My end of summer read has been Little Bee by Chris Cleave, which, thankfully, moves much faster than Great Expectations. Indeed, it contains tragic violence, profound commentary on Western civilization, and plenty of words to stretch my vocabulary.
During a scene in the book, Sarah, one of the narrators, fixes herself a gin and tonic. (She’s just heard a horrific story, and she needs that G &T.) Unfortunately, she doesn’t have any real lemons to use, so makes do with a “little squirt of plasticky juice from the Jif lemon in the fridge.” Later she says,
I finished my G & T and winced at the taste of the ersatz lemon.
Any word with a “z” in it provokes my interest, and although I could guess its meaning, I wanted to know its origin.
The ersatz flavor of a “Skinny Cow” ice cream sandwich does not satisfy my husband’s craving for a sweet indulgence after dinner.
Julia,
I was shocked to learn this week that my son who is a senior at NYU and apparently a word nerd also, came upon this very post that I also visited back in September. What are the chances of that? He said he needed a definition of ersatz and your blog came up!
Jane
Julia,
Thank you for this fun blog! I was reading Wuthering Heights in the PT gym for weeks on end and ended up meeting your friend who told me about this blog. Recently I was dumbfounded by someone else who is claiming that I made up what I thought was a very common term for over preparation: ‘belt and suspenders’. I said it in passing but she had no idea what I was talking about. Maybe as an ersatz writer I sometimes say this kind of thing to entertain myself, but really, I swear, I’ve heard it hundreds of times and did not make it up. Have you or any of your readers heard of this old-fashioned saying?
Jane
Knowing your distaste for gin and tonic’s already, I could only imagine the look on your face when you had one with the ersatz lemon.Great word and I love your use pertaining to your husband’s fondness for real, rich ice cream such as Turkey Hill.
Little Bee broke my heart in every way, I adored this book. I just finished Chris Cleave’s Gold a few days ago..another good read!
PS…New follower 🙂
Great – maybe we can “talk” about it when I post my review. I loved the writing, but I had some issues with the plot. More later…
Ersatz is a great crossword word! (That’s not my sentence, just an observation!) And I’ve eaten Skinny Cow sandwiches for so long they taste normal to me now. Sad, huh?
Sarah’s experience at JMU’s ersatz football game reminded her of how much she missed Hokie football.
No, not sad. We can’t afford all those calories. I too am perfectly happy with Skinny Cow (and less payback on my belly!) Great sentence, also out of the food world!
Here is my attempt at forming a sentence using ersatz. Actually, it turned out to be 2 sentences
Attending the high-society party was not my idea, and I wanted to leave almost as soon as I arrived. This was especially true after Mr. Renard’s ersatz personality left me wanting a real conversation with good friends.
I wanted to use the word in a sentence without refering to food.
Monique
Great job Monique! I love it that you ventured out of the culinary realm!
haha, I’ve eaten Skinny Cow ice cream before– so true!
Ooo, I like this word. I would agree with your husband’s example except I would change it to soy (b/c I can’t eat dairy.) I miss icecream a LOT.
Bless you, Hester