sporadic german memes: the blog

i'm here to complain Spanish, English, German, Dutch, Romanian, French, Japanese and other stuff!

[agnes-nielsens]

they call me the information withholder for reasons i won't get into

[translatingpoststogerman]

agnes-nielsens

sie nennen mich den informationenzurückhalter aus gründen auf die ich nicht näher eingehen werde

[tinuvielsdoom]

I feel like this belongs on tumblr:

Thank you, Robin, for this wonderful memory hook. What would I do without you?

[culmaer]

is there a typo here or am I confused ?? sorry, I'm distracted from the joke, but the headings of sound changes 1 and 3 seem to be swapped ?

[official-german-puns]

Viele Menschen haben Angst vor Schlangen, auch wenn sie vollkommen armlos sind.

[real-language-facts]

slang is short for "slanguage" which is short for "sexual language"

[footlongdingledong]

love when theres a character whose entire existence is spoiler tagged by default. go behind the curtain boy

[eingedeutscht]

dreissigkommavierachtzentimeterlangesdingelingeling

Lieb's, wenn das bloße Vorhandensein eines Charakters auf Anhieb handlungsverderbend verschlagwortet wird. Verzieh dich hinter den Vorhang, Junge

[footlongdingledong]

HAH?

[deutscheando]

j82nd d9 u8suu8shshs///////;;;

[deutscheando]

[deutscheando]

j82nd d9 u8suu8shshs///////;;;

[gingik]

Da horse🐴 ate the aple🍔

[translatingpostsintodutch]

gingik

Hat paard🐴 at de apel🍔

[roaringstream]

I’ve been trying to leave Rome for a few weeks now, but all their roads have this weird design flaw

[scruggzi]

Hotelius Californium…

[fortooate]

such a dulce et decorum place…

[oldapplehalfpie]

[arielseaworth]

“Perhaps you have forgotten. That’s one of the great problems of our modern world, you know. Forgetting. The victim never forgets. Ask an Irishman what the English did to him in 1920 and he’ll tell you the day of the month and the time and the name of every man they killed. Ask an Iranian what the English did to him in 1953 and he’ll tell you. His child will tell you. His grandchild will tell you. And when he has one, his great-grandchild will tell you too. But ask an Englishman—” He flung up his hands in mock ignorance. “If he ever knew, he has forgotten. ‘Move on!’ you tell us. ‘Move on! Forget what we’ve done to you. Tomorrow’s another day!’ But it isn’t, Mr. Brue.” He still had Brue’s hand. “Tomorrow was created yesterday, you see. That is the point I was making to you. And by the day before yesterday, too. To ignore history is to ignore the wolf at the door.”

- A Most Wanted Man, John le Carré

[south-africa-official]

Official post of South Africa

[thatswhywelovegermany]

Honestly, as a German I can not quite understand the obsession of the English speaking world with the question whether a word exists or not. If you have to express something for which there is no word, you have to make a new one, preferably by combining well-known words, and in the very same moment it starts to exist. Agree?

[latveriansnailmail]

Deutsche Freunde, could you please create for me a word for the extreme depression I feel when I bend down to pick up a piece of litter and discover two more pieces of litter?

[thatswhywelovegermany]

um = around

die Welt = world

die Umwelt = environment

ver = prefix to indicate something difficult or negative, a change that leads to deterioration or even destruction that is difficult to reverse or to undo, or a strong negative change of the mental state of a person

der Müll = garbage, trash, rubbish, litter

-ung = -ing

die Vermüllung = littering

ver- = see before

zweifeln = to doubt

-ung = see before

die Verzweiflung = despair, exasperation, desperation

die Umweltvermüllungsverzweiflung = …

[serhumfreysbrokencollarbone]

This is a german compound on the spot master class and I am LIVING

[thatswhywelovegermany]

#my german is still too basic for this but I desperately want a compound word for how much these compound words piss me off

das Monster = monster

das Wort = word

der Groll = grudge, anger, malice, rancor

der Monsterwortgroll = …

[linguistikforum]

Monsterwortbildungsimitationsunfähigkeitsverzweiflungsgroll

[thatswhywelovegermany]

die Bildung = formation

die Imitation = imitation

un- = un-, in-

fähig = able

-keit = -ility

die Unfähigkeit = inability

der Monsterwortbildungsimitationsunfähigkeitsverzweiflungsgroll = anger about the inability to imitate the formation of monster words

[wildflower182]

Linguistikfehdenhandschuhwurf

[thatswhywelovegermany]

die Linguistik = linguistics

die Fehde = feud

der Handschuh = glove

der Fehdehandschuh = gauntlet

der Wurf = throw

der Linguistikfehdenhandschuhwurf = throwing down the linguistic gauntlet

[shiplocks-of-love]

*slowly backs in fear*

[meetinginsamarra]

@shiplocks-of-love, @thatswhywelovegermany

Monsterwortbildungsunfähigkeitsangstverzweiflungsrückzugsecke

Monster=monster // wort=word // bildung(s)=formation

unfähigkeit (s)=incabability  // angst=anxiety

verzweiflung(s)=desperation  // rückzug(s)=retreat // ecke=corner

=the corner in which you retreat when you´re desperate because of your fear when being unable to form monster words

[shiplocks-of-love]

*eye twitch*

But what I want to see now is two germans arguing over the construction of one of these monster words.

[melmey]

@shiplocks-of-love I don’t think that will happen. The words make perfect sense. I think if German is your mother tongue you get a feeling for combining words, like a 

Monsterwortbildungsgespür

Monster = monster 

Wort = word 

Bildung(s) = formation

Gespür = intuition

;-)

[a-german-learning-clown]

🤡

[dewdropbonnet]

Sprachirrgartenbelustigungsbeitrag

[thatswhywelovegermany]

die Sprache = language

• irren = to become lost (also: to err, to be mistaken; to wander, to stray)

• der Garten = garden

der Irrgarten = maze, knot garden

• be- = prefix with a variety of functions: ¹as part of a compound word, it denotes a processing or change of state; ²as part of a compound word, it denotes a touch; ³as part of a compound word, it denotes a more intensive preoccupation with or thematization of something; ⁴it forms from a noun an adjective with a pseudo-participle form because the corresponding verb does not exist; ⁵as a prefix, it forms a transitive verb from a previously intransitive verb; ⁶as a prefix of a verb, it shifts the focus and thus changes the sentence structure

• lustig = funny

• -ung = suffix turning an adjective/adverb into a noun

die Belustigung = amusement, entertainment, merriment

der Beitrag = contribution, article in a newspaper or magazine, posting on social media, input to a discussion

[linguistness]

Bloody love this language <3<3<3

[randomgerman]

The thing is, since in German you have to decline/conjugate many words in relation to the noun they are refering to those monster words actually serve a purpose of making the language simpler. A common example is a (as in any) red wine (ein roter Wein) as compaired to the compound a red wine (ein Rotwein). If rot is an adjective it has to be conjugated: der rote Wein - des roten Weins - die roten Weine - and many more. But it if rot is part of the noun you only have to decline Wein: der Rotwein - des Rotweins - die Rotweine. So, die Verzweiflung über die Vermüllung der Umwelt is way longer than Umweltvermüllungsverzweiflung and you would have to know three grammatical genders and the words’ respective declinations. Whereas for Umweltvermüllungsverzweiflung you only need to know that Verzweiflung is grammatically feminine (die) and its deklinations.

[mareebrittenford]

Ok, now I want to see Germans playing Scrabble

[thatswhywelovegermany]

[the-lax-disciple]

Doomscrollaufhellungsrepost

Doom scroll // self explanatory

auf- // lit.: „up“ indicates rising, or something becoming bigger, better, healthier

hell // bright

aufhellen // to brighten something up

-ung // makes a verb a noun

-s- // the glue that keeps german compound words together

repost // self explanatory

Doomscrollaufhellungsrepost // a repost to brighten up your doom scroll

You‘re Welcome!

[real-language-facts]

translation is impossoble you cant do it

[translatingpoststogerman]

echte-sprachfakten

übersetzung ist unmögloch man kann es nicht tun

[catilinas]

putting the term ‘unreliable narrator’ on the shelf until people learn the word ‘focalisation’

[real-language-facts]

opinion on german grammar

fake

[abbiistabbii]

The Germans really cooked making "Hobbyless behaviour" an insult. It is both devastating, applicable to a wide range of people and behaviours, and doesn't resort to swearing.

Man ranting on the internet about the Superbowl halftime show or complaining that something is "woke"? Hobbyless Behaviour. Girls mocking another girl for not looking right? Hobbyless Behaviour. Mindless vandalism? Hobbyless Behaviour.

It is more powerful than "get a life" or the English "You're Sad" because it gets to the central point of the matter, and that is wonderful. Danke, Deutsch.

[hardwrench]

pregnant with a bag of peas

[translatingpoststogerman]

harterschraubenschlüssel

schwanger mit einer tüte erbsen

[cobblecatyt]

haha! tag, you're it!!! *shoots you in the kneecap with a sawed off shotgun*

[translatingpoststogerman]

pflastersteinkatzeyt

haha! du bist!!! *schießt dir mit einer abgesägten schrotflinte in die kniescheibe*

[robot-roadtrip-rants]

Is “flinte” the word for gun? As in a flintlock?

Unrelated—is there no word for tag? Or do kids only yell “DU BIST” when they play? (I am assuming German kids play games where they chase each other around because kids are gonna be kids)

[translatingpoststogerman]

I'm not a gun person, so I can only explain this in layperson's terms.

I would translate "gun" as "Schusswaffe" ("shooting weapon"), and then there are handguns, which I would translate as "Pistole", and rifles, which I would translate as "Gewehr".

"Flinte" is a type of rifle.

Yes, children just yell "DU BIST!" when playing catch. At least they did in my area when I was a child.

[strongholdinthedark]

Gun - Schusswaffen

Handguns - Handfeuerwaffen (in den meisten Fällen Pistolen)

Rifles - Langwaffen/Gewehre

Pistols - Pistolen

Submachineguns - Maschienenpistolen

Assault Rifles - Sturmgewehre

Machine guns - Maschienengewehre

Shotgun - Schrotflinte

Sniper rifles - Präzisionsgewehre

Anti-Tank-Rifle - Panzerbückse

Granade Launcher - Granatwerfer

[translatingpoststogerman]

#whenever I read/hear catch I am assuming the throwing and catching of a ball as the game

#for Fangen I would use tag

Yes, I also realized that after posting it, I just didn't bother to correct myself.

Thanks for adding the gun terms!

My favorite gun term is "Haubitze" ("howitzer"), because it sounds completely made up. It could be anything!