Tag Archives: Curious Words
German Similes To Make You Smile Posted by Constanze on Jun 13, 2018
Guten Tag! After what feels like a lot of grammar and vocabulary posts from me, it’s time for something a little more light-hearted. Today I’d like to bring you a quirky German phrase. The phrase is: grinsen wie ein Honigkuchenpferd. Grinsen wie ein Honigkuchenpferd This phrase translates to ‘To smile like a honey cake horse’…
Ways To Use The German Word ‘Immer’ Posted by Constanze on Jun 6, 2018
Guten Tag! Today I’d like to bring you a seemingly simple, German word that can be used in a variety of ways to mean different things. That word is the German word immer – always. So the basic definition of immer is always: Ja, so ist es immer – Yes, it’s always like…
The German Colour Eigengrau Posted by Constanze on May 23, 2018
When you walk around in pitch dark, you only see black in front of you, right? In German, you see a colour called Eigengrau. Eigengrau, which literally means own grey or intrinsic grey, is the shade of black seen by the eye in complete darkness. On the Hex colour chart, where black is #000000, Eigengrau…
German Kofferwörter (Portmanteau Words) Posted by Constanze on May 9, 2018
Today the topic is all about German Kofferwörter. These are words that mix two or more existing words together to create a new word with a blended meaning. These are what the English call portmanteau words. Examples in English include Brexit (Britain + Exit, to describe Britain exiting the EU), smog (smoke + fog), and…
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…
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…
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…