Make Your Point > Archived Issues > GAULEITER

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connect today's word to others: Remember this scene from The Sound of Music?    "Good afternoon, Herr Zeller."    "Perhaps you've not heard. I'm now the Gauleiter." The Gauleiter? What? I saw this word in the English subtitles--we always keep them on, whatever we're watching, precisely for this advantage of catching all kinds of hard-to-hear information--and I got curious enough to look it up. I learned that a Gauleiter isn't just a ruler of a district in Nazi Germany. It's also something you can call any bossy official or petty little despot. So if you know a local leader who's drunk on what little power he or she has, you might call that person imp___ious (bossy, commanding, and stuck-up), or dic_____ial (extremely bossy or extremely controlling), or simply a gauleiter. (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "GAULEITER" This word entered English from German in about 1936. The "gau" part means "a district," and like it sounds, the "leiter" part means "leader." So although the literal meaning of "gauleiter" is just "district leader," the word has a nasty tone because Gauleiters were the district leaders in Nazi Germany. They were appointed by Hitler himself and had total control over their areas, where they became known for being cruel and tyrannical. In general, then, a gauleiter is someone who acts like a mean, petty little dictator. Pronunciation: GOU lie dur (The first syllable rhymes with "cow.") Part of speech: Countable noun. (Countable nouns, like "bottle," "piece," and "decision," are words for things that can be broken into exact units. You talk about "a bottle," "three pieces," and "many decisions." Likewise, talk about one gauleiter or multiple gauleiters.) Other forms: Just the plural, "gauleiters." So do we capitalize it or what? In German, all nouns get capitalized, and the word "Gauleiter" is also a title--so capitalize it if doing so appeals to your sense of logic. But these days, when we use this word in English, we often use a lowercase, treating it like any other common noun: "tyrant," "despot," "dictator," etc. How to use it: When calling someone Hitler seems a bit heavy-handed, and when you need to emphasize the small amount of power that someone has, the word you need is "gauleiter." Just use it with caution: it's nasty. Talk about someone being (or acting like) a gauleiter, often of a particular place: "Matilda's principal, Miss Trunchbull, acts like the gauleiter of Crunchem Hall Primary School." Or, talk about someone turning into a gauleiter, revealing himself or herself as a gauleiter, barking out orders like a gauleiter, etc. Or say that you have a gauleiter for a teacher, a parent, a manager, etc. examples: The TSA agent bustled around the security checkpoint like a gauleiter, yanking people's laptops into trays and shouting about lotion and toothpaste and shoelaces. In "Shindig," River dismisses Badger as a small-time thief and a gauleiter, calling him "a sad little king of a sad little hill." study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "gauleiter" means when you can explain it without saying "little Hitler" or "bully." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "A little self-appointed gauleiter was (at a particular place), (doing something bossy and petty)." Example: "A little self-appointed gauleiter was stationed at the entry to our dorm, asking everyone for their IDs as they entered and largely being ignored." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. Subject Line Redux! You know how I fill the subject line of each Make Your Point email with a little comment about the word? Let's revisit some of those subject lines; they make a good study tool. That is, you'll improve your chances of recalling our words when you need them later if you do this now: look at the little comment from the subject line and use that to recall the word, its meaning, and how it connects to the little comment. (For more on active recall and how you can employ it to strengthen your vocabulary, please go here.) In each issue this month, I'll share a puzzle or other activity that prompts you to recall 5 previous words based on their subject lines. (To make your own activities like these, check out the fun and useful Vocabulary Worksheet Factory.) And I'll share the answers in the following issue. From our previous issue:  Answers: Try this today: review today's word: 1. A near opposite of GAULEITER is A. RARA AVIS. B. SAVANT. C. TOADY. 2. We had a gauleiter for a manager who _____. A. insisted on handling every complicated transaction herself B. narrowed her eyes at us if we stopped a moment to sip water C. plastered cheesy inspirational posters all over the break room Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. B