> >>The Friday before Easter is called Good Friday. I've never managed to
> >>work out what "kar" means in your name for it. My favourite, though
> >>is Ascension, which I understand you call Himmelfahrt...
> > Literally, "gone to Heaven" -- my wife's maiden name (unmarried -- not sure
> Yes, I got that (or "journey to Heaven"), from German O-level [UK exam taken at
> age 16]. "Weihnacten", for Christmas, doesn't take much decoding to get "holy
> night(s)". But my dictionary is quite silent as to what the element "kar-"
> might represent.
"Kar" is derivated from the Oldhighgerman word of chara/kara with
an meaning of grief/mourning - so the Karwoche is the week of
mourning for Christ / the mourning period. While this word is
no longer in use in German (and no derivate, AFAIK), it is still
present in English as 'care' (Didn't I already mention that English
preserved a lot mor ol German words than German itself ? So learning
English is kind of learning old German.)
I hope this wil end your life long search for the meaning of Kar.
Gruss
H.
P.S.: Now solve the riddle of Ostern/Eastern.
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Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut
HRK
Received on Thu Apr 15 1999 - 14:00:03 BST