{"id":132,"date":"2010-02-27T22:23:58","date_gmt":"2010-02-28T03:23:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=132"},"modified":"2010-02-27T22:23:58","modified_gmt":"2010-02-28T03:23:58","slug":"family-ties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/family-ties\/","title":{"rendered":"Family Ties"},"content":{"rendered":"

German and English are cousin languages; they both are Germanic. Many similarities exist among these two languages. However, there are certain words which are untranslatable. <\/span>One example from a previous blog is Schwarzfahrer (<\/em>fare dodger).<\/p>\n

The German word Ohrwurm<\/em> is another example of a word without an English equivalent. <\/span>Ear worm is the literal translation of the word Ohrwurm<\/em>, however, Ear worm is a serious slant away from the real meaning, which is \u2018catchy tune.\u2019 Even this still lacks hues of connotation. If I was to express the echt<\/em> (real, true) meaning of Ohrwurm auf Englisch<\/em> (catchy tune in English), I would describe it like this: I have a song that\u2019s stuck in my head and I can\u2019t get it out. Some would argue that I just described what a catchy tune is. But, I would contradict- \u2018catchy tune\u2019 is missing a further meaning, which my long winded sentence better articulates. Sure, a song stuck in your head is a catchy; however, \u2018catchy tune\u2019 implies having a melody and\/or a fast dance rift. You don\u2019t necessarily get stuck singing one of these kinds of songs. No, Ohrwurm <\/em>bores into your mind until it gets stuck and stays for a long while.<\/p>\n

Schadenfreude<\/em> is yet another word which has no English equivalent. A quick Google search results in a few \u00fcbersetzungen <\/em>(translations): mischievous joy or spitefulness. <\/span>However, this definition lacks substance and therefore does not fully explain the meaning of the word. Schadenfreude <\/em>is a compound noun. This means that two words were put together to create a new word. <\/span>Schaden<\/em> alone means \u2018harmful\u2019 or \u2018damage.\u2019 Freude<\/em> means \u2018pleasure\u2019 or \u2018enjoyment.\u2019 In order for English to retain its full meaning of the word, it was integrated.<\/p>\n

Imagine sitting on a park bench. You just bought a chocolate ice cream cone. As you eat, you take notice of the other people relaxing and eating cones. When, out of the corner of your eye, the man sitting next to you drops his ice cream on his lap. And suddenly, from somewhere, comes a subtle and meaningful laugh over what you just witnessed. That is Schadenfreude<\/em>. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Other common examples of German words in English are: Zeitgeist <\/em>(Spirit of the time), Gesundheit <\/em>(health) Kindergarten,<\/em> Blitz (lightening) <\/em>and Ersatz<\/em> (substitute). The latter, like Schadenfreude <\/em>is not commonly used on the streets in America and is frequently found in writing.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, there are many words in English and German that have the same spelling but slightly different meanings.<\/p>\n

Handy<\/em> <\/strong>is such an interesting word. In Germany, das Handy<\/em> means cell phone. However, it has quite a different meaning in English. Handy is used to describe someone who has the gumption and the know-how to work with their hands. A handy man is someone who can fix just about anything put in front of him\/her.<\/p>\n

Spiel<\/em> <\/strong>means game and comes from the German verb spielen <\/em>(to play). But, spiel <\/em>in English means to talk, and to give the low down, as in this sentence: What is your spiel<\/em>. Here it does not mean what is your game. It means, what are you about, or what are your motives.<\/p>\n

\u00dcber<\/em> <\/strong>(about, above, over) <\/strong>is the most interesting of all the words which have made it into the English language. I didn\u2019t start to recognize the use of it in English idiomatic expressions until a few years ago when a friend of mine said, \u201cTexting and driving is \u00fcber<\/em> dangerous.” <\/span>You see, unlike German when\u00a0\u00fc<\/em>ber is used as preposition, it has taken on a new meaning and a new part of speech in English. \u00dcber<\/em> is now an intensifier. An intensifier does just that, intensifies the meaning of a word. <\/span>Other intensifiers in English are \u2018wicked\u2019 which is used on the East Coast and \u2018hella\u2019 which is used on the West Coast. <\/span>To say, that a movie you recently watched was wicked awesome, implies it was a good movie and you enjoyed it. The definition is reverse for \u2018the movie was wicked bad.\u2019 \u00dcber, though meaning about, over or above, works the same way. I suppose <\/em>\u00fcber<\/span><\/em> <\/span> has kept some of its meaning in English. For something to be above or over cool and likewise bad, \u00fcber<\/em> is definitely \u00fcbe<\/em>r appropriate to use.<\/p>\n

Einschlafen<\/em><\/strong> is to fall asleep. A good friend of mine said, \u201cthere is no such word in German \u2018to fall asleep.\u2019\u201d <\/span>If we break down the word into its basic parts, my friend was correct in his utterance. Ein<\/em> is equivalent to meaning \u2018one\u2019 or \u2018in,\u2019 and schlafen<\/em> means to sleep. So, literally einschlafen <\/em>would mean \u2018into sleep.\u2019 <\/span>Einschlafen <\/em>(to fall asleep) is a word the represents the logic of the German language. Why would anyone one fall asleep?<\/p>\n

Perhaps, the most common example of English and German crossing vocabulary tracks is IT jargon. Here is an example of English in German:<\/p>\n

Ich musste den Computer<\/span><\/em><\/span> <\/span><\/em><\/span>boot<\/span><\/em><\/span>en \/<\/span><\/em><\/span> <\/span><\/em><\/span>reboot<\/span><\/em><\/span>en, weil die Software gecrash<\/span>t ist<\/span><\/em><\/span> (I had to<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>reboot the computer because the software<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>crashed). I understand how language evolves and thus am not a language purist. However, when I see sentences like this, my stomach tightens and the wind gets knocked out of me\u2014very much as if someone punched me in the gut. As a personal preference I will always use the correct German: Ich musste den Compurter hochfahren, weil die Software abgest\u00fcrtzt ist <\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

There are many other words which have the same quality and idiosyncrasies. Have you ever heard or read of any other words in English or German which do not have an easy translation or, are homonyms equally in both languages?<\/p>\n

Der Schwarzfahrer-far dodger<\/em><\/p>\n

Der Ohrwurm \u2013 ear worm, or catchy tune<\/em><\/p>\n

Ohrwurm auf Englisch-Ohrwurm in English<\/em><\/p>\n

Schadenfreude-pleasure from other people pain<\/em><\/p>\n

Das Schaden \u2013 Damage, harm<\/em><\/p>\n

Die Freud-Joy, pleasure<\/em><\/p>\n

Die \u00dcbersetzungen-translation<\/em><\/p>\n

Das Handy-Cell phone<\/em><\/p>\n

Das Spiel-game<\/em><\/p>\n

Spielen-to play<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00dcbe<\/em>r-about, above, over<\/p>\n

Der Ersatz-Substitute <\/em><\/p>\n

Die Zeitgeist \u2013Spirit of the Time<\/em><\/p>\n

Die Gesundheit-health, used in English for God bless you <\/em><\/p>\n

Schlafen- to sleep<\/em><\/p>\n

Einschlafen-to fall asleep<\/em><\/p>\n

Hochfahren-restart\/reboot<\/em><\/p>\n

Abst\u00fcrtzen-to crash<\/em><\/p>\n

Ich-I<\/em><\/p>\n

M<\/em>\u00fc<\/em><\/span>ssen -to have to<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

German and English are cousin languages; they both are Germanic. Many similarities exist among these two languages. However, there are certain words which are untranslatable. One example from a previous blog is Schwarzfahrer (fare dodger). The German word Ohrwurm is another example of a word without an English equivalent. Ear worm is the literal translation…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}