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“i bims!” The Youth Word of the Year 2017 Posted by Sten on Nov 28, 2017
About a week and a half ago, Langenscheidt, publisher of dictionaries and other language-related works, announced the Jugendwort des Jahres 2017 (Youth Word of the Year 2017). Let’s explore! I bims! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1UZLS4hqhs The Jugendwort des Jahres 2017 is i bims. What does THAT mean? In the video above, you can see it. It is meant satirically, and comes from ich bin’s! (It’s me!), which can be…
Formation Talks Failed – What’s Next? Posted by Sten on Nov 21, 2017
Germany held elections earlier this year. Four parties came out on top and started talks to form a coalition to govern with a majority. However, just last weekend, those talks were ended – unprecedented in the quite stable political climate of the Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal Republic of Germany). So, let’s have a closer look and scoop up some…
Swiss National Sports: Steinstoßen Posted by Sten on Nov 9, 2017
All countries have some sport that has some tradition, or that is extremely popular. The United States, for example, has American football, baseball and basketball. Brazil and Germany have football/soccer, the British have rugby and cricket, the Canadians ice hockey… But what about the Swiss? There are actually three national sports. And I have never…
Swiss National Sports: Hornussen Posted by Sten on Oct 27, 2017
All countries have some sport that has some tradition, or that is extremely popular. The United States, for example, has American football, baseball and basketball. Brazil and Germany have football/soccer, the British have rugby and cricket, the Canadians ice hockey… But what about the Swiss? There are actually three national sports. And I have never…
Swiss National Sports: Schwingen Posted by Sten on Aug 22, 2017
All countries have some sport that has some tradition, or that is extremely popular. The United States, for example, has American football, baseball and basketball. Brazil and Germany have football/soccer, the British have rugby and cricket, the Canadians ice hockey… But what about the Swiss? There are actually three national sports. And I have never…
Untranslatable German Words: Klangwunder Posted by Sten on Jul 28, 2017
In the series of untranslatable German words, we tackle those words that just don’t have a direct English translation that makes sense. This week, we have a wonderful word, that encapsulates a lot: Klangwunder. What is a Klangwunder? A Klangwunder is a place or device that has miraculous acoustics. It puts you in awe and wonder how such…
The Curiosity of the German Word “Hochzeit” Posted by Sten on Jul 27, 2017
In the series of curious German words, we look at words that for some reason don’t make sense. Check out Curious German Word Weg, for example. The word Hochzeit (wedding, literally “high time”) is pretty common. A wedding! Nothing special on face value. But pronounce it: Hochzeit. Hoch and Zeit put together. Do you notice something? Pronunciation The pronunciation of Hochzeit makes no sense…