{"id":11490,"date":"2020-02-19T11:58:44","date_gmt":"2020-02-19T11:58:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=11490"},"modified":"2020-02-19T11:58:44","modified_gmt":"2020-02-19T11:58:44","slug":"curious-german-words-der-fohn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/curious-german-words-der-fohn\/","title":{"rendered":"Curious German Words: Der F\u00f6hn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guten Tag! Today we\u2019re looking at a very interesting German word. This word is related to the weather, and is also the subject of Alpine folklore. It has made its way into the English language, and is also the German word for \u2018hairdryer\u2019. Today we\u2019re looking at the word F\u00f6hn.<\/strong><\/p>\n

F\u00f6hn, F\u00f6n, Foehn\/foehn?<\/h3>\n

Throughout this article the spelling of this word will change according to exactly what definition I am talking about. Let\u2019s get started with the one you might have heard of already.<\/p>\n

Foehn \u2013 the English weather term<\/h3>\n

In English meteorological terms, \u2018foehn winds\u2019<\/strong> or \u2018the foehn effect\u2019<\/strong> describes a change in weather conditions from nass<\/strong> (wet) and kalt<\/strong> (cold) on one side of a mountain, to warm<\/strong> (warm) and trocken<\/strong> (dry) on the other side. The foehn effect<\/strong> drastically impacts the weather conditions of the residents living in such mountainous areas. It also usually comes with incredibly dramatic cloud formations over the mountains!<\/p>\n

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Image via Pixabay<\/p><\/div>\n

Foehn<\/strong> is a German loanword. Its original spelling in German is F\u00f6hn<\/strong>. Although it is sometimes written that way in English, it is more commonly spelt Foehn due to the lack of the letter \u2018\u00f6\u2019 in the English language. \u2018oe\u2019<\/strong> is the way to spell letters with Umlaut<\/a> if you don\u2019t have the Umlaut on your keyboard, for example. Another way this word differs in English and German is that in German, as a noun, it would always be capitalised (F\u00f6hn). However, in English it would not need to be capitalised (foehn).<\/p>\n

F\u00f6hn \u2013 German folklore<\/h3>\n

According to folklore, Alpenf\u00f6hn<\/strong> (\u2018Alpine foehn\u2019 or \u2018Alpine winds\u2019) does not simply impact the weather conditions in its surrounding areas. It is also said that F\u00f6hn<\/strong> affects nearby residents\u2019 mental states, with people displaying a range of illnesses from migraines (die Migr\u00e4ne<\/strong>) to insomnia (die Schlaflosigkeit<\/strong>) to psychosis (die Psychose<\/strong>) whenever F\u00f6hn was happening. There is even a word for this phenomenon: die F\u00f6hnkrankheit<\/strong> (\u2018the F\u00f6hn illness\u2019). Studies have shown that rates of suicide (der Selbstmord<\/strong>) also increased during periods of F\u00f6hn.<\/p>\n

On a lighter note, whenever people felt or did something strange, it was common to blame their actions on the F\u00f6hn!<\/p>\n

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der F\u00f6n\/der F\u00f6hn \u2013 Hairdryer<\/h3>\n

As \u2018F\u00f6hn\u2019 is the name of an Alpine wind, it makes sense that the German word for \u2018hairdryer\u2019<\/strong> – which blows out air – is the same. You may see it spelt in one of two ways, however: der F\u00f6n, which is the older spelling, and der F\u00f6hn, the newer spelling. An alternative word is, simply, der Haartrockner<\/strong> (literally \u2018the hair dryer\u2019).<\/p>\n

Are there any German words that have sparked your interest, that you’d like me to cover here on the blog? Let me know in a comment, if so!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Related vocabulary:<\/h3>\n

Mountain \u2013 der Berg<\/p>\n

Cloud \u2013 die Wolke<\/p>\n

Wind \u2013 der Wind<\/p>\n

Weather \u2013 das Wetter<\/p>\n

Sickness \u2013 die Krankheit<\/p>\n

Folklore \u2013 das Volkstum\/die Folklore<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Guten Tag! Today we\u2019re looking at a very interesting German word. This word is related to the weather, and is also the subject of Alpine folklore. It has made its way into the English language, and is also the German word for \u2018hairdryer\u2019. Today we\u2019re looking at the word F\u00f6hn. F\u00f6hn, F\u00f6n, Foehn\/foehn? Throughout this…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":11493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[13487,503854,376029,375970,95131,376023,95337,269721],"class_list":["post-11490","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-language","tag-alps","tag-curious-words","tag-folklore","tag-german-and-english","tag-german-language","tag-language","tag-loan-words","tag-loanwords"],"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