The German language's affinity for sesquipedalians once led Mark Twain to quip, "Some German words are so long that they have a perspective." Having polysyllabic words in a language is no sin as long as you get your words' worth. In that respect, those lengthy German words are worth every syllable. Where else can you find a single word, schadenfreude, for example, that conveys the whole concept of 'pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others'. The English language knows a good thing when it sees one and has generously borrowed terms from German. This week we meet seven of them, both with and without 'perspective'.
This isn't exactly about German loanwords,but Mark Twain did write a funny essay, called The awful german language. That's where Wordsmiths quote comes from, and the parts about parentheses and gender are funny.I can't tell you where to get a copy,though, because mine was printed in the 30's. jimthedog
This is about a funny essay on German by Mark Twain more than loanwords,but here goes it. Mr. Twain wrote The awful German language.It's got some funny parts on gender(3,not related to the person) and parentheses(use them whenever you want,as long as it's frequent.)Also, I believe it's where Anu got his quote.I wouldn't know where to get it, though, because our copy is old enough to be out of print.you might be able to borrow it from somebody. jimthedog
During WWII, many German military terms became widely known. Just a few of them are: flak - antiaircraft fire Luftwaffe - (German) Air Force Panzer - tanks, etc. Blitzkrieg - lightning (fast) war
During WWII many German military terms became widely used in newspapers and magazines. Just a few examples: flak: anti-aircraft fire Panzer: tanks and othere armored vehicles Blitzkrieg: lightning fast attack Luftwaffe: (German) air force
I have read the story that Twain quote is from. It is out of The Awful German Language. If you ever find it anywhere, read it. It goes on a bit in one part about the illogic of how they use gender.he has a short story in there translated word for word into English. The whole thing is very funny
I am constantly amazed by the new and difficult to translate words that I have stumbled upon since moving to Germany. One that I can think of off the top of my head is schrottreif (pronounced shrot-rife). The dictionary translation is "Ready for the scrap heap". What a useful word!
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