#german is fun

[18shadesofmay]

i both hate and love this language.

[eli-is-an-idiot]

I loathe gender

[dodekakophonie]

I know most people are aware of the joke that germans have a lot of different words to say why and I recently had to explain those different words to a coworker who's first language isn't german.

First of, all those questions have corresponding answers and the way you answer those questions explain the differences. The same differences exist in english too:

warum? - darum

why? - to do something

This why question asks for the motivation

"Why do you have an umbrella? - to not get wet"

weshalb? - deshalb

why? - on behalf of something/somebody

This why question asks who or what you are doing something for

"Why do you have an umbrella? - so I don't get wet"

weswegen? - deswegen

why? - because of something/somebody

This why question asks for the cause of something

"Why do you have an umbrella? - because of the rain"

wofür? - dafür

why? - for something

This why question asks for the goal

"Why do you have an umbrella? - for not getting wet in the rain"

Then there is a question that's not a why question at all but often gets mistranslated as one

Wieso? - dem ist so...

How so? - Explanation on how something happened

"How come you have an umbrella? - I brought it from home"

Funnily enough there is a question word that is mistranslated as a how question a lot but it is in fact a what question:

womit? - damit (mit dem)

what do I need [to do something]?

This question asks for a tool or an action

"What do I need to not get wet? - an umbrella"

[manquebusiness]

I am utterly delighted by this.

For non-German speakers: “to explain” is “erklären,” and “man” is “Mann” or “Herr.” The German pronunciation of the “er” in “erklären” is the same as the sound in “Herr,” making it an exact rhyme. What’s more, “klären” isn’t a word, but if it were, it would be “clearing,” as in “to make clear,” just as if “plaining” were a word, it would mean “to make plain.” So “herrklären” is both a direct translation of the portmanteau “mansplain,” right down to the etymological breakdown, and a perfect pun in its own right.

This makes me so happy. I think “herrklären” supplants “antibabypille” (birth control, i.e. a pill that is anti baby) as my favorite German word.

[soulbutterlanguages]

Ich habe ein Gift für sie

False Cognates can be deadly !

Here are some of my favorite German False cognates.

Das Gift- The Poison

Das Mobbing- Bullying, Harassing

Die Kraft- Power, Force, Strength

Der Chef- The Boss

Der Oldtimer- Classic Car

Der Pickle- The Pimple

Der Rat- Advice, Council

Der Smoking- Tuxedo, Dinner Jacket

Tasten- to feel around for something

Kuriös- odd, strange

Dick- Fat, Chubby

[nyamafriend]

So in German we were talking about family members and my friend is a triplet and

Friend: Ich habe drei Bruder (i have 3 brothers - probably spelled wrong whoops)

Teacher: Oh yeah, you said you are a triplet, right?

Friend: Yeah

Teacher: I saw one of them and he was blonde it’s weird how that happens

Friend, a ginger: Mhmm

Teacher, jokingly: Don’t tell me the other one’s a brunette

Me: Uh, hehe, well......

Teacher: Oh my god

[vanillapeel]

When you're learning a language and trying to memorize a hard word:

Me, screaming at the top of my lungs (in German): LIVING ROOM LIVING ROOM, LIVING ROOM LIVING ROOM-

[kaiserin-erzsebet]

So, I’m taking an introductory Linguistic course this quarter because I need a science to graduate. We were talking about compound words and phrases and all my brain could come up with was this:

German is such a wonderful language.