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Tag Archives: Language History

The German Word ‘Volk’ Posted by on Jun 9, 2021

volk

Guten Tag! We have talked before on the blog about words with loaded meanings/stigma attached to them – such as this post, German words associated with Nazism. Today we’re going to look at another such word in more detail. It’s a very small, simple word, but sometimes even these words have a surprising amount of…

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Why Did Germany Change This Street Name? Posted by on Apr 12, 2021

street name

Guten Tag! The subject of today’s post is a good example of how language evolves over time, and how powerful an effect it can have. In summer 2020, Germany decided to change a street name in Berlin. In this post we’ll look at why that is, and what they changed it to! Why Did Germany…

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How the German Word “Fräulein” Disappeared Posted by on Feb 18, 2021

Language moves and evolves, often along the lines of what a culture still deems acceptable or not. German is not immune to this, of course, and this week marked the 50th anniversary of the disappearance of a belittling word: Fräulein. A “little woman”. It disappeared in legal ways, at least. That doesn’t mean you won’t…

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The German Word ‘Muttermal’ Posted by on Sep 30, 2020

Guten Tag! Wie geht’s? Today we’re going to look at an interesting German word – das Muttermal. Das Muttermal Das Muttermal is the German word for a birthmark or mole – as in, the moles on your skin, not the mole the animal (this is called der Maulwurf in German!). The literal translation of Muttermal…

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The Germans on the Germans: North & South Posted by on Nov 27, 2019

Hallo! Every country has names for people from different regions within that country. In this post we will look at what people from northern Germany call people from southern Germany, and vice-versa (for a post on east and west Germany, click here!). *Please note: The point of learning about these words is not to encourage anybody…

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The Germans on the Germans: East & West Posted by on Nov 13, 2019

Hallo! Every country has names for people from different regions within that country. Over the next few posts we’ll look at what words Germans have for other Germans, and why. In this post we will look at what people from eastern Germany call people from western Germany, and vice-versa. A follow-up post will look at…

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The Austrians on The Germans Posted by on Oct 30, 2019

Guten Tag! Recently we talked about the word Kraut which, as well as being the German word for ‘herb’, is an offensive term for a German person. In this mini-series, we will look at some words the Swiss, Germans, Bavarian-Germans, and Austrians use to describe one another. Some are meant in a derogatory way, whilst…

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