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Catholicism In The Bavarian Language Posted by Constanze on Apr 20, 2015
Bavaria is a predominantly Catholic part of Germany. While this is evident in its culture, architecture and religious rituals, it is also evident in its language. To explain, I’m going to take some simple Bavarian phrases and expressions and show you the religious meanings behind them. For all examples I’ve included the Hochdeutsch (Standard…
Obscure German Sorrows: Weltschmerz and Lebensmüde Posted by Constanze on Apr 15, 2015
Today’s untranslatable German words post was inspired by John Koenig’s project, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. This ‘dictionary’ fills gaps in the English language for feelings that were never given a name. One of the ones I came across on there had a German name: Altschmerz. “Altschmerz: weariness with the same old issues that…
Fräulein Veronika Dankeschön Posted by Constanze on Apr 10, 2015
One of my first posts on this blog was about the Trümmerfrauen, the post-war German women who cleaned up their war-torn country while their men were away or missing. The way these women stepped out of their stereotypical roles as housewives and mothers to do what was seen as men’s work is still talked about…
16 English Words That Are Actually German (Part 2) Posted by Constanze on Mar 30, 2015
Here’s the second part of ’16 English words that are actually German’! Click here for the first 8 words. Doppelgänger Literal translation & German meaning: Double walker, or someone who looks identical to you Meaning in English: Someone who looks exactly the same as you but is not related to you Use in a sentence…
16 English Words That Are Actually German (Part 1) Posted by Constanze on Mar 29, 2015
Guten Tag! Yes, it’s another Denglish post – but this time with a twist! We might get slightly irritated with the way the English language is manipulating modern German (and the various ways in which it’s doing it), but before we get too irritated, let’s take a look at how many German words the English…
Denglish Pseudo-Anglicisms Posted by Constanze on Mar 23, 2015
Last time I posted about the ever-growing use of Denglish (or Denglisch, depending on whether you’re speaking German or English) on social media & websites. Since that post, by the way, I’ve been keeping an eye out for more Denglish on social media. Here’s an interesting one I saw recently: Danke für’s featuren! – Thanks…
Denglisch On Social Media and Websites Posted by Constanze on Mar 15, 2015
Denglisch (German spelling) or Denglish (English spelling) is probably a term you’ve heard before. It is used to describe the mish-mash of German and English that is becoming more and more prominent in Germany. Using English words instead of German ones, or anglicising the German language in one way or another is now fashionable…