Translating: words that don't mean what you'd guess. Examples?

[mkl12]

@gum

NB: “eikel” is also a vulgair name of the top of the penis, often used as a cuss word.

Intersting. In German and Latin the word for acorn, Eichel in German and glans in Latin, is the correct medical term for the top of the penis.

[Ludovic]

So, if you kept it wrapped up in the hot sun enough, if a Frenchman gave a German a Gift of poisson, it might not be far from the truth.

[Polycarp]

@Ignatz

Oh, I thought that would mean “I am from the city of Frankfurt” or “Vienna”. I actually voted for Tricky Dickie Nixon instead of JFK. Been kicking myself ever since. I was in Portland, Maine, when JFK was killed. I went to his gravesite less than a year later when I was stationed at Bainbridge NTC. I know, I’m off the OP.

Now jes 'nuther fellow Tarheel.

No, the point behind the “jelly donut” anecdote is that German does not use “ein(e)” with identifiers derived from placenames (Berliner, New Yorker), so JFK should have said “Ich bin Berliner” to claim (as was his point) that he (and every Westerner) were Berliners in spirit, standing behind the West Berliners in defiance of Communism. What he did say, “Ich bin ein Berliner”, translates to “I’m a ‘Berliner’,” that term being used (like Frankfurter and Wiener of hot dogs and Hamburger of ground beef patties) to mean the eponymous pastry of Berlin, equivalent to a jelly donut. “Ich bin Frankfurter” would mean “I’m a resident or native of Frankfurt”; with the ein, it means “I’m a hotdog.”

[mkl12]

@Polycarp

No, the point behind the “jelly donut” anecdote is that German does not use “ein(e)” with identifiers derived from placenames (Berliner, New Yorker), so JFK should have said “Ich bin Berliner” to claim (as was his point) that he (and every Westerner) were Berliners in spirit, standing behind the West Berliners in defiance of Communism. What he did say, “Ich bin ein Berliner”, translates to “I’m a ‘Berliner’,” that term being used (like Frankfurter and Wiener of hot dogs and Hamburger of ground beef patties) to mean the eponymous pastry of Berlin, equivalent to a jelly donut. “Ich bin Frankfurter” would mean “I’m a resident or native of Frankfurt”; with the ein, it means “I’m a hotdog.”

Sorry, but that’s just not true. In English, “I am Danish” only means “I am from Denmark” and “I am a Danish” only means “I am a pastry”. In German, “Ich bin Berliner” only means “I am from Berlin”, but “Ich bin ein Berliner” can mean either “I am from Berlin” or “I am a jelly donut”. What Kennedy said was perfectly correct. I am sure very few Germans even noticed the double meaning at the time. Most of the people who where actually there certainly didn’t, because in Berlin, a jelly donut is called “Pfannkuchen” (which fits into this thread, because it translates as “pancake”. In the rest of Germany, “Pfannkuchen” is a pancake).

It has even been claimed that “Ich bin ein Berliner” is the only correct way of expressing Kennedy’s intended meaning, because without the “ein”, it would have to be literally true, while with the “ein”, the sentence can be understood metaphorically. But I’m not sure I agree with that.

Sorry for any mistakes. English is not my first language.

[Colibri]

I alluded to that a little in my earlier post on the subject. According to this site (not like it looks like the most authoritative in the world):

Sadly, this story [about JFK’s “mistake”] is a myth. Though the word “Berliner” can indeed be used to refer to a type of pastry, the line was translated for Kennedy by a native German-speaker and is the best way of expressing in German what he wished to say: “I am one with the people of Berlin.” (“Ich bin Berliner” would have sounded odd because, with his heavy accent, Kennedy could not possibly have come from Berlin.) His speech was welcomed with cheers rather than laughter.

[Polycarp]

@Colibri

I alluded to that a little in my earlier post on the subject. According to this site (not like it looks like the most authoritative in the world):

mkl12 and Colibri, I’m grateful for the correction.

[HMS_Irruncible]

In German, aktuelle means “current”, not “actual.”

The city Regensburg does not get its name from “rain” (German regen but from Latin regere, or “ruler.” This last example was actually presented to me as a textbook example of a false cognate.

[HMS_Irruncible]

Correct on the JFK thing… German teachers in the US love using that story to impress upon students that in German, one does not use the indefinite article as one would in English when describing a person’s place of origin, occupation, or religious affiliation.

[ianzin]

Enough already with the JFK hijack! It doesn’t even have *anything * to do with what I asked about in my OP! For the love of Zeus, start your own threads…

To everyone else who has contributed, may I offer my sincere appreciation for your many excellent contributions.

[mangeorge]

@ianzin

Enough already with the JFK hijack! It doesn’t even have *anything * to do with what I asked about in my OP! For the love of Zeus, start your own threads…

To everyone else who has contributed, may I offer my sincere appreciation for your many excellent contributions.

Hey, buzz off mate. We’re trying to have a conversation here. Your changing the subject isn’t helping.
Zeus, indeed!

[Polycarp]

@ianzin

Enough already with the JFK hijack! It doesn’t even have *anything * to do with what I asked about in my OP! For the love of Zeus, start your own threads…

To everyone else who has contributed, may I offer my sincere appreciation for your many excellent contributions.

Hey, Ask Nott hasn’t chimed in yet!

Seriously, sorry for the hijack, but the issue about varying uses of articles is probably as much a case of false-literal translation as any others you might get.

(There’s a case where a Vatican pronouncement on evolution, written in French, admits of two quite distinct and near-antithetical translations, as noted by Stephen Jay Gould in one of his essays: “plus qu’un hypothese” can be rendered as “more than a hypothesis” or “more than one hypothesis” – and describing modern evolutionary theory in a sentence which leads to “plus qu’un hypothese” is either affirming it as more significant than a mere hypothesis, or suggesting that it’s one among many hypothetical answers – which comes darn close to being antonymous.

[Martha_Medea]

Spanish introducir is not the same as the English “to introduce”.

An English man I know, with limited Spanish, tried to make the acquaintance of a Mexican woman. Something on the lines of “Quiero introducir…”

Her reply was “¡A mi no me introduzcas nada!”

Introduce in Spanish is “presentar”.

“Introducir” tends to be associated with sexual penetration. :eek:

[Polycarp]

@Martha

Spanish introducir is not the same as the English “to introduce”.

An English man I know, with limited Spanish, tried to make the acquaintance of a Mexican woman. Something on the lines of “Quiero introducir…”

Her reply was “¡A mi no me introduzcas nada!”

Introduce in Spanish is “presentar”.

“Introducir” tends to be associated with sexual penetration. :eek:

So a relationship that begins with an introducir event is likely to continue with someone being embarazada??

[gum]

heh, Martha

Which reminds me: Applying for a job - any job, I swear - is: ‘Solliciteren’ in Dutch.

Originally posted by ** mkl12**

• Interesting. In German and Latin the word for acorn, Eichel in German and glans in Latin, is the correct medical term for the top of the penis*

Glans in Dutch, means: Gloss, Lustre, Shine, or figuratively, Splendour. Interesting as well, huh. [things people say about a penis. tut tut tut.]

[Cuckoorex]

Not quite fitting into the topic, but funny nonetheless: years ago my brother was with a German friend in Germany and meant to ask a waitress if she had an ashtray (Aschenbecher) and actually asked her if she had ass cheeks (Eselsbacken). Fortunately for him, she figured out what he meant, but it took a few minutes for his friend to stop laughing long enough to tell him why she had given him such a quizzical look at first…