Archive for 'Language'
3 Words About Former West Germany Posted by Constanze on Jul 24, 2019
Guten Tag! I recently read a book about the history of Germany. It contained many words I hadn’t heard of before, that gave insights into specific aspects of German history. The section on the post-war/Cold War period (1945-1991), in particular, used several German words when discussing the topic of East and West Germany. We all…
3 Words About Former East Germany Posted by Constanze on Jul 22, 2019
Guten Tag! I recently read a book about the history of Germany. It contained many words I hadn’t heard of before, that described specific aspects of eras in German history. The section on the post-war/Cold War period (1945-1991), in particular, mentioned several German words when discussing the topic of East and West Germany. We all…
What The German Mittwoch Means Posted by Sten on Jul 18, 2019
Yesterday was Mittwoch (Wednesday), the third day of the German week. It’s a Tag (day) that does not even deserve to be called a Tag, Mittwoch simply indicates the middle of the Woche (week). And even that is not true anymore. Why does this day have to suffer so much and be singled out like this? Let’s find out. From Wodan to Jesus…
Untranslatable German Words: 08/15 Posted by Sten on Jul 11, 2019
Untranslatable words can also be a simple array of 4 numbers – 08/15 is a term that has entrenched itself in everyday German. Pun intended. What does 08/15 mean? According to the Duden, 08/15 means “bar jeglicher Originalität, persönlichen Note; auf ein alltäglich gewordenes Muster festgelegt und deshalb Langeweile oder Überdruss erzeugend” (bare of any originality, personal character…
German Sayings + Expressions 22: Heat, Heat, Heat Posted by Sten on Jul 4, 2019
These past few weeks and the upcoming ones have been showing tropische Temperaturen (tropical temperatures) in Germany, with up to 40°C (104°F). Not only time to look for some Sonnencreme (sunscreen) and some Schatten (shade), but also a Sprichwort (saying) and an Ausdruck (expression) that go along with it! As always, let’s start with the Sprichwort. For older posts, please follow this link. Now, let’s…
How or what is a Spitzenkandidat? Posted by Sten on Jun 27, 2019
A significantly higher voter turnout made the European elections held a month ago a success for democracy. But there is one thing: The different leaders cannot agree on which of the Spitzenkandidaten should follow up Jean-Claude Juncker, the current president of the European Commission, the executive organ of the European Union. Let’s talk about that…
The German Word ‘Zeug’ Posted by Constanze on Jun 26, 2019
Guten Tag! Today we’re looking at a very small, but very versatile German word: das Zeug. Simply put, Zeug (das) means thing, or stuff. It is quite common to hear people say things like ‘Was ist das für ein Zeug?’ (‘What kind of thing/stuff is this?’). Zeug can refer to one thing, or several things…