Ersatz

Ersatz is a German name (literal meaning: "substitute") for products, especially chemical compounds and provisions developed in wartimes when shortage of certain goods was imminent. It is associated with cheap replacement, low quality and disgust. The word surfaced during World War I in Germany because the allied fleet cut off all transport to Germany by sea.

Ersatz products that were developed were, for example: synthetic rubber (buna produced from oil), benzene for heating oil (coal gas) and coffee, using roasted beans, which were not coffee beans.

Also countries that were indirectly affected by the blockade developed ersatz products, for example in Sweden during World War II. Here a certain kind of gas produced from boiling wood (gengas) was used as ersatz for gasoline.

In German, Ersatz is used as a noun, typically in compounds such as Kaffee-Ersatz. In its adaption to English, it has come to be used as an adjective, as in ersatz coffee.

The wartime experience of ersatz products is satirized in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, which features a line of Victory products, such as Victory gin, which are uniformly vile.

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The german word "Ersatz" can even describe reparations to pay if appointed in a conviction or a backup of data, ressources or military troups. An "Ersatzspieler" for example is a substitute in contend with sports, "Schadensersatz" is indemnity and a "Ersatzbatterie" a spare battery - all in case of a crisis if anything is not available and needs to be exchanged with anything else.

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