# 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:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/21 "2002-08-05T23:57:15Z")
I always liked the subtle facets of German… whereas we like to refer to “birth control pills”, Germans bluntly refer to them as “Anti-Baby-Pille”. And while Brits and Americans can’t decide if you use Braces or Suspenders to hold your pants up, Germans have “Hosentraeger” (pants holders). And the good old “Hausschuhe” (house shoes) for slippers. But the best word of all has to be “Ohrwurm” (ear worm) for those songs that you just can’t get out of your head! ---
**Author:** ![QueenAl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/d26b3c/32.png) [@QueenAl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QueenAl)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/22 "2002-08-06T00:22:05Z")
Germanic compound words make much more sense, and are much easier to make guesses at, than English, where whole new words tend to be coined. A dentist is a _Zahnarzt_ (tooth doctor), a cobbler a _Schumacher_, and so on. I agree with **Zorro** that this logic is one of the things that makes German beautiful. And _Dmark_\*'s spot on about the unsubtlety - no hiding behind latinisms in this language. One good example: if you’ve ever had such bad food poisoning that you sit on the toilet and have a bucket in front of you, evacuating from both exits, and tried to tell people wahts’ wrong with you (other than I’m siiiick), be relieved that German does have a word for this: _brechdurchfall_ (from _ausbrechen_ - to be sick and _durchfall_ - diarrhoea; literally translated it’s break through fall). If this word didn’t exist, it would be easy to make up in German. In a similar vein: the _fart_ words always greatly amused us at school. We took particular joy in Fartfinder, a scout. 😃 Kafka is the master of compound words: you know those tiny yellow Berliner Verlag editions of classic works? In one Kafka book (the Metamorphosis), a single word covers _14 pages_. And of course the predicate is at the end of the word. The suspense is comical. This might be of interest to you - I noticed a few years ago, that some words which have not carried over to English from German, are nonetheless identical to those words in Celtic languages. for instance, _fenster_ means window in both German and Welsh. I noted a number of other examples at the time, but can’t think of any right this moment. It was an odd example of words that become fixed in language, and also a good example for supporters of the Indo-European common language theory. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/23 "2002-08-06T00:22:18Z")
The one that really amused me when I was taking German was _handschuhe_ (“hand-shoe”) for glove. While not a cognate, I find the repeated _Ausfahrt_ (exit) signs along highways a bit amusing. ---
**Author:** ![QueenAl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/d26b3c/32.png) [@QueenAl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QueenAl)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/24 "2002-08-06T00:28:26Z")
Apologies for the coding errors. Bit of a brainfart, I guess (though not a Gehirnfahrt, which would be much more intellectual). ---
**Author:** ![Bubba\_Ray](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bubba\_Ray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bubba_Ray)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/25 "2002-08-06T00:32:59Z")
:: donates some Umlauts to the thread :: äää, ööö, üüü, ÄÄÄ, ÖÖÖ, ÜÜÜ Use them they are free. Oh and take some of these too, ßßß. Half related to this thread is the word Angst (german for fear) and angst (english for? umm what actually is it for? the closest approximation was anexity or existential dread someone told me). ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/26 "2002-08-06T00:49:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by G. Odoreida \* > \*\*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. \*\* Ah, a common misconception there. _Dutch_ is the anglified version of the Middle Dutch (heh) word _Duitsch_ or _Duytsch_, which actually means “common”, or “of the people”. Observer the first line of the Dutch national anthem: _Wilhelmus van Nassouwe ben ick van Duytschen Bloedt_ It means: _William of Nassau (our first King) am I of common blood_. The funny bit is that the misconception is so widely spread, most sites will tell you _Duytsch_ really does mean _Dutch_. They’re wrong. The poem (which became the National anthem in 1932) sees the King explaining that he’s just a common man. A few more corrections, if I may. **Belgium is a Konigsrijk** _Koninkrijk_, to be precise. **Sud Deutsch Zeitung ; the South Dutch Tidings** The _South German Tidings_. There’s the proof of the theory above: the Netherlands never occupied Bavaria, as far as I know. 😉 **Hond poep (sp?); Hound poop** Correct translation, and the original term is _hondepoep_. _Lul_ is the Dutch word for “dick”. So, the time honoured _Hi, Ha, Hondelul!_ one hears in the football stadiums means _“Hey, Ho, Dog Dick!”_. Usually followed by a string of insults relating to various terminal diseases. Ah, it’s such a great language. 🙂 ---
**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 6, 2002, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/27 "2002-08-06T17:32:19Z")
Thanks for the corrections, **Coldfire**. With regard to “Dutch” and “Deutsch”, please note that I am not saying that the two words have the same _meaning_; they have the same _root_. “Klein” and “clean” similarly share a root but not a meaning. Anyway, it would appear we’re both right; here’s what the Chamber’s English Dictionary 7th edn (1988) has to say on the etymology of “Dutch”: German _deutsch_, (lit.) belonging to the people - Old High German _diutisc_; cf Old English _theod_, Gothic _thiuda_, nation. The word “teutonic” also shares a root with these words. Remember these words are far older than any concept of German, Dutch or Bavarian nationhood. The fact that the Dutch version of the word “Dutch” means something other than “Dutch” is one of the quirks thrown up by language groups and shifting usages. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158/28 "2002-08-06T21:22:53Z")
Hey, that’s interesting stuff. Thanks for looking it up! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germanic-language-game/122158.md?page=1)