Weekly Word: Ersatz
The lovely German word ersatz is both an adjective meaning “serving as a substitute” and a noun meaning “an artificial or inferior substitute”.
In German, the word literally means “replacement” or “substitute”. According to Wikipedia:
The term ersatz probably gained international attention during World War I, when Allied fleets cut off all sea transports to Germany, forcing Germany to develop substitutes for products like chemical compounds and provisions.
But according to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the term was used to mean “units of the army reserve”.
Regardless of its previous meanings, today ersatz is a good old American word still used to add a little flare when “substitute” doesn’t sound interesting enough. For some usage examples, search for it on Google News. My favorite example mentions “Alec Baldwin’s ersatz NBC honcho Jack Donaghy”.
June 1st, 2009
I first came across the the words “ersatz bullshit” in the book NAKED LUNCH by William B.at the time (1967) I was also reading a book by a Boohoo who went great lengths to define bullshit and horseshit. He concluded that horseshit was a form of orthodox bullshit. Being most of the time in an altered state during this period the word ersatz had a profound impact on my perception of what was real and not real.