Archive for 'Language'
How Germans Trick Or Treat Quite Differently Posted by Sten on Nov 14, 2019
Last Sunday, I was having dinner with my brothers and sisters. Since winter nears, it was already pitch black outside – and suddenly the doorbell rang. Who’s that? My brother opened the Tür (door), young, high Stimmen (voices) began to sing, and we looked at each other in horror – we forgot the Süßigkeiten (candy)!…
The Germans on the Germans: East & West Posted by Constanze on Nov 13, 2019
Hallo! Every country has names for people from different regions within that country. Over the next few posts we’ll look at what words Germans have for other Germans, and why. In this post we will look at what people from eastern Germany call people from western Germany, and vice-versa. A follow-up post will look at…
How UFO’s Streik Affects Thousands of Germans Posted by Sten on Nov 7, 2019
Since a few hours, hundreds of thousands of Passagiere (passengers) are waiting at Flughäfen (airports) for their flights – Lufthansa cancelled a lot of them today and tomorrow. Because of a Streik (strike) of UFO. Who’s UFO and why are they doing this? Let’s find out. What’s going on? The Unabhängige Flugbegleiter Organisation (UFO) e.V. (independent steward organisation…
German Sayings + Expressions 26: Geister! Posted by Sten on Oct 31, 2019
Finally, Halloween is here! But do you want to use some ghostly sayings and expressions? Then you’re in the right place! Where I looked at the word Geist last week, we now use it in a Sprichwort (saying) and an Ausdruck (expression). Let’s go! For older posts, please follow this link. Der Geist ist willig, aber das Fleisch ist schwach Literally: The spirit…
The Austrians on The Germans Posted by Constanze on Oct 30, 2019
Guten Tag! Recently we talked about the word Kraut which, as well as being the German word for ‘herb’, is an offensive term for a German person. In this mini-series, we will look at some words the Swiss, Germans, Bavarian-Germans, and Austrians use to describe one another. Some are meant in a derogatory way, whilst…
Loaded German Words: Kraut Posted by Constanze on Oct 25, 2019
Guten Tag! Recently there was an uproar here in the UK when the official party for the pro-Brexit campaign put out a poster showing a photo of Angela Merkel, accompanied by the words ‘We did not win two world wars to be pushed around by a Kraut’. This was in reference to a phone call…
The Curiosity of the German Word “Geist” Posted by Sten on Oct 25, 2019
In Spuktober (Spooktober – we don’t actually say that in Germany, but I guess I’ll go with it anyway), you hear all kinds of Halloween-related words. Also in Germany! Yet there is one specific word in Germany that is kind of curious – let’s have a closer look at the word Geist. Click here for previous entries in…