This week's term is an interesting one. The German Zugzwang is originally a chess term. In this context, it describes a situation in which a player is obliged to make a move, but where any move will put him or her at a disadvantage. This is the way zugzwang is used in English. In Russian, цугцванг ("tsugtsvang") was originally used for chess only, too. Nowadays, however, it can also be used to describe hopeless real-life situations. In modern German, the term has largely lost the connotation of something unpleasant waiting ahead no matter what you do. It still means that one is obliged to do something (urgently), though, so the notion of compulsion is still there.

By the way, the text below today's image reads "Zugzwang occurs more often in real life than in chess." I think I agree.

The image is from www.prozaru.com.

Those of you who'd like to spend the rest of January beneath a sunny sky should perhaps get in touch with a reisibüroo (at least if you live in a certain Baltic country.) The German term Reisebüro (travel agency) might be slowly dying out because brick-and-mortar travel outfits are having a hard time, but at least there is another country where they use it, too - Estonia.

Many thanks to my colleague Joke Jochum for sending me the inspiring map of German terms abroad where I found this word.  

The image is from www.pvk.ee.

Although winter still hasn't arrived in Amsterdam yet, it is cold enough for me to wear a Halstuch (scarf, neckerchief) when I go for a walk. The Russian version of Halstuch - галстук ("galstuk") - wouldn't keep me very warm, however, since a галстук is a tie. In modern German, a tie is called Krawatte (which, by the way, comes from the Croatian word for "Croatian") or, less formally, Schlips. 

In Russian, an informal meeting is called a встреча без галстуков ("vstrecha bez galstukov") - literally, a "meeting without ties". 

The image is from www.tsokno.com.

This is a recent discovery of mine, and one that concerns several languages. In English, Dutch and French (and perhaps even more languages), the musical instrument you can see above is known by its German name, Glockenspiel. In German, however, Glockenspiel has a second meaning that didn't survive the transfer to the other languages - "carillon". 

The image is from www.kids.britannica.com.