Germans can generally be relied upon to call things by their names. Take the bra, which was first patented by a Swabian tailor 100 years ago. The English word for this vital piece of female apparel is derived from the French brassière. The French, meanwhile, use soutien-gorge, literally "throat-sustainer". No such prudish exoticism or anatomical approximation for Germans. They call the thing Büstenhalter; bust-holder, plain and simple.

Such brutal honesty is belatedly creeping through German politics. Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's Social Democratic Party, for instance, is openly playing with the thought of forming a grand coalition with Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union as it becomes clear that nothing short of a seismic tremor in public opinion could see the chancellor win next month's general election.