katzenjammer

/ˈkætsənd͡ʒæmə(ɹ)/

Etymology

Borrowed from German Katzenjammer (“hangover”, literally “the wailing of cats”); a determinative compound formed from Katze (“cat”) + -n- + Jammer (“wailing; lamentation”).

Why this word is great

KATZENJAMMER — [Noun] A hangover; also, a state of discord, confusion, or depression. From German Katzenjammer (literally "the wailing of cats"), a compound of Katze ("cat") + Jammer ("wailing; lamentation"). Unlike "hangover" (which confines itself to the body’s revolt against excess) or "cacophony" (which merely describes noise), "katzenjammer" carries the weight of both physical and metaphysical disarray. It is the sour taste of morning regret, the dissonant clamor of an argument left unresolved, and the hollow ache of a room after the party has ended—a reminder that some sorrows are not just felt but heard, like the distant, untuned orchestra of feline despair.

noun

A hangover.“Also, I had found my way into the realm of the mind, and I was intellectually intoxicated. (Alas! as I was to learn at a later period, intellectual intoxication too, has its katzenjammer.)”
Jitters; discord; confusion.“Tell you the truth, I've had an intimation from the State Department—unofficially, of course—that whenever a soldier of fortune demands a fleet of gunboats in a case of revolutionary katzenjammer, I should cut the cable, give him all the tobacco he wants, and after he's shot take his clothes, if they fit me, for part payment of my salary.”
Depression.