Feline fun

June 23rd, 2008 at 07:12am Barry Wood

This one is strictly for entertainment — and edification.

Once upon a time, there was a popular cartoon strip, originated in 1897, called “The Katzenjammer Kids.” The word “katzenjammer” comes from German words for “cat” (“katze”) and “woe” (“jammer”).

In English, it actually has three meanings, the first influenced by the cartoon strip: “a farcical quality; travesty.”

The other two are “a bewildering hodgepodge or distressing confusion” and “a severe headache, especially as part of a hangover.”

Interestingly, one of the folk remedies for the third type of katzenjammer is the “hair of the dog.”

Entry Filed under: word origins