I'm loving the German habit of sticking words together to make new ones. I guess it makes it a bit cumbersome, but it's very effective. They also love pinching English words - especially to use for new technology, it seems. They call a mobile a "handy", and no-one seems to know why. It's just a word that fits the object well, and that's a good enough reason.
I remember being stunned to learn that the French for pullover is "pull-over" - a word which has no discernible merit whatsoever in English (in my opinion) and therefore one which doesn't really deserve a passport to another language. And then yesterday, amongst the face-parts and clothing items which seem to be crucial in a first lesson in any language, what do I find? Pullover.
Surely, surely, something like woollenitemcoveringshirtandunderclothes would have been infinitely preferable.
4 comments:
my absolute favourite german word has to be die geschwindikeitsbeschrankung - or fire engine, as we say back home :-)
Gut luck mit die Deutsche (no idea what luck is in german!) Just remember to bang the verb at the end of the sentence, so everyone has to wonder what you're doing, right to the very end - it's why they're all so tense, I reckon
You can say, "Pulli," which is what they call it in conversation. Also, "Handy," (particularly with the German pronunciation "Hendi") is one of my favourite German words. I think they use it because...it is.
I also like krankenwagen, literally sickness wagon. That'll be an ambulance :-)
Just call work and say you're feeling a bit kranken - describes a hangover perfectly!
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