Archive for 'Culture'
Yiddish: Can You Understand It? Posted by Sten on Apr 23, 2020
Perhaps you have seen the Serie (show) Unorthodox on Netflix. When the first words were spoken, I heard a strange familiarity, yet only recognized certain words. Yiddish is a mix of different languages, with unmistakable German roots. What’s the story of this interesting language? And how is it expressed in Unorthodox? Let’s find out! What is…
Untranslatable Words: Die Hiobsbotschaft Posted by Sten on Apr 17, 2020
If you get very bad news, how would you say that in English? Germans have a word for it, and it has quite the interesting origin story. It is the Hiobsbotschaft. Let’s have a look! What does Hiobsbotschaft mean? A Hiobsbotschaft, sometimes Hiobsnachricht and historically Hiobspost, is a Botschaft (message) with very bad news for the Empfänger (recipient). In other words, an Unglücksnachricht (message of…
German Sayings + Expressions 28: Things with Water Posted by Sten on Apr 2, 2020
In times like these, with the Coronavirus (coronavirus), we know we have to stay zuhause (at home). With events being cancelled and regular life coming to a halt, there are of course also Sprichwörter (sayings) and Ausdrücke (expressions) related to this. Let’s have a look at these, shall we? Today, we start with the Ausdruck (expression). For older posts, please follow this link. Ins Wasser fallen…
German Lucky Charms Posted by Constanze on Mar 23, 2020
Guten Tag! I hope everybody is well. Last time on the blog I talked about the extensive use of the word Schwein (pig) in the German language. If you read that post, you might now be wondering why the word Schwein is used in so many sayings and expressions in Germany. There are two theories…
Untranslatable Words: Die Konfirmandenblase Posted by Sten on Mar 12, 2020
Do you have to go to the bathroom a lot? Looks like you may have a Konfirmandenblase… A what? Let’s look at this untranslatable classic today! What does Konfirmandenblase mean? https://youtu.be/3ATLej-1WW0?t=1178 A Konfirmandenblase refers to a weak bladder, somebody that has to go to the toilet a lot. Other similar words referring to the same are “Sextanerblase” (“Sexta…
How Germans Turned Into Almans Posted by Sten on Jan 27, 2020
Ah, the Germans. Attached to stereotypes of Pünktlichkeit (punctuality), Ordnung (order) and Gesetzestreue (law abidance) above all else, they have a distinct culture and lifestyle. But how could you encapsulate this in a term? What says “German” like nothing else? Alman, apparently. Let’s have a look. Making fun of Germans Don’t think we Germans are not aware of all these…
German ‘Non-Word’ of 2019 Posted by Constanze on Jan 15, 2020
Linguists from the Technische Universität Darmstadt have decided on the German Unwort des Jahres (the ‘non-word of the year’) 2019. The Unwort des Jahres is ‘Klimahysterie’. At the end of every year, the GfdS (German Language Association) picks a word for its Wort des Jahres (Word of the Year). This is a word that’s been…