[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: Seirawan's Brilliant Portmanteau

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
Seirawan's Brilliant Portmanteau
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1224801014.shtml


   Fingerfehler is a neat German word, used only for chess, as far as I
   know, that indicates a slip of the fingers in moving a piece. It
   doesn't mean that the player suffered some sort of muscle spasm, but
   indicates rather a sort of mental slip where one intends to do x but
   the fingers, with a "mind" of their own, play y instead. (One can read
   such an account [1]here.)
   It's a useful little word, but one without a clear English
   translation. Sometimes "finger slip" is used; "fehler" literally
   translates to mistake, blunder or error. As for its pronunciation, the
   word rhymes with sailor. Enter GM Yasser Seirawan and his live
   broadcasts on the [2]Foidos site. More than once the past few days,
   I've heard him use the term - sort of. Just going by pronunciation,
   what he has said is "fingerfailure". I'm not sure if he's simply
   misstating the German word or has coined his own translation, but
   either way, it's ingenious! "Fehler" is not German for "failure" -
   "versagen" is the German infinitive of the English to fail - but it's
   close enough, conveys the right idea, and sounds so similar that it's
   just about perfect.
   Very nice.

References

   1. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CEEDD1E38F937A35752C1A966958260
   2. http://www.foidoschess.tv/