# Ausfahrt Along the Road **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 4, 2025, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ausfahrt-along-the-road/1019181 "2025-06-04T01:40:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ausfahrt-along-the-road/1019181/1 "2025-06-04T01:40:48Z")
Just sharing some tidbits of memory here - nothing important. When I went to Germany for the first time many years ago I started to see Ausfahrt signs along the road traveling to the hotel. There were lots of them. Seemed like Ausfahrt had an unusually high number of exits. I pondered, “Wow - this must be a big city.” My first irrational thought was that perhaps I had somehow missed a class in geography when the great city of Ausfahrt was discussed. Finally I asked the driver of the van what city this was and of course he laughed. This is the German word for “Exit”. Aus = out of and fahrt = journey. I spent the next several years teaching myself German before I went for additional visits! ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ausfahrt-along-the-road/1019181/2 "2025-06-04T02:03:46Z")
I was just in Germany and got my very own ausfahrt. [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54566535519_8dc27298d0_b.jpg "NIK\_0996a") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/197666118@N08/54566535519/in/dateposted-public/) The 13-year-old boy in me giggles every time. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ausfahrt-along-the-road/1019181/3 "2025-06-04T02:31:58Z")
Must be even worse for Australian tourists. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ausfahrt-along-the-road/1019181/4 "2025-06-04T02:45:06Z")
Or the seal exhibit at a French zoo ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ausfahrt-along-the-road/1019181/5 "2025-06-04T02:56:45Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > I was just in Germany and got my very own ausfahrt. > > [NIK\_0996a | romans person | Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/197666118@N08/54566535519/in/dateposted-public/) > > The 13-year-old boy in me giggles every time. I know - I still get a chuckle out of it! ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ausfahrt-along-the-road/1019181/6 "2025-06-04T05:43:38Z")
The first time I lived in Seoul, I was warned to take only taxis from a large company as the smaller ones tended (so I was told) to cheat you. In the middle of a very cold winter, a couple of foreign friends and I were hailing a taxi and I kept rejecting the ones that did not have 個人 (개인/‘gae-in’) on the roof. When we finally got a ‘gae-in’ taxi, one of my friends asked me why I rejected the others. When I told him why, he said, “This taxi is from the smallest possible company! It means ‘privately owned’!” Yeah. That was a brilliant stunt. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ausfahrt-along-the-road/1019181/7 "2025-06-04T11:10:59Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Yeah. That was a brilliant stunt. You dd your best! Foreign travel can be a bit dicey at its best. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ausfahrt-along-the-road/1019181/8 "2025-06-04T11:29:46Z")
The Daily Telegraph (UK) regularly publishes examples sent in by readers. You’d have to register to see them online, but one of their books that I was given reports that in Denmark you might find yourself caught up in a Fartkontrol. And in Czechia, you might encounter the Horní police. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ausfahrt-along-the-road/1019181/9 "2025-06-04T11:50:34Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > The Daily Telegraph (UK) regularly publishes examples sent in by readers. You’d have to register to see them online, but one of their books that I was given reports that in Denmark you might find yourself caught up in a Fartkontrol. And in Czechia, you might encounter the Horní police. Oh I’ve seen some hilarious examples in Denmark! I couldn’t pronounce the ones I saw in Czechia lol! I’ll have to take a look at these. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ausfahrt-along-the-road/1019181/10 "2025-06-04T11:59:27Z")
This seems to be a common enough experience that I heard it a few weeks ago while listening to some etymology podcasts. (Plus I also heard it when I lived in Central Europe.) So you’re hardly alone. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ausfahrt-along-the-road/1019181/11 "2025-06-04T12:02:05Z")
There’s also the story of the American in Germany who carefully memorized the name of the street he had parked on, so that he wouldn’t get lost: “Einbahnstrasse.” When he later asked for directions back to “Einbahnstrasse,” no one could help him. “Einbahnstrasse,” of course, means “one way street.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ausfahrt-along-the-road/1019181/12 "2025-06-04T12:09:33Z")
That’s the one I was going to post, but with a real story. When my dad visited Germany, he was impressed by seeing streets with names like “Eisenhowerstrasse” and “Trumanstrasse”, named after prominent Americans. But he couldn’t figure out who “Einbahnstrasse” was named after. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ausfahrt-along-the-road/1019181/13 "2025-06-04T12:37:49Z")
Before seeing the explanation I was wondering if ausfahrt was German for See Rock City. ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ausfahrt-along-the-road/1019181/14 "2025-06-04T12:50:40Z")
As a teen visiting Paris for the first time, I thought the fashion world was being taken over by a new brand advertised in every window: “Soldes” (meaning “sale”) ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ausfahrt-along-the-road/1019181/15 "2025-06-04T13:13:16Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > There’s also the story of the American in Germany who carefully memorized the name of the street he had parked on, so that he wouldn’t get lost: “Einbahnstrasse.” When he later asked for directions back to “Einbahnstrasse,” no one could help him. > > “Einbahnstrasse,” of course, means “one way street.” These are hysterical. On my first German trip I spotted some Pepsi in a store that I thought was named Ausgang. Back then finding Pepsi in Europe was sometimes a challenge. I excitedly announced to my travel companions that I was going to buy some pop at the Ausgang store once it opened. I was looking at the exit door. Ausgang means Exit lol. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ausfahrt-along-the-road/1019181/16 "2025-06-04T13:34:31Z")
> [@Ellecram](#): > > This is the German word for “Exit”. And “entrance” is “einfarht”. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ausfahrt-along-the-road/1019181/17 "2025-06-04T13:43:49Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > The 13-year-old boy in me giggles every time. I don’t know why you’re giggling for a silly sounding word, after all, your aus is where a fahrt exits! 🤔🤣🤣🤣 ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ausfahrt-along-the-road/1019181/18 "2025-06-04T13:44:24Z")
> [@Ellecram](#): > > Finally I asked the driver of the van what city this was and of course he laughed. This is the German word for “Exit”. I thought it was German for: “Ass Fart” 😈 ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ausfahrt-along-the-road/1019181/19 "2025-06-04T14:06:01Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > The 13-year-old boy in me giggles every time The DT book mentioned above has foodstuffs named Knackers, and Crap. There’s a restaurant chain in Spain called Ars, and indeed a French wine called Arse. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ausfahrt-along-the-road/1019181/20 "2025-06-04T14:07:29Z")
First time I was studying in Quebec, I saw a lot of signs for Société des alcools. I was amazed by the number of Alcoholic Anonymous branches. Then I found out that Société des alcools meant “liqour store”. (I miss the slappy smiley.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ausfahrt-along-the-road/1019181.md?page=2)