# Germanic language game **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 3, 2002, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158 "2002-08-03T10:29:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/1 "2002-08-03T10:29:11Z")
There are often words in other Germanic languages that are closely related to words in English, but which have significantly changed in meaning and usage. An example is the German word **klein** which means small but is related to the English **clean**. A less dramatic change is seen in **Zeit** , which means **time** in German but is the same word as **tide** in English, including endings such as **Yuletide**. Often these lead to **interesting compound words** , usually in cases where English uses a Romance word for a given concept. For example the German for “airport” is **Flughafen** which would be **Flyinghaven** in English. On a TV programme I saw **Blodgiving** in a Norwegian hospital; = **Bloodgiving**. A piglet in German is a **Fleischling** ; a **Fleshling**. Not a compund, but a German train is a **Zug** ; a **tug**. Heavily featured in the North Atlantic War was the **unterwasserboot** ; the **underwaterboat**. Belgium is a **Konigsrijk** ; a **Kingric** (cf “Bishopric” in English. Also The Third Ric.) There’s an important newspaper in Germany called the **Sud Deutsch Zeitung** ; the **South Dutch Tidings** I think that Scandinavian shavers use **Barberscum** The best I have ever seen was on a sign in Brussels warning dog-owners of fines for letting their dogs foul the streets with **Hond poep** (sp?); **Hound poop.** **The point** Does anybody know any other good compunds like these? I’d also like to find out whether there are phrases in English which sound funny when over-directly translated into other Germanic languages. Does our use of “sea” to mean “ocean” sound strange to Swiss people? You are allowed to use words from Scots or the English dialects, as sometimes these feature Germanic words not seen in standard English (eg German **rauchen** to smoke is similar to the Scots **reek** , to smoke. Or Scots **ken** , to know, is closer to the German **kennen** than the English word is. But remember, **no** words from French, Latin, Gaelic, Greek or whatever; this is a Tolkeinesque game. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/2 "2002-08-03T11:48:02Z")
**Fleischhacker** = “butcher”, but it sounds more disgusting in German. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/3 "2002-08-03T12:09:44Z")
**Flesh-hacker**! Thanks, that’s great. Exactly what I meant. ---
**Author:** ![kase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a5b964/32.png) [@kase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kase)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/4 "2002-08-03T12:18:14Z")
I know an English word, that for us, Dutch [which **isn’t** the same as German] is pretty funny: Lull. Don’t ever say: “There’s a lull in this conversation” in Holland. You might get your teeth knocked out. Some pretty odd Dutch names: “Fokker” “Lies” [girls name] bbl. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/5 "2002-08-03T13:08:19Z")
Sorry if I offended anyone; I know that Dutch and German are not the same. However the words “Deutsch” and “Dutch” are cognate with each other; they share a common root, but their usages have changed over the centuries. That is the phenomenon I’m looking for here. ---
**Author:** ![Lodrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@Lodrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lodrain)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/6 "2002-08-03T14:01:41Z")
_Oberflache_ and the Danish equivalent, _overflade_ both can be literally translated into ‘over-flat’, meaning in both examples ‘surface’. German _übersetzen_, Danish _oversætte_ and Scots _owerset_ mean the same thing - ‘translate’, but literally, ‘over-set’. ‘Reckon’ and _rechnen_ are cognates - thus, _berechnen_ would be something like ‘bereckon’ in English, if we didn’t use a Latinate word for that. _Tier_ is related to ‘deer’, which used to mean the same thing as its German equivalent - any old animal. ‘Dale’, German _Tal_ and Norwegian _dahl_ all mean ‘valley’. Are ‘toy’ and _Zeug_ related, perchance? Could _Vogel_ and ‘fool’ be related, too - the Danish word _fugl_ is pronounced very much like ‘fool’, and it’s a pretty common theme to equate fools with birds. ---
**Author:** ![kase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a5b964/32.png) [@kase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kase)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/7 "2002-08-03T15:58:25Z")
I’m not offended; **G. Odoreida** 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mkl12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@mkl12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkl12)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/8 "2002-08-03T17:41:12Z")
One pair of words that always confuses Germans learning English is “become” and “bekommen”=“recieve, get”. So don’t be irritated if a German tells you he wants to become a dog, he just wants to have one. I think a piglet isn’t a “Fleischling”, but a “Frischling”, a freshling. And it is a “Unter **see** boot”, not a “Unterwasserboat”. ---
**Author:** ![Sivalensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Sivalensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sivalensis)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2002, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/9 "2002-08-04T15:17:17Z")
what does lull mean in dutch? now you’ve gotten me all curious… ---
**Author:** ![GKW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d9b06d/32.png) [@GKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GKW)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2002, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/10 "2002-08-04T18:10:54Z")
Hond lull is what people yell at the ref when he makes a bad call in soccer. ---
**Author:** ![peasea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc79bd/32.png) [@peasea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peasea)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2002, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/11 "2002-08-04T18:29:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GKW \* > \*\*Hond lull is what people yell at the ref when he makes a bad call in soccer. \*\* So, ‘dog shit’ or ‘dog ass’ or something like that? Does ‘lull’ have no direct translation? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/12 "2002-08-05T03:13:17Z")
In Icelandic, a stranger is an aðkomumaður (at-come-man) a captain is a skipstjóri (ship-steer) a radio is an útvarp (out-warp) a television is a sjónvarp (seen-warp) to disclose is uppljóstra (up-light) a foreigner is an útlendingur (out-lander) ---
**Author:** ![Zorro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ad7895/32.png) [@Zorro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zorro)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/13 "2002-08-05T11:18:35Z")
Staubsauger (vacuum cleaner) literally translates as “dust sucker”, and Kohlkensaure (as in: Mineralwasser mit Kohlensaure) is “Coal acid”. I can’t think of any other really good ones right now, but this lego approach to words is what makes the German language so beautiful. Which I realise is not a generally held view. I really like “Geschwindigkeitsbeschränkung” (speed limit) and “Vereinigten Königreich” (United Kingdom) too, but that’s just because of their sonority. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/14 "2002-08-05T11:28:30Z")
Isn’t “gift” the German word for “poison”? ---
**Author:** ![Aurora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Aurora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aurora)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/15 "2002-08-05T13:34:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dr. Rieux \* > \*\*Isn’t “gift” the German word for “poison”? \*\* That’s right! And “Geschenk” ist the German word for (English) “gift”. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/16 "2002-08-05T19:10:25Z")
“Staubsauger” is the sort of word that gets me thinking. I always try to work out what for example “staub” might be cognate with in English. I thought about “stuff” or the Scots word for dust, “stoor”, but my Chambers dictionary says they both come from French, not German. So in this case I don’t know what the direct translation would be. However, I think “Vereinigten Königreich” would become something like the “Fore-oned Kingric”. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/17 "2002-08-05T19:48:41Z")
My Norwegian-English dictionary has “Sneglefart” as a page heading so I run into it a lot when searching. It means “at a snails pace” (and slow tempo in music). The “g” is virtually silent so it is presumably a cognate to our “snail”. The other word leads to all sorts of interesting speculation. It basically means “speed”. If/how it relates to our English word, I don’t know. Perhaps something about “breaking wind” and “speed” were once related. So looking further, I find “fartsmaler” (it’s an airspeed indicator, there’s a break between the “s” and “m”). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/18 "2002-08-05T21:06:22Z")
I’ve sometimes wondered about “-fart” type words, until just now it occured to me they might be related to “fare” as in “bus fare” or “farewell”. Sure enough, my dictionary says that fare is cognate with German “fahren” (I think to drive / travel), and I guess also with Scandinavian “-fart”. So the English for “Sneglefart” is perhaps “Snailfare”. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/19 "2002-08-05T23:12:10Z")
In view of the topic, I’m wondering how long until **matt\_mcl** drops by and makes reference to Poul Anderson’s “Uncleftish Beholding” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Goo\_Fee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Doctor\_Goo\_Fee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Goo_Fee)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/20 "2002-08-05T23:23:46Z")
i normally just call the referee a “klootzak” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158.md?page=2)