Handschuhschneeballwerfer

I love the way German words are formed by a number of little words joined together. Like “Kopfkissen,” literally “head kiss” for pillow or “Arbeitgeber,” “work giver” for boss. 

This is one of those great compound words. 

HANDSCHUHSCHNEEBALLWERFER 

How many letters is in that word?!

Literally, a handschuhschneeballwerfer is “someone who wears gloves to throw snowballs” with the idiomatic meaning of “a coward, someone who criticizes from a safe distance.”

Where I grew up in the middle of Alaska, the snow was usually so dry it was like cold sand. You were lucky if you could gather any kind of snow together at all, let alone make a snowball. Every so often, a miracle would happen. Wet snow! And we were never prepared for it. We were young and we were real Alaskans. We didn’t wear gloves. We were lucky to be wearing a coat. When the wet snow came and with it that urge to pummel someone with snow, we were unprepared as the first missiles were lobbed. There was nothing for it but to get our hands red, swollen, and wet. I remember it stung. 

The people of Deutschland must have shared a similar experience at some point.

Here’s the breakdown:

“Hand” = “hand” + “schuh” = “shoe” = the German word for “glove,” a “hand-shoe”

“Schnee” = “snow” + “ball” = “ball” = “snowball”

“Werfer” = “thrower”

Essentially, a “gloved snowball thrower.”

A handschuhschneeballwerfer is someone who doesn’t have the courage to get his hands red, swollen, and wet, yet still throws snowballs. Fighting from the comfort of gloves.