{"id":6153,"date":"2015-03-23T15:44:54","date_gmt":"2015-03-23T15:44:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=6153"},"modified":"2017-11-20T14:38:10","modified_gmt":"2017-11-20T14:38:10","slug":"denglisch-pseudo-anglicisms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/denglisch-pseudo-anglicisms\/","title":{"rendered":"Denglish Pseudo-Anglicisms"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"HimCake.<\/a>

HimCake. HerCake? #denglish. Him is short for Himbeer (raspberry). Photo by fiverlocker on flickr.com under CC BY-SA 2.0<\/p><\/div>\n

Last time I posted about the ever-growing use of Denglish (or Denglisch, depending on whether you\u2019re speaking German or English) on social media & websites<\/a>. Since that post, by the way, I\u2019ve been keeping an eye out for more Denglish on social media. Here\u2019s an interesting one I saw recently: Danke f\u00fcr\u2019s featuren!<\/span> \u2013 Thanks for the feature\/for featuring me!<\/em><\/span> Agh!<\/p>\n

Angie also left a comment on my last post mentioning a different form of Denglish:<\/p>\n

“The most striking example of Denglisch I\u2019ve seen is using \u2018s (commonly called Saxon-genitive) to indicate possession. Mein Vater\u2019s Katze instead of Die Katze meines Vaters.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Thanks for the comment, Angie! There seem to be many different types of Denglish, some focusing on grammar and some on language. One type of Denglish is known as a pseudo-anglicism<\/strong><\/span>: a fake English word. That is, an English word with a different meaning in German, or a word that looks English but has no meaning in English \u2013 but it does in German. Confused? Here are some examples:<\/p>\n

Handy<\/strong> \u2013 mobile phone<\/em><\/span>.<\/em> This is probably the most famous example of Denglish in use! The only thing is that in English, the word handy <\/em>is an adjective meaning practical<\/em> or useful. <\/em>So why Handy<\/em>? I guess a Handy is quite handy. It could also be because you hold a mobile phone in your Hand<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cAngela<\/a>

Photo by dullhunk on flickr.com under CC BY 2.0<\/p><\/div>\n

Wellness<\/strong><\/span> \u2013 Light exercise or relaxing activity designed to improve health and\/or reduce stress<\/em>.<\/span> As you can tell, this is quite difficult to translate. English also uses the word wellness<\/em>, and in English it refers to the state of being well. It\u2019s rarely used in English. But in German it\u2019s taken on a whole new meaning, with Wellnesscenters<\/em> (\u2018wellness centres\u2019) and Wellnessprogrammen<\/em> (\u2018wellness programmes\u2019) everywhere you look. Basically, if you see the word Wellness<\/em> somewhere, you\u2019re looking at a type of mini-spa.<\/p>\n

Bodybag<\/strong> \u2013 messenger bag<\/em>.<\/span> The English version could also be\u00a0 \u2018cross-body bag\u2019, which might explain the name. This is an unfortunate translation, because a body bag<\/em> in English refers to the bag you carry a corpse in…<\/p>\n

Smoking <\/strong>\u2013 smoking jacket.<\/em><\/span> For some reason German uses one word, Smoking, to describe this type of jacket \u2013 even though the English word smoking<\/em> (not capitalised) describes puffing on cigarettes.<\/p>\n

Showmaster <\/strong>or Talkmaster<\/strong>\u2013 <\/span>TV show host\/talk show host.<\/span> Showmaster<\/em> in English sounds like a very old-fashioned word for a comp\u00e8re at a 1920s cabaret bar. Talkmaster <\/em>means nothing in English.<\/p>\n

Streetworker<\/strong> \u2013 social worker.<\/em><\/span> More specifically, it means a social worker who works in underprivileged neighbourhoods. This is another unfortunate translation, because it is very similar to the English streetwalker<\/em>, which is another word for a prostitute.<\/p>\n

Training<\/strong> \u2013 working out.<\/em> <\/span>In English, saying you\u2019re training<\/em> implies you\u2019ve got a race coming up, or that you\u2019re engaged in some sort of competitive sport \u2013 eg. \u2018I\u2019m training for my boxing match\u2019. In German, Training<\/em> simply refers to any kind of workout. If you go to the gym, you\u2019re doing Training<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Cutter<\/strong> \u2013 Film editor.<\/em><\/span> Yeah, some Germans\u2019 are lucky enough to call themselves professional Cutters<\/em>. This word obviously comes from the process of \u2018cutting\u2019 bits of film as you edit it. Unfortunately, in English Cutter <\/em>sounds like the title of a gory horror movie. It might also be confused for pizza cutters and cookie cutters.<\/p>\n

German pseudo-anglicisms can be confusing for German learners, so it\u2019s best to familiarise yourself with them so you know what you\u2019re dealing with. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

What is your favourite German pseudo-anglicism? Are there any which really confuse you?<\/p>\n

Constanze x<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Last time I posted about the ever-growing use of Denglish (or Denglisch, depending on whether you\u2019re speaking German or English) on social media & websites. Since that post, by the way, I\u2019ve been keeping an eye out for more Denglish on social media. Here\u2019s an interesting one I saw recently: Danke f\u00fcr\u2019s featuren! \u2013 Thanks…<\/p>\n

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