

By: Michael Marlowe

Michael Marlowe — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 02:05:05 +0000

Hey Prof. Goodword,

I agree with you that Merriam-Webster et al. are doing some pretty questionable lexicography these days. However, I’ll advise your readers that Schwärmerei has theological connotations that are not conveyed by any English equivalent, such as “fanatical enthusiasm.” Luther used the word Schwärmer in reference to charismatic types, Anabaptists and others, who thought they were so plugged into the Holy Spirit that they could do without the authority of Scripture. And so when Schwärmer or Schwärmerei is used by theological types it is meant to suggest everything that Luther associated with it. I think the word does have a legitimate place in some English contexts.