# German Speakers: Is There a Word for "Put?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 18, 2015, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-speakers-is-there-a-word-for-put/715301 "2015-03-18T16:08:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-speakers-is-there-a-word-for-put/715301/41 "2015-03-24T09:05:07Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > I just take the English verb and tack “-en” on the end to make it a German word. Or if I want to be extra fancy add “ge-” to the front: > > Put the dish on the table. > > Putten Sie die Schüssel auf den Tisch . > > Die Schüssel auf den Tisch geputten Sie. > > It helps that my family speaks even worse German than I. That sounds dangerously close to how we speak at home: “I’ve done the upwash” “I weiß” ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-speakers-is-there-a-word-for-put/715301/42 "2015-03-24T18:42:47Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Die Schüssel auf den Tisch geputten Sie. Wenn ist das Nunstück git und Slotermeyer? Ja! Beyerhund das Oder die Flipperwald gersput! ---
**Author:** ![Doughbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Doughbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doughbag)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-speakers-is-there-a-word-for-put/715301/43 "2015-03-25T12:40:55Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > I just take the English verb and tack “-en” on the end to make it a German word. Or if I want to be extra fancy add “ge-” to the front: > > Put the dish on the table. > > Putten Sie die Schüssel auf den Tisch . > > Die Schüssel auf den Tisch geputten Sie. > > It helps that my family speaks even worse German than I. Ja, Ja, make dat mal! ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-speakers-is-there-a-word-for-put/715301/44 "2015-03-25T17:04:49Z")
> [@Doughbag](#): > > Ja, Ja, make dat mal! That can you forgotten! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Doughbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Doughbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doughbag)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-speakers-is-there-a-word-for-put/715301/45 "2015-03-25T17:19:44Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > That can you forgotten! 😉 Make I anyway! ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-speakers-is-there-a-word-for-put/715301/46 "2015-03-25T17:27:37Z")
> [@Doughbag](#): > > Make I anyway! Sorry, but in correct Denglish this should have been: Make I solikeso. \ ---
**Author:** ![Doughbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Doughbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doughbag)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-speakers-is-there-a-word-for-put/715301/47 "2015-03-25T17:34:09Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Sorry, but in correct Denglish this should have been: Make I solikeso. \ I excuse me with you for mine mistake. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-speakers-is-there-a-word-for-put/715301/48 "2015-03-25T18:13:06Z")
> [@Doughbag](#): > > I excuse me with you for mine mistake. 🙂 It’s ok. Like they say, German language, difficult language. And you can say you to me. (I really have to stop now) ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-speakers-is-there-a-word-for-put/715301/49 "2015-03-25T18:21:20Z")
You really should take this more seriously. Here is a good start: [Sid Caesar - The German General](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m6Czgl1acU) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-speakers-is-there-a-word-for-put/715301/50 "2015-03-25T18:44:08Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > You really should take this more seriously. Here is a good start: > > [Sid Caesar - The German General](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m6Czgl1acU) Bwahaaa. Hilarious. “Du hast gespritzt an der general…Du hast gespritzt in der eye (Ei)”. Very racy for the 1950s, or else I just have a sick imagination. ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-speakers-is-there-a-word-for-put/715301/51 "2015-03-26T20:57:35Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > I just take the English verb and tack “-en” on the end to make it a German word. Or if I want to be extra fancy add “ge-” to the front: > > Put the dish on the table. > > Putten Sie die Schüssel auf den Tisch . > > Die Schüssel auf den Tisch geputten Sie. > > It helps that my family speaks even worse German than I. I always find it funny when I hear Germans basically do just this with new, usually technology-based verbs like “to google” or “to email”: -Hast du was gegooglt? -Ich google es gleich, dann emaile ich dich. (I’m sure I made a number of mistakes in my tiny example). ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-speakers-is-there-a-word-for-put/715301/52 "2015-03-26T21:35:24Z")
> [@Moe](#): > > I always find it funny when I hear Germans basically do just this with new, usually technology-based verbs like “to google” or “to email”: > > -Hast du was gegooglt? > -Ich google es gleich, dann emaile ich dich. > > (I’m sure I made a number of mistakes in my tiny example). Only one tiny one: “…, dann emaile ich _dir_.” (it’s the dative) But yes, we do it all the time. We _checken, voten, liken_, even _downloaden_, and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-speakers-is-there-a-word-for-put/715301/53 "2015-03-26T22:08:33Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Only one tiny one: “…, dann emaile ich _dir_.” (it’s the dative) :smack: of course. (would what I wrote basically mean taking someone and putting them in an email and sending it?) ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-speakers-is-there-a-word-for-put/715301/54 "2015-03-26T22:19:43Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Congratulations! I’m glad it worked out. But after all that has been said in this thread, do you really still think that that’s so? Of course not. I didn’t think that that was true before the thread either. The line was just supposed to be funny. My explanation before and after made it clear that it was just a linguistic difference. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-speakers-is-there-a-word-for-put/715301/55 "2015-03-26T22:28:01Z")
> [@Moe](#): > > I always find it funny when I hear Germans basically do just this with new, usually technology-based verbs like “to google” or “to email”: > > -Hast du was gegooglt? > -Ich google es gleich, dann emaile ich dich. It’s funny when they merely use German inflections on English words, but it can be befuddling when they subtly change the meaning as well. Last week I got the following strange e-mail concerning a help desk support ticket I’d filed: > [@Technical support](#): > > Die E-Mail mit der Ticketnummer “123456” ist an Max Mustermann \ > gebounced. Kontaktieren Sie diese Adresse für weitere Nachfragen. It took me a while to figure out that my original e-mail to technical support hadn’t really _bounced_; it had merely been _forwarded_ to Herr Mustermann. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-speakers-is-there-a-word-for-put/715301/56 "2015-03-26T22:39:45Z")
> [@Moe](#): > > :smack: of course. (would what I wrote basically mean taking someone and putting them in an email and sending it?) Yes, your whole example makes perfectly sense in a modern conversation. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-speakers-is-there-a-word-for-put/715301/57 "2015-03-26T22:44:41Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > It’s funny when they merely use German inflections on English words, but it can be befuddling when they subtly change the meaning as well. Last week I got the following strange e-mail concerning a help desk support ticket I’d filed: > It took me a while to figure out that my original e-mail to technical support hadn’t really _bounced_; it had merely been _forwarded_ to Herr Mustermann. I don’t think that’s common usage, I haven’t seen _bounce_ used in that sense before. Probably just an individual misconception. But the general phenomenon surely exists. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-speakers-is-there-a-word-for-put/715301.md?page=2)