{"id":9773,"date":"2018-04-11T20:21:18","date_gmt":"2018-04-11T20:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=9773"},"modified":"2018-04-11T20:21:18","modified_gmt":"2018-04-11T20:21:18","slug":"swearing-in-german","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/swearing-in-german\/","title":{"rendered":"Swearing In German"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Guten Tag! First off, I\u2019d like to thank <span style=\"float: none;background-color: transparent;color: #333333;cursor: text;font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif;font-size: 16px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: 400;letter-spacing: normal;text-align: left;text-decoration: none;text-indent: 0px\">Bj\u00f8rn<\/span> from the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/2012\/02\/23\/swearing-in-danish\/\">Danish blog<\/a> for providing the inspiration for this post. Bj\u00f8rn has written a very informative, interesting post about Danish swear words- which I\u2019m hoping to replicate now with German swear words. So let\u2019s get started.<\/p>\n<p>Swear words are called <strong>die Schimpfw<span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">\u00f6<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\"><strong>rter<\/strong> in German.<\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 286px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a title=\"Profanity1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/funnybusiness\/1632484770\/in\/photolist-3ufUR9-6NxoYU-bkAcLh-jExXcf-8pVKL7-7huqhG-5Yp7i-bLedjx-qpYBYU-bxjANd-bLei24-bxjzwN-8U48pY-bLegd6-bLeiFB-5Q8UTZ-bxjAr5-bLeeLX-bxjAiC-bxjx29-EZKUhg-bLedXT-bLed5R-bLejBe-bLeeBt-bLegiK-nLF7Tw-bxjB21-bxjAcj-4GipMp-733sSL-72KGiP-4NhYrm-4NdLs8-j6TtxU-9dG4Mw-5Tud2H-23teKSn-Gk3xBZ-21gED2X-Gk3PXe-65Q3c6-72KDbV-72L6GG-7dcm6W-62uNYZ-ymdyr-cD1w2N-62A7Ju-25W2\" aria-label=\"1632484770 Ee55047ef8 M\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  alt=\"Profanity1\" width=\"276\" height=\"276\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2418\/1632484770_ee55047ef8_m.jpg\"><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo &#8216;Profanity1&#8217; by funnybusiness on flickr.com under a CC license (CC BY-SA 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>German attitudes to swearing<\/h3>\n<p>Compared to the UK, at least, attitudes to swearing are more relaxed in Germany for certain words. This doesn&#8217;t mean you should go around effing and blinding, but it&#8217;s something to be aware of. Take the German word for shit \u2013 <i>Schei<\/i><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\"><i>\u00df<\/i><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\"><i>e<\/i><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">. In my experience, this word is thrown around as casually as the word <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\"><i>stupid<\/i><\/span> <span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">in <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">English. In English you might say \u2018this stupid book\u2019 <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">in<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\"> public with no eyebrows raised, but if you were to casually say \u2018this shitty book\u2019, <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">many would think you rude or aggressive<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">. In German, however, the word <i>Schei<\/i><i>\u00df<\/i><i>e<\/i> can pop up quite a lot &#8211; even on <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">daytime TV! <\/span><\/p>\n<h3>English swear words used in German<\/h3>\n<p>The German language has adopted many English words into its vocabulary, and swear words are no exception. These English swear words are used even more casually than German ones \u2013 such as in this advert by Unilever Germany, which proclaims &#8216;F*ck the diet&#8217;!:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Fuck the diet\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tCE15oh4afU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s quite normal to become desensitised to \u2018loaded\u2019 or taboo words in another language, which is probably what has happened in German. Just don\u2019t be shocked when you go to Germany and see and hear English swear words in places you wouldn\u2019t normally see them!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Shitstorm<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In 2012 the English word Shitstorm (meaning: a crazy, out of control situation) crept into German and became so popular it was named the \u2018Anglicism of the year\u2019 &#8211; despite not even being that commonly used in English. It is in the German Duden dictionary now, and the media use it a lot &#8211; even Angela Merkel allegedly used it in a meeting once!<\/p>\n<h3>Offensive gestures<\/h3>\n<p>In Germany, pointing your index finger towards your head while looking at somebody is considered an offensive gesture. This is a way of telling the person that what they\u2019ve just said or done is stupid.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, cupping your hand and waving it in front of your forehead is a way of showing that you think someone or something is a bit mad.<\/p>\n<p>In German there is a phrase, \u2018einen Vogel im Kopf haben\u2019, literally \u2018to have a bird in the head\u2019. If someone \u2018has a bird in the head\u2019 it means they\u2019re a bit \u2018cuckoo\u2019. These two gestures are physical representations of this phrase.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a title=\"Guira Cuckoo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/chad_sparkes\/34028069904\/in\/photolist-TQWKEq-gseKcA-aZ2kXi-CFP5DM-bzsrx-ZRwAp3-oVcH6W-WuouCd-T4W21y-5A2g1a-cGt9P9-7DEMZf-SA97b9-UJLnqA-YPzc7N-frYHzZ-frYDAF-A7o1yQ-9GMRPr-UcBBkk-6bf1nT-8PDJof-FuvWTh-cGt9Hf-5qEeXJ-cZJ4e9-dpqWZ5-89DYta-DgScco-VobkjM-VbLgpY-UcB4qi-VbLctb-VbLj9W-74s4iy-VrhATM-nMQ73D-Umbz7t-tkFKNy-YPzcAd-FCt5hZ-VeFtan-61sb89-LrnRFJ-U9GXbG-PgqvQx-pBvvRE-4eZz5G-25VtWVf-HWKYM\" aria-label=\"34028069904 48b6a20e67\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  alt=\"Guira Cuckoo\" width=\"500\" height=\"302\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4196\/34028069904_48b6a20e67.jpg\"><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo &#8216;Guira Cuckoo&#8217; by chad_sparkes on flickr.com under a CC license (CC BY 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Common German swear words<\/h3>\n<p>And, finally, what you came here for! Some typical German swear words include:<\/p>\n<p>Verdammt \u2013 Damn<br \/>\nMist \u2013 Shit\/crap (specifically: animal dung)<br \/>\nSchei<span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">\u00dfe \u2013 Shit (general)<br \/>\nLeck mich am Arsch \u2013 Kiss my arse<br \/>\nArschloch \u2013 Arsehole<br \/>\nVerpiss dich \u2013 Piss off\/F*ck off<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">Blaspheming in German<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">In Catholic Bavaria<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\"> the real swearing is blasphemous. Here are a few blasphemous swears, <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">which are sometimes said on their own, and sometimes combined in a long, <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">creative <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">string of words <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">(<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">depending on the depth of <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">the speaker\u2019s <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">rage!<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">)<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">Kruzifix (sometimes abbreviated to \u2018Zefix\u2019)<br \/>\nMeans: <i>Crucifix<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">Bluad Sakrament (Bav.) \/ Blut Sacrament (German)<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">Means:<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\"><i> Blood sacrament<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">Herrgott nomoi (Bav.) \/ Herr Gott nochmal (German)<br \/>\nMeans:<i> Lord God again<\/i> (like \u2018Oh my God\u2019)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">Um Himmel\u2019s willen (German) \/ Himmi (Bav.)<br \/>\nMeans: <i>By heaven\u2019s will\/heavens <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\"> Alleluja<br \/>\nMeans: <i>Hallelujah<\/i> (used as an expletive!)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">Example of a long string of Bavarian swear words:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">Bluadzakramentkruzifixalleluja!<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">I hope this has been interesting! Check out Bj\u00f8rn\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/2012\/02\/23\/swearing-in-danish\/\">awesome blog<\/a> on Danish swear words, too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">Bis bald!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"200\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/04\/1632484770_ee55047ef8_m.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/04\/1632484770_ee55047ef8_m.jpg 200w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/04\/1632484770_ee55047ef8_m-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><p>Guten Tag! First off, I\u2019d like to thank Bj\u00f8rn from the Danish blog for providing the inspiration for this post. Bj\u00f8rn has written a very informative, interesting post about Danish swear words- which I\u2019m hoping to replicate now with German swear words. So let\u2019s get started. Swear words are called die Schimpfw\u00f6rter in German. German&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/swearing-in-german\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":9794,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[375945,375963,95338,375970,95131,376023,191073],"class_list":["post-9773","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-language","tag-bavarian-dialect","tag-denglisch","tag-denglish","tag-german-and-english","tag-german-language","tag-language","tag-swearing"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9773","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\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9773"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9798,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9773\/revisions\/9798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}