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Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 16:05:00 -0800 (PST)
From: wsmith@wordsmith.org
To: linguaphile@wordsmith.org
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--kitsch
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kitsch (kich) noun

   1. Art or artwork characterized by sentimental, often pretentious bad
      taste. The aesthetic or mentality in which such art is conceived or
      appreciated.

   2. Culture or civilization in a degraded state of sentimentality and
      vulgarity.

adjective

   Relating to or characterized by kitsch.

[German, probably of dialectal origin.]

   "Survivors were naturally eager to forget the grimness, and she suggests
   that they were helped in this by kitsch war poetry and by heroic military
   films."
   Hearing silence, Economist, Oct 28, 2000.

This week's theme: words from the German language.

.............................................................................
Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch
that never hurts. -Charles Dickens, novelist (1812-1870)

Q: Tomorrow is my friend's birthday and I forgot to send her a gift. Help!
A: Give the gift of words. Send a gift subscription of A.Word.A.Day at
   http://wordsmith.org/awad/gift.html . It is the gift that keeps on
   giving the whole year long, and beyond.

Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/kitsch.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/kitsch.ram