{"id":10057,"date":"2018-07-24T14:39:52","date_gmt":"2018-07-24T14:39:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=10057"},"modified":"2018-07-24T14:39:52","modified_gmt":"2018-07-24T14:39:52","slug":"untranslatable-german-words-der-saftladen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/untranslatable-german-words-der-saftladen\/","title":{"rendered":"Untranslatable German Words: Der Saftladen"},"content":{"rendered":"

In our series on untranslatable words, we look at words in German that have no direct English equivalent. Today, we look at the curious, but enjoyable\u00a0Saftladen<\/em>.<\/p>\n

What does\u00a0Saftladen\u00a0<\/em>mean?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>

A Saftladen<\/em> (Image from Pixabay.com)<\/p><\/div>\n

According to the Duden<\/a>, a\u00a0Saftladen\u00a0<\/em>is a:<\/p>\n

“s<\/em>chlecht gef\u00fchrter Betrieb; schlecht gef\u00fchrter, schlecht sortierter Laden<\/em>”<\/p>\n

(badly managed establishment; badly managed, badly assorted establishment)<\/p>\n

So basically, a\u00a0Saftladen\u00a0<\/em>Nichtsk\u00f6nner\u00a0<\/em><\/a>is a place that you do not want to visit. It is the\u00a0in establishment form.<\/p>\n

What would be a literal translation of\u00a0Saftladen<\/em>?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Literally translated,\u00a0Saftladen\u00a0<\/em>means, surprisingly “juice shop”. But how did juice shops get this terrible reputation?<\/p>\n

It all started in the 19th\u00a0Jahrhundert\u00a0<\/em>(century),\u00a0Apotheken\u00a0<\/em>(pharmacies) were called\u00a0Saftladen\u00a0<\/em>as a joke, because they had all their bottles and concoctions that the\u00a0Apotheker\u00a0<\/em>(pharmacist) would mix themselves… All these Fl\u00e4schchen\u00a0<\/em>(little bottles) of\u00a0Medizin\u00a0<\/em>(medicine)… It was not something everyone trusted.<\/p>\n

However, a joke is not necessarily negative. This came in the following\u00a0Jahrhundert<\/em>, when\u00a0Saftladen\u00a0<\/em>became a term also used for Kneipen\u00a0<\/em>(bars) and\u00a0Spirituosenl\u00e4den<\/em>\u00a0(liquor stores). After all, those establishment too sell S\u00e4fte\u00a0<\/em>of all kinds – not necessarily better-tasting and by some believed to be healthful, just like Medizin<\/em>.\u00a0These shops, of course, had a less than optimal\u00a0Ruf\u00a0<\/em>(reputation), and there the bad connotation was born.<\/p>\n

Over time, the term Saftladen <\/em>was used for any establishment that did not fulfill its service, was too expensive or in any other way did not fulfill the Erwartungen\u00a0<\/em>(expectations) of the Kunde\u00a0<\/em>(customer).<\/p>\n

Nowadays, the\u00a0term\u00a0Saftladen\u00a0<\/em>is somewhat going through a renaissance. The term is often used both seriously and jokingly. And, fully embracing the sarcasm, stores that sell freshly pressed juices and smoothies, a sector that has been booming in recent years, are often referring to themselves as\u00a0Saftladen\u00a0<\/em>– because they sell\u00a0S\u00e4fte\u00a0<\/em>(juices), after all.<\/p>\n

How would you use\u00a0Saftladen\u00a0<\/em>in a sentence?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>

The modern Saft<\/em> (Image by Devin Avery at Unsplash.com)<\/p><\/div>\n

In a sentence,\u00a0Saftladen\u00a0<\/em>would be used as follows:<\/p>\n

Mensch, die Bedienung ist aber unh\u00f6flich! Bei so einem Saftladen geh’ ich nie wieder essen!<\/em><\/p>\n

(Man, the waiter is really rude! I will never have food again at such a “juice store”!)<\/p>\n

Der Fleischer an der Ecke? Als ich dort eingekauft hatte, war das Fleisch so gut wie vergammelt. Bleib dem Saftladen fern!<\/em><\/p>\n

(The butcher on the corner? When I bought there last time, the meat was pretty much rotten. Stay away from that “juice store”!)<\/p>\n

What is the nearest English equivalent of\u00a0Saftladen<\/em>?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Image from Pixabay.com<\/p><\/div>\n

In English, you would refer to a place like this as a\u00a0dump or pigsty. While that more refers to a place being filthy, a\u00a0Saftladen\u00a0<\/em>can have the same meaning. So\u00a0Saftladen\u00a0<\/em>is a bit broader than either of those words.<\/p>\n

Germans like to complain,\u00a0\u00a0Saftladen<\/em>, just like\u00a0Nichtsk\u00f6nner<\/em><\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Schickimicki<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>are part and parcel of German\u00a0Schimpfvokabular\u00a0<\/em>(rant vocabulary).<\/p>\n

What do you think of the word\u00a0Saftladen<\/em>? Do you have a similarly strong word for something like this? Let me know in the comments below!<\/strong><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

In our series on untranslatable words, we look at words in German that have no direct English equivalent. Today, we look at the curious, but enjoyable\u00a0Saftladen. What does\u00a0Saftladen\u00a0mean? According to the Duden, a\u00a0Saftladen\u00a0is a: “schlecht gef\u00fchrter Betrieb; schlecht gef\u00fchrter, schlecht sortierter Laden” (badly managed establishment; badly managed, badly assorted establishment) So basically, a\u00a0Saftladen\u00a0Nichtsk\u00f6nner\u00a0is a place…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":10060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[503854,445003,337679,257573],"class_list":["post-10057","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-language","tag-curious-words","tag-untranslatable","tag-untranslatable-german","tag-untranslatable-words"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t