Archive for 'Language'
The German But Posted by Constanze on May 2, 2018
Guten Tag! If I were to ask you the German word for ‘but’ the first one to come into your mind would most likely be ‘aber’. This is indeed the German word for it, and probably the most common one. But have you ever seen the words jedoch, allerdings or nichtsdestotrotz in a sentence? These…
Eine Gute-Nacht-Geschichte Posted by Sten on Apr 30, 2018
If you have Kinder (children), you know what it is like: Ich will noch nicht ins Bett! (I don’t want to go to sleep yet!) Of course, I am talking about Kinder, die noch nicht schlafen wollen (Children that do not yet want to go to sleep). And what do you tell them? A Gute-Nacht-Geschichte (good-night story). Here’s a very short…
The Curiosity of the Word “Der Schnickschnack” Posted by Sten on Apr 26, 2018
You know when you rent a car, you can get all kinds of Versicherungen (insurances) – do you really need them? Or is it just all Schnickschnack? Schnick-what? What is this word? Let’s find out! Click here for previous entries in the series on curious words in German Where does it come from? Der Schnickschnack can easily be translated to…
How To Rate Something In German Posted by Constanze on Apr 25, 2018
Guten Tag! Today I’m going to give you some words and phrases to use if you want to rate or review something in German. This may come in useful if you’re purchasing a product in Germany and want to leave a review, or if you’re buying from a German-speaking website or place and want to…
The Curiosity of the Word “Handy” Posted by Sten on Apr 19, 2018
Last weekend, we looked at the word USB-Stick, a so-called Scheinanglizismus (pseudo-anglicism), an English-looking word, that actually has no, or not the same, meaning in the English language. I thought it would be fun to dive a little deeper into these Scheinanglizismen. Today, we look at the German word Handy. Handy? Yes. Handy. Previous installments of Curious Words The Curiosity…
German Car-Related Words Posted by Constanze on Apr 18, 2018
Guten Tag! Germany is world-famous for its cars, so it’s no wonder that there are several, quirky German words and phrases related to vehicles and driving in general. Today I’d like to introduce you to a few of these words and phrases! The first word is das Elefantenrennen. This literally translates to ‘elephant running’ and…
Bavarian-German Postcard Phrases Posted by Constanze on Apr 16, 2018
Servus! That’s the informal, Bavarian way of saying hello or goodbye. And it’s relevant because today I’m bringing you a few more Bavarian phrases! If you’re anything like me, you collect postcards from all of the places you’ve visited. Whenever you visit a touristic region with a distinct dialect, you’re likely to find postcards in…