Tag Archives: coronavirus
Zoom Meetings In German Posted by Constanze on Feb 3, 2021
Guten Tag! I hope you are all well, and have had a great start to 2021. We are nearing March, which will, unbelievably, mark one year since the start of the Coronavirus Pandemie (pandemic) lockdown here in the UK. We have discussed the more serious matters regarding the pandemic throughout the year on this blog…
More German ‘Non-Words’ of 2020 Posted by Constanze on Jan 27, 2021
Guten Tag! Today’s post is a follow-up to the Unwort des Jahres 2020 – the German ‘non-word’ of the year 2020. To fall into the category of an ‘Unwort’, the word must do one or more of the following: violate the principles of human dignity; violate the principles of democracy; discriminate against social groups; or…
Does Germany Need an Impfpflicht? Posted by Sten on Jan 14, 2021
In the last few weeks, Impfstoffe (vaccines) against the Coronavirus have been rolled out around the world. However, the rate at which Impfungen (vaccinations) have been administered caused a lot of concern. Also in Germany. With 1207 deaths in one day, the country saw a new record; and yet, the amount of people that are open to an Impfung remains…
Germany’s Unwort des Jahres – ‘Non-Word’ of the Year 2020 Posted by Constanze on Jan 13, 2021
Linguists from the Technische Universität Darmstadt have decided on Germany’s Unwort des Jahres (the ‘non-word of the year’) 2020. This year, and for the first year since the Unwort des Jahres started in 1991, there are two of them: Corona-Diktatur and Rückführungspatenschaften. Germany’s Unwort des Jahres – ‘Non-word’ of the year. At the end of…
Looking Back: The Best German Posts of 2020 Posted by Sten on Dec 21, 2020
2020 has been a weird year. Jahresrückblicke (end-of-year reviews) don’t feel satisfying with the continuing pandemic and just before Christmas many European countries are back in a hard lockdown. What to do with the extra time sitting at home? Perhaps this post will give you plenty to entertain yourself for a while – let’s have our…
The German Haushaltswoche – Part 2: Merkel’s Speech Posted by Sten on Dec 11, 2020
It’s an exciting week in the German Bundestag (the German legislative body, its lower house of Congress). Earlier this week, German Bundesfinanzminister (secretary of finance) Olaf Scholz presented the Haushaltsentwurf (budget draft) for 2021. The Bundesregierung (federal government) has agreed; now it’s time for the Bundestag to follow suit. But before that happens, they have four days to…
German Word of the Year 2020 Posted by Constanze on Dec 9, 2020
Guten Tag! Today we will look at the Wort des Jahres in Germany. Each year, the Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache (GfdS) – The German Language Association – picks a word as their Wort des Jahres – ‘Word of the Year’. This is often a word related to a prominent topic in the country during the year, and is usually interesting from…