# That Hilarious German Language **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 11, 2004, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-hilarious-german-language/239401 "2004-04-11T00:52:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-hilarious-german-language/239401/41 "2004-04-13T12:54:04Z")
My best friend is German. It’s funny how often we have similar sayings, which he will translate for me, and it is not quite the way we say it, but it’s the same thing really. One recent instance was when I was talking to him about a girl in a story who “got shafted by the guy, no wonder she flipped out.” His response was first to ask me what “got shafted” meant, then to laugh that they actually have a word for “flipping out” – _ausflippen_ (out flipping). One that I can’t remember the German for is “Show me the bus, with the people who care” in response to someone continuing to talk about something you’re not interested in. (They use more commas than we do, I have noticed.) One memorable occasion that we still joke about is when another mutual friend translated “you have a nice ass” through Babelfish, and told him he had a nice donkey. He fell out of his chair laughing and we still joke about it today. ---
**Author:** ![Tir\_Tinuviel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tir\_Tinuviel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tir_Tinuviel)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-hilarious-german-language/239401/42 "2004-04-13T13:07:38Z")
> [@Celyn](#): > > Aha- yes I’ve seen a machine selling “Anti-Baby Condom”. > > As for the “Madchen” (can’ do unlaut, sorry), well, IIRC, ALL words ending in the diminutive “-chen” will be neuter". Might be wrong of coure - it was a along time ago. “-chen” is often added to the end of names as a term of endearment - My mother calls me Katzchen or Inchen. It lead to a very amusing conversation with my Uncle who happen to -chen my brother, Erik. My brother (being only about 8 years old and already teased at school for his name) burst into tears, and my mumma had to explain to my Uncle what the English word “Erikchen” meant. ha ha! You gotta love German, what other language can you sling all three genders of article together and still have them make sence: …das die der Teufel beißen 😃 ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-hilarious-german-language/239401/43 "2004-04-13T13:12:47Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > The only really hard part of learning the language it getting the masculine, feminine and neuter…for instance, a man and a boy are both masculine (der Mann, der Junge), but a woman is feminine (die Frau), while a girl is neuter (das Maedchen)…I once asked why and was told, “until a girl has had sex, she is not feminine…”. That answer might have been BS, but I thought it was both funny and sexist at the same time. The reason why Maedchen is neuter is because of the “chen” ending. Maedchen literally translates into “little maid,” and adding “chen” or “lein” as an ending both makes the noun it’s added to neuter and adds the meaning of the item being little. It’s very common in Maerchen, or German fairy tales. Knochelchen: little bone Ringlein: little ring etc. ---
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-hilarious-german-language/239401/44 "2004-04-13T13:44:02Z")
> [@Jean Grey](#): > > One that I can’t remember the German for is “Show me the bus, with the people who care” in response to someone continuing to talk about something you’re not interested in. (They use more commas than we do, I have noticed.) Probably something like “Zeig’ mir den Bus mit den Leuten, die das interessiert.” (sorry, only one comma) ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-hilarious-german-language/239401/45 "2004-04-13T18:37:09Z")
I have an extremely vague memory of seeing a humor book as a child containing stories told in hilarious mock German. The only thing I specifically remember is that the dogcatcher was called “der Barkenpantensniffensnatcher.” Anybody know what I’m talking about? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-hilarious-german-language/239401.md?page=2)