What is the German word for schadenfreude?
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 in Milan, the Hotel Jolly in Caserta (outside Naples), the Jolly Alon Hotel in Chisinau, the Jolly Aretusa Palace Hotel in Syracuse, and many more besides. Just what did the people who named this hotel think “jolly” meant?
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.
“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.
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).
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.
“Homicide” might be a better example as “murder” descended from a native Anglo-Saxon word.
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.
At a guess, “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.
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
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.
PS:
Fernsehen (the verb) and Fernseher (the appliance) are still used, at least by old fogeys like me.
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.