In honor of the end of Oktoberfest in Munich, Bavaria, today’s word is die Maßkrugschlägerei. It’s a compound word, and sometimes hyphenated. You’re not likely to find it in your dictionary. Nevertheless, it’s a very handy word to know. Der Maßkrug is a glass or ceramic beer mug that holds a liter of alcohol. (This is the standard-size mug at Oktoberfest!) Die Schlägerei is a brawl or a fight involving physical assaults. Put them together, and you have die Maßkrugschlägerei: a brawl in which a heavy beer mug is used as a weapon. According to this fun article from Spiegel Online International, there were 58 incidents of Maßkrugschlägerei at this year’s Oktoberfest. Since 7.5 million liters of beer were served–each in its official Maßkrug–that’s a pretty low number!
Clare B. Dunkle
