# German use of 'borrowed' English words? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 26, 2014, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-use-of-borrowed-english-words/694111 "2014-07-26T18:02:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-use-of-borrowed-english-words/694111/41 "2014-07-28T05:12:47Z")
What is the German word for schadenfreude? ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-use-of-borrowed-english-words/694111/42 "2014-07-28T05:16:47Z")
I’m always puzzled at the popularity of the English loan-word “jolly”, which turns up regularly in the names of hotels in France, Italy and other Mediterranean countries. There’s the four-star [Hotel Jolly President](http://www.milanoalberghi.info/hotel-jollypresident/home.htm) in Milan, the [Hotel Jolly](http://www.hoteljollycaserta.it/en) in Caserta (outside Naples), the [Jolly Alon Hotel](http://www.jollyalon.com/) in Chisinau, the [Jolly Aretusa Palace Hotel](http://www.jollyaretusapalacehotel.com/en/) in Syracuse, and many more besides. Just what did the people who named this hotel think “jolly” _meant_? ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-use-of-borrowed-english-words/694111/43 "2014-07-28T05:32:40Z")
> [@Steken](#): > > Which others peoples / countries go in for [linguistic purism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_purism), anyway? > > So far we have the French, the Québécois, and the Icelanders. I’m not sure of the year, maybe around 1900 or so, Palestinian Jews began a movement to adopt Hebrew as the official language, as opposed to Russian, Yiddish, German, or whatever the common language was in the country they came from. After all, it was the language they had in common. Of course, being Jewish, the ultra-orthodox rejected Hebrew as the common tongue, because they felt it was a holy language only to be used in prayer or studying the holy books. So, today, if you ask an ultra-orthodox Jew a question in Hebrew, he’ll ignore you. If you re-ask it in Yiddish or English, he’ll happily answer you. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-use-of-borrowed-english-words/694111/44 "2014-07-28T05:45:34Z")
> [@Steken](#): > > One crazy example of the German love for English loanwords is “handy,” which they turned into a noun - “das Handy” - meaning… A cellphone. Nowhere in the English-speaking world would a dude be like “yeah I’ll be on the beach, call me on my handy and we can hook up later.” But the Germans don’t care - you just gotta have a cool-sounding English word for a cool new gadget, see? “Handy” is as I understand it the standard word for a cellphone in India. So Germany is far, far from alone in this usage. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-use-of-borrowed-english-words/694111/45 "2014-07-28T06:04:01Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > “Handy” is as I understand it the standard word for a cellphone in India. So Germany is far, far from alone in this usage. “Handy” is a particular model of phone sold in India - the Iberry Auxus Handy H01. (Iberry is a Hong Kong-based manufacturer of phones and tablets, and the Handy is their entry-level smartphone.) I’ve not hear that “handy” has become a generic term for all phones, or all smartphones, in India, but I may be behind the times. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-use-of-borrowed-english-words/694111/46 "2014-07-28T06:37:57Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > That’s very interesting - so it’s not just that English may tend to be used in an ad, but that, somehow, English is supposed to be ‘cooler’.Although, if accurate, **Steken** ’s post above says it’s not just to be cool. On one hand there are many loanwords, on the other someone who uses almost more English than German might be trying just a mite too hard. We’re having similar situations about anywhere. _Sponsor_ vs _patrocinador_ or _mecenas_ (which seems to be going back to its original niche of "patron of the arts), _hacer el chequín_ vs _sacar el “boardinpás”_ vs _registrarse_ (this one has been helped by the separation between checking in and dropping off the suitcases, as many people consider that _facturar_ isn’t correct when you’re keeping all your luggage with you). In some fields it’s been going on long enough that our programmers pronounce DELETE as /delete/, and while I’m writing this on an _ordenador_ you’re reading it on a _computadora_… and don’t get me started on medical terms, such as _golpes de calor_ (previously _insolaciones_, and I’ve had doctors tell me indignantly that they “are not the same!” and then completely fail to explain what the difference was). ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-use-of-borrowed-english-words/694111/47 "2014-07-28T06:53:18Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > “Handy” is as I understand it the standard word for a cellphone in India. So Germany is far, far from alone in this usage. Hmmm, I am working from a small sample but I could swear more than one Indian of my acquaintence used the phrase “call me on my Handy”. When I expressed puzzlement one said it was the common Indian word for cellphone. Maybe they just happened to have that model. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-use-of-borrowed-english-words/694111/48 "2014-07-28T18:48:51Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > So, what is a sheep on the farm becomes mutton on the dining table, a killing become murder in the courtroom, and so forth. “Homicide” might be a better example as “murder” descended from a native Anglo-Saxon word. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Milton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6bbea6/32.png) [@Mr.Milton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Milton)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-use-of-borrowed-english-words/694111/49 "2014-07-29T12:17:45Z")
Re: The ready use of English words and phrases by Germans vs. linguistic protectionist mode of the French. I was told by my German teacher in the 60’s or 70’s that some German minister (I forget who or which ministry now) was asked about this; specifically whether or not the Germans should be concerned about the increased use of English terms in their langauge as the French were. He replied “Nein, das ist der trend.” I would bet no one in Germany uses the term fehrnseh (sp?) anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-use-of-borrowed-english-words/694111/50 "2014-07-29T12:24:30Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > I’m always puzzled at the popularity of the English loan-word “jolly”, which turns up regularly in the names of hotels in France, Italy and other Mediterranean countries. There’s the four-star [Hotel Jolly President](http://www.milanoalberghi.info/hotel-jollypresident/home.htm) in Milan, the [Hotel Jolly](http://www.hoteljollycaserta.it/en) in Caserta (outside Naples), the [Jolly Alon Hotel](http://www.jollyalon.com/) in Chisinau, the [Jolly Aretusa Palace Hotel](http://www.jollyaretusapalacehotel.com/en/) in Syracuse, and many more besides. Just what did the people who named this hotel think “jolly” _meant_? At a guess, “[felicitous](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/felicitous)”. Both words would be translated into the same word, when translated to French or Italian; I imagine the same will apply to all the language pairs involved. But “jolly”, “happy” or “merry” do not share the Latinate root, so they sound more “English”, more “international”; the fact that the four words don’t quite mean the same thing would escape many people. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-use-of-borrowed-english-words/694111/51 "2014-07-29T12:34:41Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Can someone recommend some better histories of English? _Old English and Its Closest Relatives: A Survey of the Earliest Germanic Languages_ by Orrin Robinson may be a bit on the technical side, but I remember enjoying it years ago. It might help to have a cursory understanding of linguistics, such as one might acquire out of curiosity or in an introductory college class. [http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0804722218](http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0804722218) ---
**Author:** ![Bogeyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3e96dc/32.png) [@Bogeyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bogeyman)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-use-of-borrowed-english-words/694111/52 "2014-07-29T13:01:46Z")
I’ve noted the use of the term _handy_ for mobile phone in _Sacred Games_ by Vikram Chandra, published 2006. And I’ve no idea why we use term in German, though I do remember a time when _Mobiltelephon_ was used at least alternatively. ---
**Author:** ![Bogeyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3e96dc/32.png) [@Bogeyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bogeyman)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-use-of-borrowed-english-words/694111/53 "2014-07-29T13:09:27Z")
PS: > [@Mr.Milton](#): > > I would bet no one in Germany uses the term fehrnseh (sp?) anymore. _Fernsehen_ (the verb) and _Fernseher_ (the appliance) are still used, at least by old fogeys like me. ---
**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:** [July 29, 2014, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-use-of-borrowed-english-words/694111/54 "2014-07-29T13:13:17Z")
> [@Mr.Milton](#): > > I would bet no one in Germany uses the term fehrnseh (sp?) anymore. Sorry, you’d lose that bet. “Der Fernseher” and “fernsehen” are still regularly used (though TV is also used, but only the acronym). ETA: ninja’d by **Bogeyman**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-use-of-borrowed-english-words/694111.md?page=2)