A really splendid word to say. Coming from German, zugzwang (pronounced as you’d imagine it to be) means ‘compulsion to move’. It’s formed by the words zug (move) and zwang (compulsion or obligation). The Germans really do have a lot of words with Z in – playing Scrabble there must be really easy. Assuming you know German. Which I don’t. So maybe not really.
Anyway, it’s largely used in Chess. When a player must take his turn and any move he makes will place him in a weaker position, he can be said to be in zugzwang. So there you have it. Short and sweet today.
Short, sweet and well done everyday. A splendid wor(l)d du jour indeed, which I enjoy very very much. May I suggest you add “posted under Z (or whatever letter)”, that would help your readers -Scrabble players or not- to find all these extraordinary words more easily, like in a dictionary. Your “rubbish faux-netics” do help. In fact, they are also very amusing to read.
Thanks
I’m glad you like it – especially glad the “rubbish faux-netics” (I may steal that term) are of some use.