spurlos versenktadj.
/ˌʃpʊələʊs fəˈzɛŋkt/ Sunk without trace; usually figurative, done for, lost from sight. Hence occasionally (with partial translation) sunk spurlos. Cf. to sink without (a) trace at sink v. Phrases 6. The phrase became widely known as a result of the publication in September 1917 of a secret telegram sent in May of that year by Count Luxburg, the German minister in Buenos Aires, to Berlin, advising that Argentinian shipping should be either turned back or sunk without trace.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > loss > [adjective] > lost > completely
unrecoverable?a1425
unrecurable1465
irrecuperable1483
unregainable1644
irrecoverable1645
irretrievable1695
retrieveless1703
spurlos versenkt1918
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > [adjective] > sinking down > that has sunk > without trace
spurlos versenkt1918
1918 W. H. Allen in Stories of Americans in World War 24 He was merely seeking an excuse for the inhuman conduct he planned. The order ‘spurlos versenkt’—to be sunk without leaving a trace—was to be obeyed.
1922 A. Huxley Mortal Coils 92 You're done for..sunk—spurlos.
1928 H. Crane Let. 23 Oct. (1965) 329 I haven't had a creative thought for so long that I feel quite lost and spurlos versenkt.
1930 W. F. Sands Undiplomatic Memories xv. 225 My plan for neutralization of Korea..was sunk without trace, completely spurlos.
1946 W. S. Churchill in Compl. Speeches (1974) VII. 7337 He has departed ‘spurlos versengkt’ [sic] as the German expression says—sunk without leaving a trace behind.
1963 Oxf. Med. School Gaz. XV. 23 Many distinguished research workers have ceased production when they have become professors and like submarines in dangerous waters have been spurlos versenkt.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
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adj.1918