Gemütliche (PDD)

Gemütliche is a very special word indeed. So special, in fact, that despite its not being Spanish, it calls for a one-time revival of the famous Palabra Del Día (lit: "Word of the Day") tradition, that I bet you thought was long-finished on this blog. Gemütliche means "cosy". It means comfortable. It means warm and fuzzy and cute — and all in that distinctive, Germanic, central European way that can't be found elsewhere in this world. I've heard the word gemütliche used many times, here in Kitzbühel; and I'm not surprised by this at all. Kitzbühel is possibly about as gemütliche a place as you could ever find: small, proud, beautiful and cosy; and extremely Austrian. And like so many other highly expressive German words, gemütliche also found its way firmly into the Yiddish language, and subsequently into modern Yiddish-peppered American English — which is why I've known it for as long as I can remember.