But sometimes there are words that take you by surprise, and this was one of those for me.<\/p>\n
Today we are talking about the German word Labskaus<\/strong>, and its connection to a British-English word.<\/p>\n Labskaus<\/strong> is a traditional dish from northern Germany, especially popular in Hamburg, L\u00fcbeck and Bremen. It consists of corned beef or other, salted meat, accompanied by potatoes and onions. There are variations on the dish (for example, some include an Ei<\/strong> \u2013 egg<\/em> \u2013 rote Beete<\/strong> – beetroot, or Hering<\/strong> – herring) but this is its basic make-up. So, if you go to Norddeutschland<\/strong> (northern Germany) and see Labskaus on the menu, now you know what it is.<\/p>\n It is said that Labskaus was invented, and primarily eaten by, sailors and seamen in the 16th century, because all of the ingredients used were readily available and non-perishable.<\/p>\n The meaning of the word is not clear, but in Latvian the words \u2018Labs kauss\u2019 translate to \u2018good bowl [of food]\u2019<\/strong>, so it\u2019s possible the German is a variation on that. The dish Labskaus is not exclusive to Germany; it is also found in parts of Scandinavia.<\/p>\n Labskaus. Image via Pixabay.<\/p><\/div>\n Labskaus also made its way to England, UK – specifically to Liverpool, which is a British seaport. In English it became known as \u2018scouse\u2019. Not only is scouse the name of the dish, but it\u2019s the name given to the people and dialect of Liverpool!<\/p>\n Labskaus \u2192 Lobscouse \u2192 Scouse<\/p>\n It never occurred to me why people from Liverpool might be called \u2018scousers\u2019 and the dialect be called \u2018scouse\u2019. How interesting to learn that the name comes from a plate of food eaten by German sailors many centuries ago.<\/p>\n Canned meat – das Dosenfleisch<\/p>\n Egg – das Ei<\/p>\n Beetroot – die rote Beete<\/p>\n Herring – der Hering<\/p>\n North Germany – Norddeutschland<\/p>\n Sailor\/Seaman – der Seemann<\/p>\n Seaport – die Hafenstadt<\/p>\n perishable – verderblich<\/p>\n non-perishable – unverderblich<\/p>\n Scandinavia – das Skandinavien<\/p>\n Latvia – das Lettland<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Guten Tag! I\u2019m coming at you today with a word you may not have realised is German in origin. We\u2019ve talked several times on the blog about English words that are actually German, including angst, wanderlust and rucksack, to name but a few. If you\u2019re interested, there are posts on these here, here and here…<\/p>\nLabskaus<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/07\/labskau-427031_1280-1024x712.jpg\")
The English connection<\/h2>\n
Vocabulary<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/07\/labskau-427031_1280-350x243.jpg\")