pygmalion

By itself, the German word Schweinehund is not a polite thing to call someone—a maledictum, sort of equivalent to the English bastard.

I had thought that this pig-dog was an actual animal at first, maybe the German term for an aardvark or like how meerkats are called simply Erdmenschen. In the formulation “inner” pig-dog, however, it takes on another meaning for which there's no adequate translation: the internal pig-dog can refer to someone's alter-ego, distractions too easy to indulge, a quiver of procrastination, or simply bad-habits. With the new year cuing many to cement resolutions, it is a good time to examine ones own Schweinehunde and what parts of ones personality in need of reform—or at least, redirection. And with that, there is apparently a whole spate of portable and potable applications designed to stave off such behaviour for ones electronic accessories. I don't know about those type of goal-enforcers but perhaps it's a good thing, as the internet and instant gratification have enabled a lot of piggish and idle traits. What do you think? Can the wireless manage bad-habits or is it just a temporary fascination?