Ohrschluck

Another note on Austrian pronunciation: do you know what an Ohrschluck is? How about an Arschloch? In Austria, they're the same thing: an asshole.

At one point in my meanderings around Vienna this year, I somehow made it to Westbahnhof U-Bahn station at the rush hour, to spot a young man with a backpack run out of the southbound U-3 train and headlong into an older man using a cane. This older man proclaimed, in a dignified and quiet manner, the Viennese pronunciation of a common German-language vulgarity, which I took to mean "ear drink" quite literally.

"How quaint!" I thought. "How remarkable. I wonder what Ohrschluck could mean?"

It was not until I got home, and - in vain - tried to look up this "colloquialism" to realize that the stately, cane-wielding gentleman simply elongated his "a's" and his "o's" to the point of incomprehension (for a non-Austrian). I should have guessed!

I Want to Make an Impact

I've decided my blog needs some spice.

Does anybody really care what I have to say?

Do people who blog about their families, children, etc., ever fear that some pedophile is going to stumble upon said blog and stalk their children?

Do religious fanatics who preach the "word of God" ever have second thoughts after they post?

Do wannabe writers, music bloggers and other artsy-fartsy types ever think they will actually be discovered if they're persistent enough and post regularly?

Can the internet cure the ills of society, or has it already contributed enough (too much?) to the downfall of civilization as we know it? And, follow-up question, if we're going to hell in a hand basket, how come it's taking so long? Can we stop for a potty break?

Why are Americans so obsessed with body odor? Sure, some people are so smelly they're offensive. But doesn't a little b.o. remind us that we're all human? Maybe that's just me.