Archive by Author
The World’s Largest Advent Candle Is In Germany Posted by Sten on Dec 2, 2021
Advent, advent, die Kerze brennt! (Advent, advent, the candle is burning!) The four Sundays before Christmas are the four days of Advent, anticipating the birth of Christ. To mark these days, each of them gets a candle – the four Adventskerzen (f, advent candles). They can be attached to Adventskränze (m, advent wreaths) and can be found in…
Germany almost has a new chancellor. But who is Olaf Scholz? Posted by Sten on Nov 25, 2021
Last month, I wrote about the Ampel (traffic light) that was likely coming to Germany. This isn’t an actual traffic light, but rather a coalition of three political parties: the SPD, Greens and FDP. They now concluded their coalition talks and presented their coalition – including a new Bundeskanzler (m, federal chancellor) – Angela Merkel‘s successor. After 16…
A little Cringe – Germany’s Youth Word 2021 Posted by Sten on Nov 22, 2021
A few weeks ago, the German Jugendwort des Jahres (Youth Word of the Year) was chosen. From a field with some strange contestants, one word clearly took the cake! What this word means and how it entered the German language, as well as the hilarious way the Tagesschau dealt with this news, let’s explore. A wide variety…
How Corn Flakes Conquered the German Language Posted by Sten on Nov 11, 2021
First a breakfast favorite in the States, then spread all over the world: Corn flakes! Created by the Kellog brothers, the light breakfast ahs seen many varieties. In the US, these are widely known as “cereal”, or “breakfast cereal”. But how do you translate that to German? Maybe you simply don’t… Here’s the curiosity of…
How Broccoli Became Synonymous for Cannabis in Germany Posted by Sten on Nov 4, 2021
In this series, I want to discuss Worte (words) that became famous in Germany, and what their impact was afterwards. Today, we’ll look at a new word for cannabis. If you look into the debate about legalizing marihuana in Germany from time to time, you might have read that people refer to der Cannabis (cannabis) as all…
How Are Jamaica and German Traffic Lights Related? Posted by Sten on Oct 28, 2021
After German elections, you might hear more and more about Kenia (Kenya), Jamaika (Jamaica) or die Ampel (traffic light). But how are these countries and a traffic light related to each other? It’s all in the political Koalitionen (coalitions). The Kenia-Koalition The Kenyan flag consists of three main colors: schwarz (black), rot (red) and grün (green). That would be a Koalition of the CDU/CSU in their black colors…
Germany Elected A New Parliament: What Happens Now? Posted by Sten on Oct 25, 2021
Germany elected a new parliament! That’s all nice and well, but what happens next? How do we go from here to a new German Bundeskanzler (m, Federal Chancellor)? Here’s how the process works! The new German Parliament after the September elections The German federal elections were held at the end of September, and they were quite a…