# Has anyone heard this tongue-in-cheek example of Germans stringing words together? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 1, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-heard-this-tongue-in-cheek-example-of-germans-stringing-words-together/697180 "2014-09-01T19:08:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-heard-this-tongue-in-cheek-example-of-germans-stringing-words-together/697180/21 "2014-09-02T21:51:48Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > In high school the German teacher presented an amusing example of how Germans make new words by stringing words together. The gist of it was that there was a black-and-white checkered cannibal girl whose name was [something], and she owned cages for holding kangaroos she got from the Hottentots. (Or maybe she was a Hottentot.) The word was built up in steps, each step becoming longer than the last, and the story was told in German. The composite word was partially ‘Hottentottenbeutelratenkäfige’, and contained ‘schwarz-weisskariertekannibalenmädchen’. > > I’m sure the teacher didn’t invent the story herself, and that it came from some resource. Did anyone take German in high school in the U.S. in the '70s/'80s, and hear this story? If so, can you post it (or at least the final word)? > > [NB: ‘Hottentot’ is considered derogatory today.] Derogatory? How so? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-heard-this-tongue-in-cheek-example-of-germans-stringing-words-together/697180/22 "2014-09-02T22:01:17Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [NB: ‘Hottentot’ is considered derogatory today.] > [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Derogatory? How so? Howzabout you check out [how the word came to exist](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khoikhoi), and see if you can figure it out for yourself? ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-heard-this-tongue-in-cheek-example-of-germans-stringing-words-together/697180/23 "2014-09-02T22:30:36Z")
BTW, to answer the OP, there’s Hottentot possums in cages story. (seems kangeroos got swapped with Possums - one way or another ) [Paroloj: German for beginners...](http://linguacuriosa.blogspot.com.au/2009/10/german-for-beginners.html) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-heard-this-tongue-in-cheek-example-of-germans-stringing-words-together/697180/24 "2014-09-02T23:01:58Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > BTW, to answer the OP, there’s Hottentot possums in cages story. (seems kangeroos got swapped with Possums - one way or another ) [http://linguacuriosa.blogspot.com.au/2009/10/german-for-beginners.html](http://linguacuriosa.blogspot.com.au/2009/10/german-for-beginners.html) Very close! (Aber keine Zigarre 😛 ) Opossums seem more reasonable for ‘bag rat’ than kangaroos. ---
**Author:** ![DingoelGringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@DingoelGringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DingoelGringo)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-heard-this-tongue-in-cheek-example-of-germans-stringing-words-together/697180/25 "2014-09-02T23:04:42Z")
> [@kk\_fusion](#): > > Hottentottententententoonstelling (hottentot-tent-exhibition) seems to be a somewhat recognizable joke word in Dutch, not German. Don’t remember it at present, but the word for jetlag in German was about 18 letters long if I remember right. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAlecCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SmartAlecCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAlecCat)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-heard-this-tongue-in-cheek-example-of-germans-stringing-words-together/697180/26 "2014-09-02T23:45:34Z")
I don’t know German, but the general concept “constrained writing” reminds me of the Chinese [Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_Den) poem. It is a 92-character modern poem in which every syllable has the sound shi (in different tones) when read in modern Mandarin Chinese. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-heard-this-tongue-in-cheek-example-of-germans-stringing-words-together/697180/27 "2014-09-03T00:51:15Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Howzabout you check out [how the word came to exist](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khoikhoi), and see if you can figure it out for yourself? I followed that link. Big deal. Some people think it’s derogatory. And, of course, they expect me to accept their opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Toledo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@Toledo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toledo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-heard-this-tongue-in-cheek-example-of-germans-stringing-words-together/697180/28 "2014-09-03T01:08:17Z")
I seem to recall (this is a VERY distant memory) the the old (weekly) Saturday Evening Post had a humor page, with a Hazel cartoon at top center, and a couple of columns of corny jokes, gags, etc. From time to time they would play that sort of add on the German word game. My distant memory is of starting with a short word, giving it’s English equivalent, then adding a syllable or two to the German, new translation, and going on longer and longer for both English and German both until the last line was some twenty-syllable German word and a simple, three or four letter English equivalent. ---
**Author:** ![kk\_fusion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kk_fusion/32/15276_2.png) [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-heard-this-tongue-in-cheek-example-of-germans-stringing-words-together/697180/29 "2014-09-03T06:30:47Z")
> [@DingoelGringo](#): > > Don’t remember it at present, but the word for jetlag in German was about 18 letters long if I remember right. Must be a medical term then. Wikipedia only lists _Zeitzonenkater_ at 14. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-heard-this-tongue-in-cheek-example-of-germans-stringing-words-together/697180/30 "2014-09-03T06:31:02Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I followed that link. Big deal. Some people think it’s derogatory. And, of course, they expect me to accept their opinion. :rolleyes: Why don’t you try making a username using the word, and see if the Mods share your free spirit. Of course it’s derogatory. That’s not an opinion, that’s a fact. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-heard-this-tongue-in-cheek-example-of-germans-stringing-words-together/697180/31 "2014-09-03T06:31:33Z")
> [@Toledo\_Jim](#): > > I seem to recall (this is a VERY distant memory) the the old (weekly) Saturday Evening Post had a humor page, with a Hazel cartoon at top center, and a couple of columns of corny jokes, gags, etc. From time to time they would play that sort of add on the German word game. My distant memory is of starting with a short word, giving it’s English equivalent, then adding a syllable or two to the German, new translation, and going on longer and longer for both English and German both until the last line was some twenty-syllable German word and a simple, three or four letter English equivalent. Mrs. Cretin, who has always found the German language funny, read this thread yesterday. Then she told me how it reminded her of her mother, who used to enjoy the German/English column that you described today. We both got a kick\* out of your post, great minds thinking alike or something. - For old farts, it’s a kick. OK? ---
**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:** [September 3, 2014, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-heard-this-tongue-in-cheek-example-of-germans-stringing-words-together/697180/32 "2014-09-03T11:53:53Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > A favorite of mine is “Lieblingsfreiheitbeshäftigungen.” I.e., favorite recreation activities. Correction: “Lieblingsfreizeitbeschäftigungen”. > [@DingoelGringo](#): > > Don’t remember it at present, but the word for jetlag in German was about 18 letters long if I remember right. > [@kk\_fusion](#): > > Must be a medical term then. Wikipedia only lists _Zeitzonenkater_ at 14. I’m a native speaker, but have never heard another word for jetlag than, well, “Jetlag”. But I like “Zeitzonenkater” (literal translation: “time zone tomcat”, but “Kater” is colloquial for “hangover”, so it’s “time zone hangover”). ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-heard-this-tongue-in-cheek-example-of-germans-stringing-words-together/697180/33 "2014-09-03T14:08:08Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > :rolleyes: > > Why don’t you try making a username using the word, and see if the Mods share your free spirit. > > […] I pass. In this age of political correctness, that would be like using a jackhammer in a minefield and hoping the mines are duds. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-heard-this-tongue-in-cheek-example-of-germans-stringing-words-together/697180/34 "2014-09-03T14:31:59Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > :rolleyes: > > Why don’t you try making a username using the word, and see if the Mods share your free spirit. > > Of course it’s derogatory. That’s not an opinion, that’s a fact. I do not think he denied that it _is_ considered derogatory, he asked why, and **kaylasdad99** ’s link does not explain why. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-heard-this-tongue-in-cheek-example-of-germans-stringing-words-together/697180/35 "2014-09-03T15:15:36Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Correction: “Lieblingsfreizeitbeschäftigungen” :smack: Yep. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-heard-this-tongue-in-cheek-example-of-germans-stringing-words-together/697180/36 "2014-09-03T15:24:34Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I pass. In this age of political correctness, that would be like using a jackhammer in a minefield and hoping the mines are duds. FYI he was speaking of a piece of board history. If you look at the few long threads on the subject such as [this one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=414388&highlight=hottentot) you could see what it’s about. Or Google maybe. \*I don’t think that was the first thread but it’s the first one I found. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-heard-this-tongue-in-cheek-example-of-germans-stringing-words-together/697180/37 "2014-09-03T17:26:45Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I do not think he denied that it _is_ considered derogatory, he asked why, and **kaylasdad99** ’s link does not explain why. Neither do the proponents of political correctness. Theirs is a because-I-said-so, to-hell-with-the-First-Amendment attitude. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-heard-this-tongue-in-cheek-example-of-germans-stringing-words-together/697180/38 "2014-09-03T17:31:09Z")
[Heinrich Schnibble](http://www.amazon.com/HEINRICH-SCHNIBBLE-Even-Tales-Grossfader/dp/B001IOREBK) presented us with _barkenpantensniffersnatcher_ (i.e., dogcatcher). ---
**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:** [September 3, 2014, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-heard-this-tongue-in-cheek-example-of-germans-stringing-words-together/697180/39 "2014-09-03T18:14:06Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Neither do the proponents of political correctness. Theirs is a because-I-said-so, to-hell-with-the-First-Amendment attitude. ☹ Himmelherrgottsakramentzefixhallelujascheissglumpatverreckts! Read the thread **Loach** linked to already and learn something. I did. (it’s one of those threads I love the Dope for) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-heard-this-tongue-in-cheek-example-of-germans-stringing-words-together/697180/40 "2014-09-03T18:16:30Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Neither do the proponents of political correctness. Theirs is a because-I-said-so, to-hell-with-the-First-Amendment attitude. ☹ The First Amendment can kiss my non-American, partially-Khoi ass. It’s considered derogatory because it’s a mocking name given to marginalized, abused people by their colonizers (whose oh-so-more-evolved tongues were actually seemingly incapable of forming the complex click phonemes of Khoisan languages, so they petulantly just branded the entire set of cultures “Stutterers”, which is what “Hottentots” means) That’s got fuck-all to do with political correctness. Or do you also stand up for the right to freely say “kike” and “nigger” without social consequences? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-heard-this-tongue-in-cheek-example-of-germans-stringing-words-together/697180.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-heard-this-tongue-in-cheek-example-of-germans-stringing-words-together/697180.md?page=3)