Keep your hopes high and your expectations low

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?

serhumfreysbrokencollarbone

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 = …

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

#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

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

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

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

#now do it all again in a different agglutinating language

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!

cuunos

jellyfish lifecycles piss me off a little bit

cuunos

you don't have to do that. you can just not do that

eddieintheocean

:D they can do more :D (x)

bananonbinary

“oh no we need to practice for our fake dating” is the funniest trope to me cause like. there are so many people who force themselves into a shitty relationship they hate just because of amatonormatiivity that it’s an ingrained part of popular culture to joke about hating your partner.

which is to say, oh my god you dont need to hold hands and go on fake dates, you don’t even need to agree on a single detail of your cover story beforehand. you can literally stand 6 feet apart at all times and look profoundly uncomfortable and all anyone will think is “yikes™. not my problem”

bananonbinary

actually people should address this in fanfic more because “i know we could half-ass it, but i would never fake mistreat my fake husband, how dare you” is absolutely delightful

thekijs

New trope: fake dating for spite.

“Look, my only goal here is for our pretend relationship to be demonstrably healthier than Aunt Rita and Uncle Carl’s fifteen year, three child marriage - which means the bar is so low we probably can’t fuck this up”

adhdedrn

#i think this is honestly the backbone of the appeal of the fake dating trope (i am a fake dating enjoyer) #the reason why the characters put so much unnecessary effort into the fake relationship tells you so much about them #does the idea of being someone who doesn’t really care about their lover disturb them? do they secretly care a lot about their fake partner #are they a person who needs to do everything well and with care even when it’s stupid? do they just commit REALLY hard to the bit? etc etc #ADDITIONALLY another main appeal of fake dating is the characters going ‘wow this is really easy and working really well for us’ #‘our fake relationship looks (and functionally is??) better than uncle carl’s 15yr marriage’ #‘which probably means nothing. i will not think about this in depth for at least another three chapters’ #you get it. you understand. i am sorry for the in-the-tags fake dating manifesto (via @river-gale)

in the current financial crisis i'm going to revert to using the ancient egyptian barter system to buy my groceries. i will give you 1 bolt of good quality upper egyptian linen, and some spiced oils for cooking, and you will give me the contents of my bi-weekly shop.

a-book-of-creatures

I can trade some purple-dyed cloth. Very fine, can buy many groceries…

my goat doesn't trust that the purple will not fade after one wash. no deal!

dapurinthos

i will trade you much delicious bread, made with fine manitoban spelt flour, rosemary from chios, and lakonian olive oil; and answers for incredibly niche star wars questions for a not-bolt-size quantity of good quality egyptian linen.

#this is exactly why the economy of Dol Makjar eludes me #cr4 #either the Barrowdells are a problem because of the loss of land and labor necessary to support the populace #or they aren’t in which case why do the sundered houses give a shit about their holdings and their ability to control and use people/land

ahh, well met! you understand the price of good quality Egyptian linen! A deal!

bemusedlybespectacled

no one trade with this merchant, for they claim to sell only the finest materials but then treat important customers (and their servants) with contempt and ridicule and give them only low-quality goods

tuulikki

"The number of hours that went into making even a shirt with pre-industrial technology was enormous. Depending on how one calculates—i.e. comparing period prices to period income, or comparing the number of labor hours that went into a garment to the cost of that labor at modern minimum wage—one arrives at a shirt costing somewhere between $300 and $4,000. The inventory of Palazzo Medici valued bolts of lowest-quality home-spun linen, the cheapest fabric you could get (used for shirts, bedsheets, and undergarments), at about 0.14 florins ($140) per yard, but wools were much costlier; remember Isabella d’Este being willing to pay 10 per yard ($10,000) for very fine black fabric. The inventory lists several chests of plain, everyday clothing or bedlinens whose contents were worth several thousands. Even at more modest income levels, when estimating the cost of purchasing what was on someone’s body as they stepped out the front door, don't think of buying an outfit, think of buying a car, and if it was an outfit nice enough for a Florentine from a decent family then think about buying a Ferrari or other luxury car.

...

...between the trousseau she provided, and the extra clothes, and jewels bought for young Caterina by her groom’ excited family—which included furs and two sixty-florin strings of pearls—the bride would have worn 400 florins’ worth of wealth ($400,000) on her body as she walked across the city to her husband's home. This was not simple conspicuous consumption: all Florence would see the bridal procession and estimate the power of these families by the wealth they saw. By supplementing the trousseau provided by the Strozzi with even more costly robes and pearls, the Parenti family—new to the popolo and excited to secure a bride from one of the ottimati—was making a modest dowry look larger, and once the bride reached her new home, the pearls and other reusable materials would be resold to buy equipment for the newlyweds' silk business.

Returning to our auto industry simile, for this wedding dress think of the kind of Lamborghini that sets the whole town gossiping when someone parks it on the street, except that it can be trivially disassembled and the parts turned back into investment capital. For the pearls, think stock market shares or savings bonds, high-value investments infinitely resalable. Indeed, the choice of pearls as a form of display was itself strategic: costly embroideries and cut gemstones were both unique and recognizable, so if one resold a particular ruby or yard of brocade, others would recognize it and comment, Ah, X-family is poor enough to need to sell! Not so the smooth homogeneity which made pearls as anonymous as coins, and who would notice if a string that had sixty pearls on it yesterday today has fifty-eight?"

Ada Palmer, Inventing the Renaissance: The Myth of a Golden Age

homunculus-argument

deer after almost 150 years of cars: maybe if I stand really quietly here in this exposed area, right in front of this thing that barrels directly towards me at unfathomable speeds it won't see me.

seagulls after 20 years of smartphones: the exact moment when the human glances at their rectangle is the best time to swoop in and snatch the shit from their other hand.

hyokoh-archive-blog

idc if u like winter or autumn or whatever nothing tops summer evenings when the sun hasnt fully set and the air is still warm but theres a light breeze and everything is getting more quiet except for the birds and crickets and its a perfect time to go on a walk and just breathe

podcastwizard

But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and

podcastwizard

this was the funniest tag the rest of you can go home

Children are wild my 4 yo is currently screaming bloody murder in the back of the car because I won't acknowledge that she's screaming bloody murder. Make it make sense girl

I can already smell the comments, no I am not neglecting or ignoring my child. I very calmly told her "I love you and I am here for you and when you can talk to me without yelling at me I am happy to talk about what you need. You can yell all you want to, but don't expect mommy to fight against you for your own attention"

And she is yelling "IM MAD AND I DONT KNOW WHHHHHHHYYYYY AHHHHHHHHHHH" so we're obviously just working through some stuff 🤣

screaming abruptly stops

tiny voice says "uhm mama I am done schreaming"

"Okay honey. Can you tell me what was wrong now?"

"Uhm I can't fink. I think I just need a pretzel"

honestly same girlie

Crisis Averted