wursteln

== German == === Alternative forms === wurschteln === Etymology === From Wurst (“sausage”), thus originally “to make sausages” (compare wursten), and then figuratively in the sense of “to meddle, to tamper”. In Low German areas the verb is likely to have been secondarily associated with an unrelated verb meaning “to wrestle, to struggle”, attested in Middle Low German worsteln and cognate with English wrestle and Dutch worstelen. Some senses and particularly the derivative sich durch etwas durchwursteln (“to struggle through sth.”) are most readily explained as being linked to this Low German verb. By surface analysis, Wurst +‎ -eln. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈvʊʁstəln/, [ˈvʊʁstəln], [ˈvʊʁstl̩n], [ˈvʊɐ̯stəln], [ˈvʊɐ̯stl̩n] === Verb === wursteln (weak, third-person singular present wurstelt, past tense wurstelte, past participle gewurstelt, auxiliary haben) to meddle; to tamper to potter; to be busy with minor works and tasks (e.g. about the house) to struggle with everyday problems; to eke out a living ==== Conjugation ==== ==== Derived terms ==== Wursteln durchwursteln herumwursteln ==== Related terms ==== verwursten wursten Wurst === Further reading === “wursteln”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎[1] (in German) “wursteln” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon “wursteln” in Duden online