German Word of the Week: Glückspilz

A glückspilz is someone who’s happy-go-lucky: sort of a cross between the American expressions “Pollyanna” and “lucky devil.” It transliterates “happy/lucky mushroom” and is, in fact, the German name of the (poisonous!) flycap or fly agaric that Euro-American kids associate with fairytales and gnomes–the one with the red cap and white spots. As a metaphor, glückspilz began to apply to people in the 18th century, apparently with a somewhat pejorative connotation–someone who was nouveau-riche, whose wealth popped up overnight like a mushroom in a wet, gloomy forest. In the 19th century, however, the glückspilz started to take on the happy associations it currently has, appearing on New Year’s greeting cards, etc., and so it came to denote someone who’s cheerful or lucky no matter the circumstance.