Witze jokes can go a long way to lighten the mood in. He wasnt wrong the german language is notable for its compound nouns. Mar 10, 2016 21 perfect german words we need in english. As david sedaris noted in his new yorker article about learning german, this word is most astutely described as. Ever thought, there should be a german word for that. The germans languages ability to express the inexpressible explains why so many words have been embraced into english. The german word actually comes from the latin term pons asinorum bridge of donkeys that refers to a point that people find hard to remember. Usually, a maximum of three parts is accepted for compound words. Well, to start with, the language of swine enthusiasts.
Its no small wonder that german boasts many unique, highlyspecific words that have no l. Can you believe the longest german word has no less than 80 letters in order to best help you learn german efficiently and effectively, ive partnered with a resource called the rocket german learning system. My book of words with long u printable minibooks my file cabinet. It refers to a law for regulating the labeling of beefall in one word, which is why it is so long. The tonight show starring jimmy fallon,997,1 views. Some of them are surely not right and very exaggerated. This book provides a fun and easy way for young children to experience beginning consonant letters and sounds. When you literally translate german words into english, you often get some pretty funny results. About the book author berlitz has taught languages to millions of people for more than years. Schadenfreude and other german words without translation.
Here we take a look at some of our very favorite vintage german words. One difference that newcomers to german notice right away has to do with word gender. In colloquial german you will avoid using these looong words. Speisekarte literally means dish card and is a list of dishes served by the restaurant. German language compared to other languages youtube. Fancy taking a look at some funny jokes in german and deciding for yourself. Variations of this german word literally, sh, crap, damn, bloody br. To people who disparage german and praise the latinbased languages as more creative, easier to learn and more likely to be useful, i simply reply. Mark twain wrote, some german words are so long that they have a perspective in an appendix to a tramp abroad that was appropriately titled the awful german language.
Listen to these very important words and many other important words in german. It is important to know that the german and english versions of the sword are not always equal. Swedish in origin and from the early 1950s, this word is funny for two reasons. Ranks and translations of nicknames for vehicles are included. Inherently funny is a free, searchable database of inherently funny words, sayings, phrases, people, animals, and other things. Theres something so satisfying about a good german word. Yes, its another denglish post but this time with a twist. Thanks to its lifelong love affair with compound nouns, the german language has smashed all manner of words together to form new, unique vocabulary.
The germans have a word for it and its a very long one. Length of a book is typically associated with its sizespecifically page countleading many to assume the largest and thickest book equates to its length. English speakers got widdershins from an old german word meaning to go against, and by the mid1500s we were using the word as we use. May 21, 2014 16 weird forgotten english words we should bring back. You may find some of the words and expressions contained in this german glossary objectionable. German also likes abbreviations, and this word has one. The bavarian dialect swallows up many consonants and vowel sounds, simplifies several grammatical features, and uses completely different words from those which are common in the rest of the german speaking world. German slang phrases in english, german slang words on how to say thats cool, german commands, slang phrases for food, all found in street talk savvy. Second, many words can be made to sound funny just by adding lek to the end.
Wendy foster is a language instructor and the author of intermediate german for dummies. The best books for understanding the chinese culture. Best new madeup german words in benn schotts schottenfreude. Its more fun than practical and german just happens to offer us some really long words. It is called schottenfreude german words for the human condition and is about very long compound german words. If you want to claim that bumfuzzle is based on some meaning of bum compounded. This is a list of words, terms, concepts, and slogans that have been or are used by the german military. As an american living in london i love noticing the funny differences between the cultures and one of my most popular video series is my british vs american one. Cattywampus and other funny sounding words merriamwebster. See our list of top 10 funny sounding and interesting words.
That might be because it is written from the american point of view but some facts cant be right at all. Ben scott of schotts miscellany fame has a new book out this week with 120 new german words perf. Definition used in edinburgh as a warning cry when it was customary to throw slops from the windows into the streets. Top 20 german jokes translated into english learn german online. Robert beards the 100 funniest words in english contains the 100 funniest words in english 50 of which are listed below. Twains frustrations with learning german are well documented in his book. This was a 1999 german word of the year, and it also won a special award as the longest german word for that year. Take a crack at these unique german vocabulary words which have no english equivalent.
Basically, you have three genders in german masculine, feminine, and neuter and although english has the same three genders, they play a very different role in german grammar. Here are 10 phrases that visitors to the country might use to impress the locals. People will have difficulties to follow your discussion as they need some time to chop theses looong words into their p. As well as the fun and frivolous, i was keen to explore some of the darker aspects of humanity.
The guinness book of world records recognizes this mammoth word as the longest german word in regular use. First, it equates to a bodily function, which appeals to many of us on some addled beavis and butthead, highschool level. The longest words in the german language thoughtco. One of my students brought this book to one of our classes. Obviously, dictionaries have space constraints, and the average person would have no need to know the technical names of chemicals.
Its not among the books 120 indexed entries, but then its a longestablished term. Alles klar wunderbar, sieben kinder kein papa all is good wonderful, 7 children no father. Jun 25, 2015 some german words are so long that they have a perspective, quipped mark twain, in his 1880 book a tramp abroad. Paulina christensen, phd, and anne fox are veteran language instructors. As the awl entertainingly demonstrated with their spoton there oughta be a german. These made up words describe your life better than you can. A word from the 18th century for the dilation of blood vesselscaused by long. Jun 24, 2019 this was a 1999 german word of the year, and it also won a special award as the longest german word for that year. Here are a few of our favorite words from the book. If you have any corrections, additions, or comments, please contact me. To make it easier for you, ive divided the phrases into different categories. Some german words are so long that they have a perspective, quipped mark twain, in his 1880 book a tramp abroad.
Gardyloo is widely supposed to have been taken from french, although it is uncertain whether it comes from an actual french phrase such as garde a leau. In german, new words can be created simply by smooshing together existing words, and this can lead to some really unwieldy compounds. German is one of the first languages i ever learnt at school in ireland and later in berlin. In this post, youll learn 92 basic german phrases and words that will help you on your travels or just at home. English has no word for laughter so intense it causes physical pain, but.
This time, its about learning some of the funny german swear words, slang, phrases, curses, insults, colloquialisms and expletives that are out there in deutsche linguistic land. Mar 04, 2018 as an american living in london i love noticing the funny differences between the cultures and one of my most popular video series is my british vs american one. I think the book might give a person foreign to germany an imagination about the german life style but thats all. The road to german fluency is full of twists and turns. The german words are terrific and something thats great for anybody to read, but even more impressive is ben schotts ability to come up with aspects of the human condition that everyone will identify with even though theyve never thought about them before.
Funny german phrases that are sure to crack you up penlighten. Its always fun when you can express something in one perfect word, while others require a. Bavarian german is still technically german, but it sounds very, very different from standard german. The aim of schottenfreude was to use german to explore the.
Well, if youre not yet appalled by this almostfrightening introduction to the longwordshappy german language i salute your courage, pal. Theres a stereotype that learning german isnt all that fun. Given chinese new year is around the corner, we thought it would be fitting to talk about the best books for understanding chinese culture. We might get slightly irritated with the way the english language is manipulating modern german and the various ways in which its doing it, but before we get too irritated, lets take a look at how many german words the english language uses. Just like life, facts and even chocolate, words in the english language have a lifespan. As with english, most should only to be used when and if you really know what youre doing. If youre a wordgeek, like i am, this book is so much fun. Books with really long titles add your favorite books that have titles that have at least six words, not counting what comes after the colon. Please note that i am not able to respond to all requests.
Still, there are plenty of lengthy words in dictionaries. Funny german phrases that are sure to crack you up. Compiling a list of longest novels yields different results depending on whether pages, words or characters are counted. Ill let you know my thoughts on these german oneliners too as we go through them and if i think there is any truth behind them. Thats why it is important not to learn only individual words, but whole phases. Sep 21, 2012 to people who disparage german and praise the latinbased languages as more creative, easier to learn and more likely to be useful, i simply reply. Some that we use today are actually thousands of years old, and originate from a time before english even existed others have since changed, been replaced, or completely ditched. This is a collection of funny words and their meanings. And on the other hand, dont try to understand every german word at the beginning. Schottenfreude is a unique, musthave dictionary, complete with newly coined words that explore the idiosyncrasies of life as only the german language can. What was once the longest word in the german language, a tongue.
To get started and have your first basic conversations in german, youre going to need to learn some words. Funny quotes quotes tagged as funny showing of 7,893 you know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the nba is chinese, the swiss hold the americas cup, france is accusing the u. Anyone whos seen the fun side of german begs to differ. It is what an english speaker would mean by the word menu. They say that german is challenging, and german people are dreadfully serious. The bavarian dialect swallows up many consonants and vowel sounds, simplifies several grammatical features, and uses completely different words from those which are common in the rest of the germanspeaking world. And watch out, a german menu is something rather different. Well, thanks to the brilliantly original mind behind schotts original miscellany, now there is. German words for the human condition ben schott on. Can you guess what these ten direct translations really mean. Having long harbored the urge to learn german, this book was a natural choice for this fraulein. For example, to say or write the number 7,254 which is not really a very long number, the german is siebentausendzweihundertvierundfunfzig. Well, lets go i have translated these german jokes into english for you. The entire book describes extremely long words with their english explanation.
Considering the unceasing popularity of kafka and mann, among many others long deceased, the lack of mass attention, critical or otherwise, toward new voices seems that much more surprising. How i had to wrap my head around german grammar and memorise the intimidating long words. Drop them into your every day vocabulary and make everyday life a bit more fun. German grammar has some striking differences to english grammar. Funny words you probably dont know everything after z by. German numbers, long or short, are written as one word. That said, i remember well how frustrating german could be. There are easily funny words in english maybe more depending on how you measure funniness but we think this book contains the best selection based on his experience as a reader and writer over the past four decades. Now you have learned some interesting german proverbs, how about finding out which long german words are guinness worldrecord breakers.
Feb 05, 2019 christoph waltz puts jimmy to the test with a quiz on the definitions of long german words, like bezirksschornsteinfegermeister. Christoph waltz gives jimmy fallon a german words quiz duration. May 08, 2018 bavarian german is still technically german, but it sounds very, very different from standard german. Nein t shirt german no saying funny germany vintage tee gift.
Thank you, hello and yes in german learngermaneasily. Dictionaries omit the name of this protein and many other long words. Christoph waltz gives jimmy fallon a german words quiz youtube. Nonsense words phobias pretenders and dabblers rhetorical devices sciences and studies scientific instruments sesquipedalian words signs, symbols, and accents stones and rocks styles of speech threeletter rare words units of measurement unusual animals words about words words of wisdom. That is a single word of 38 letters, so you could imagine what larger and more complex numbers may look like.
333 1216 101 762 335 376 951 590 532 1282 592 602 761 1460 1430 1478 92 34 107 1173 699 1108 756 195 759 700 1039 425 923 907 700 1368 528 346 81 1293 948 917 1223