German word of the day: Kopflastig

Here’s one of these German words that have more than one meaning: kopflastig, in English it means top-heavy.

Depending on the situation it’s used in the word which has three meanings:

– If an object, it has a very high centre of gravity.

An example of this can be an empty coke bottle. Those of you who have ever had the displeasure of carrying a tray with an empty coke bottle on it might have noticed it is kopflastigkeit. It means that the main weight of the object is in its top, so it can easily fall over

– If a person is very, very drunk.

A person is kopflastig when they've had so much to drink that their body starts to shut down. The head seems to become heavier and heavier and by the end of the night, that person might have fallen asleep with their head on the table. Then it’s appropriate to use the notion of kopflastig – the head was too heavy to keep it up.

– If a person is very rational.

To be more precise: If a person doesn’t really count on emotions to make decisions.

The classic battle of head versus heart that often takes place in the process of decision-making is not a big deal for people who are kopflastig.

They usually only concentrate on their thoughts about that topic and just make a decision when they have considered all the pros and cons about their decision. People like that can be described as kopflastig. A synonym for that is rational.

Examples:

Ich kann Entscheidungen nur schwer treffen, weil ich zu kopflastig denke.

I can barely make decisions because I am thinking too rationally.

Die Vase ist ungefallen, weil die Blumen sehr kopflastig waren.

The vase fell over because the flower’s centre of gravity was too high.

Er hat so viel getrunken, dass er langsam kopflastig wird.

He drank so much that he’s starting to fall asleep on the table.

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