The Germans have a genius for word combinations, one of which is “sitzfleisch.” Constructed from the German for “sit” and “meat,” the literal meaning of sitzfleisch is, to put it politely, the human derrière.
Used in this sense, sitzfleisch affords us the opportunity to have some fun with language while appearing erudite as well. A mom tells her 16-year-old to knock off the video games: “Get off your sitzfleisch and go outdoors!” Her husband recounts telling an amusing joke: “The boss laughed his sitzfleisch off.” The teenager wants to put off mowing the lawn: “Gosh, Mom, I’ve got a horrible case of sitzfleisch today.”
