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Vitamin B

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: vitamin B

German

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /vitamiːn ˈbeː/, [vi.taˌmiːn ˈbeː], [ˌvɪ-], [ˌviː-], [ʋ-]
  • Secondary stress would fall on /miːn/ by default, but tends to be retracted to the first syllable.

Etymology 1

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From Vitamin (vitamin), the umbrella term. This subgroup was categorised by Elmer McCollum in 1916 as water-soluble factor B (later vitamin B), hence the letter B.

Noun

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Vitamin B n (strong, genitive Vitamins B, plural Vitamine B)

  1. (biochemistry) the Vitamin B complex (collectively), or a particular member of it (as totum pro parte)
Declension
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Etymology 2

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Humorous re-interpretation of Etymology 1, interpreting B as an abbreviation for Beziehungen (connections) and alluding to their vital importance. Compare Gulf Arabic فيتامين و (vītāmīn wāw, vitamin W, i.e. nepotism) and, more loosely, Persian بند «پ» (band-e p, paragraph P, i.e. nepotism, cronyism).

Noun

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Vitamin B n (strong, genitive Vitamins B, no plural)

  1. (colloquial) connections (people with whom one is acquainted who can offer help and influence)
    • 2019, “Die Kraft von „Vitamin B“: Wie man Empfehlungen zur Jobsuche nutzt”, in Joblog/Manpower[1], archived from the original on 31 December 2019:
      Gute Beziehungen sind Gold wert – und werden auch auf dem Arbeitsmarkt immer wichtiger. Vitamin B hilft bei der Jobsuche: Fast jeder dritte Job wird heute über Kontakte vergeben, erklärt das Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung in einer Studie.
      Good connections are worth a mint―and are getting more and more important in the job market, too. Vitamin B helps with job hunting: Nearly every third job is nowadays assigned via personal contacts, says the Institute for Job Market and Professions Research.
Declension
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