For the seventh consecutive week since learning the term, Fresno, CA man Mark Schwartz is still trying to work the word “gestalt” into a conversation, sources report.
“It’s a beautiful word. It means the whole as a sum of parts. Or the parts that make the whole. Or something like that,” said Schwartz. “It really just captures the essence of a feeling the way no English word can, you know?”
“I’ve been at this for longer than I predicted,” he admitted. “I never envisioned how difficult it would be to find a natural moment in a conversation where the word ‘gestalt’ would fit in. But I press on, because I know that once I find that moment, whoever I’m talking to is going to be blown away. A word like that guarantees instant respect.”
Reportedly, Schwartz has been attempting to strike up conversations with coworkers that he has never talked to before, family friends at parties, and even complete strangers at coffee shops and a local film festival.
“A word of this caliber deserves the effort,” he said. “I simply couldn’t bear to let an opportunity to say it pass. I already made that mistake with ‘zeitgeist.’”
“Mark has been acting very friendly lately,” said coworker Mary Waldorf. “Every day last week he came up to me rambling on about 19th century German art movements. It’s insufferable. He’s becoming a total backpfeifengesicht.”
James Grady, another coworker, said, “Just this morning Mark was yapping about 20th century anti-war films. He started to look more eager with every sentence. But then I had to leave the room to take a call, and Mark looked more devastated than I’ve ever seen him in his life.”
Despite his peers’ lack of enthusiasm for obscure foreign words, Schwartz has not given up. At press time, he was seen in his office bathroom practicing the pronunciation of “fernweh.”
