Tag Archives: Language
Untranslatable German Words: Der Geisterfahrer Posted by Constanze on Sep 17, 2014
Guten Tag! Here’s another little German language lesson in the form of an untranslatable German word – and today there are a few other words thrown in for good measure. Today’s word is Der Geisterfahrer. Before I tell you what this word means, here are some similar-looking words, along with their meanings. You will see…
Untranslatable German Words: Waldeinsamkeit Posted by Constanze on Aug 21, 2014
Guten Tag, and wilkommen to another post on untranslatable German words! The word of today is Die Waldeinsamkeit. What is the meaning of Waldeinsamkeit? It refers to a very specific feeling – the feeling of being alone in the woods. What does Waldeinsamkeit literally translate to? Wald means wood/forest. Einsamkeit means loneliness, or solitude. How…
Don’t take things so literally! … Unless you’re speaking German. Posted by Constanze on Aug 13, 2014
You can learn a lot about Germany from its language. There are many nouns in the German language that have very literal meanings to them. Their pattern is that they are made up of two or more separate words put together to form a new word. These are called compound nouns. Some examples are: Das…
Words and signs you might encounter in deepest Bavaria Posted by Constanze on Aug 10, 2014
If you visit Bavaria (especially if it’s a little place out in the depths of the Bayerischer Wald), you are likely to encounter the Bavarian language in one form or another. Spoken Bavarian probably sounds incomprehensible as a non-native German speaker, even if your Hochdeutsch is of a good standard. But when it comes to…
Untranslatable German Words: Torschlusspanik! Posted by Constanze on Aug 3, 2014
Guten Tag, and willkommen to another post on untranslatable German words! The word of today is Torschlusspanik. What is the meaning of Torschlusspanik? This is the fear that time is running out. It describes the panic you get when you realise one day that in actual fact, you haven’t done very much with your life…
An Introduction to Bavarian Posted by Constanze on Jul 27, 2014
Well, when I first started writing for this blog I promised I would bring some Bavarian into it. So here goes! Firstly, why Bavarian? The German side of my family come from Bavaria. I grew up speaking Bavarian more than Hochdeutsch (standard German), and even today, hearing it is as natural for me as hearing…
Translation request: Wirklichkeit, Gestalt, and Gefüge Posted by Constanze on Jul 21, 2014
This post comes from a comment Dirinella left me on one of my recent posts: vielleicht kannst Du (oder andere) helfen, und zwar bei der Übersetzung des deutschen Begriffs “Wirklichkeit”. Das englische “real” trifft es leider überhaupt nicht, denn Wirklichkeit oder “das Wirkliche” sagt nur aus, dass etwas Wirkung hat, auch ohne dabei real sein…