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…
The Curiosity of the Word “USB-Stick” Posted by Sten on Apr 14, 2018
You know the words “flash drive”, “pen drive”, “thumb drive” – but “USB-Stick”? No, that is not a way to refer to the little, helpful memory – at least not in English. But in… German? How did such an English-sounding word make it in the German language, even though it is not related to the English…
Swearing In German Posted by Constanze on Apr 11, 2018
Guten Tag! First off, I’d like to thank Bjørn from the Danish blog for providing the inspiration for this post. Bjørn has written a very informative, interesting post about Danish swear words- which I’m hoping to replicate now with German swear words. So let’s get started. Swear words are called die Schimpfwörter in German. German…
The German Heimat Posted by Constanze on Apr 4, 2018
The concept of Heimat is often referred to as a uniquely German concept that cannot be adequately translated – even though it seems like a fairly straight-forward word. On first glance, you see the word das Heim (home) in there, and although Heimat does mean home, this word talks about quite a different concept of…
Karfreitag – Good Friday in Germany Posted by Sten on Mar 30, 2018
Today is Karfreitag (Good Friday)! It is a Christian holiday commemorating the Kreuzigung (crucifixion) of Jesus. It is celebrated, or commemorated, differently all over the world, but generally is regarded as a holiday. And so it is in Germany. Let’s find out what Germans do on this day! What does Karfreitag mean? In German, the word Kar does no longer have…
Days Of The Week In German Posted by Constanze on Mar 28, 2018
Guten Tag! One of the first things you will learn in your German lessons are the names of the days of the week. One thing people are sometimes quite interested in is the differences between the names – why do they all end in ‘Tag’ apart from Mittwoch, for example, and what does that mean?…