German / Deutsch

[Danwa]

I remember when I went to school in Germany in summer '06 going to the town of Duisburg. A small group of friends and I were hanging around by the Rhein when a kid comes up and asks in a very thick German (which I believe is Niederdeutsch) accent whether or not we've seen his friend (they were playing hide-and-seek). My friends and I exchanged quizzical looks before the question finally sunk into our heads. We didn't know, but the accent threw us off so much we wound up looking like a bunch of idiots.

Originally Posted by Tenshi

Moin Moin!

*has a sudden flashback of going to Greetsiel and the Nordsee*

Has anyone else heard of Die Toten Hosen? I've found that since I left school, I've been listening to them a whole lot, and it's helped me (somewhat) keep my German up.

[dobbylikesme]

I remember visiting friends near Washington DC, and me and my brother got to go to Highschool with them one day, and visit classes. This one kid said to me, which must have been the only German sentence he knew:
"Ich hau dich mit dein Wiener Schnitzel"

[Moriath]

How did I miss this thread?

Originally Posted by Danwa

Has anyone else heard of Die Toten Hosen? I've found that since I left school, I've been listening to them a whole lot, and it's helped me (somewhat) keep my German up.

Yes, Die Toten Hosen are relatively well-known in Germany. I prefer their unofficial rivals, Die Ärzte.

[Tenshi]

My brother in law and me had a fight about whether the word "gerader" (straighter) exists.

He claims that you can't make something "gerader" as a "Gerade" is already perfect straight, same as you can't make white whiter. But I say that the word "gerader" must exsists, because you can always make curved things "gerader".

Beside that am I not going over the fact that "frägt" doesn't exist.
"Was frägst du mich?"
That sounds so logical.
Even if hardly anybody else does ... Ich stelle Frägen!!!

[gertiekeddle]

Neither frägst nor gerader exist in Hochdeutsch. But while the latter is used in colloquial language rather often, 'frägst' seems to be used in local dialects only.
Many students in my classes had problems with it. It counts as mistake, but they were just used to it from their childhood on.

[dobbylikesme]

Originally Posted by Tenshi

My brother in law and me had a fight about whether the word "gerader" (straighter) exists.

He claims that you can't make something "gerader" as a "Gerade" is already perfect straight, same as you can't make white whiter. But I say that the word "gerader" must exsists, because you can always make curved things "gerader".

Beside that am I not going over the fact that "frägt" doesn't exist.
"Was frägst du mich?"
That sounds so logical.
Even if hardly anybody else does ... Ich stelle Frägen!!!

This reminds me of this hair product commercial they have on TV now. First they advertise a shampoo that makes your hair "perfectly" straight. Then they suggest additional products for even better results.
How can you top "perfect"??

And yeah, either something already is "gerade", then it cannot be made "gerader", or it isn't "gerade" (as it is curved, in your example) then it is made "gerade".

I understand your confusion though, as in another example, you could take something "klein" and make it "größer" as opposed to "groß". Hmph, confusing.

[gertiekeddle]

Originally Posted by dobbylikesme

This reminds me of this hair product commercial they have on TV now. First they advertise a shampoo that makes your hair "perfectly" straight. Then they suggest additional products for even better results.
How can you top "perfect"??

Commercials are a perfect example for these grammar nonsense. They often invent their own words, but which make not so much sense by a closer look at them.

[Moriath]

Commercials and advertisements are also very good at mutilating spelling. The ß/ss rule is not that difficult but I see the wrong versions all the time.

[gertiekeddle]

Yes! Or the translation of movies... a classic is "Kuck mal wer da spricht". Ages of students misspelled 'gucken' after that movie came into the cinemas.

[aussieboy]

I take German, but I wanted to know how one translates this motto:

"Play your part and do it well; therein the honor lies."

[DeathlyH]

Uhh... Ich ban Brian? That's about all I know.

[Tenshi]

Originally Posted by deathly721

Uhh... Ich ban Brian? That's about all I know.

Ich bin Brian

[aussieboy]

Originally Posted by deathly721

Uhh... Ich ban Brian? That's about all I know.

Kommen Sie wirklich aus England?

[Tenshi]

Originally Posted by aussieboy

I take German, but I wanted to know how one translates this motto:

"Play your part and do it well; therein the honor lies."

I would translate it with:
Spiel deiner Rolle und sei gut; darin liegt die Ehre."

But maybe someone else has a better translation.

[Anhelda]

Yay, German! My Mutti is from Germany (born in Doebln, but grew up in various Bavarian locations) and I've still got lots of close family there, including my Oma, who lives in Muenchen. I was just visiting her in November and had a great time. My Onkel, who uses Austrians as the butt of all his jokes, tells me this one:

Johann, ein Mann von WIen, wird nach London reisen, und er hat angst, denn er spricht kein Englisch. Ein Freund sagt zu ihn ,,Hab kein angst, weil Englisch ist nur Deutsch, aber langsam gesprochen." Deshalb fuellst Johann sich besser, und er geht auf seine Reise. Als er in London ist, besucht er ein Gasthaus, und er findet ein freundlicher Mann darin. Johann fingt an, mit ihn zu unterhalten, und er ist sehr froh das er versteht alles was der Mann sagt und der Mann kann ihn auch gut verstehen. Die Beide redet miteinander ungefaehr ein viertel Stunde.
Endlich fragt der Mann ,,W o r a u s___k o m m e n___S i e?"
Johann antwortet ,, i c h___k o m m e___a u s___W i e n."
,,W i r k l i c h?___ I c h___k o m m e___a u s___L i n z." sagt der Mann.
Johann fragt ,,D a n n___w a r u m___s p r e c h e n___w i r___E n g l i s c h?"

Any errors in word choice or grammar are, of course, mine, but that's one of my Onkel's favorite jokes. Apologies to any Austrians who may read it.

[gertiekeddle]

Originally Posted by Tenshi

I would translate it with:
Spiel deiner Rolle und sei gut; darin liegt die Ehre."

But maybe someone else has a better translation.

I would say 'Spiele Deine Rolle und bleib gut; darin liegt die Ehre.' Just to poke Tenshi, who did a grammar mistake.

Originally Posted by Anhelda

Yay, German! My Mutti is from Germany (born in Doebln, but grew up in various Bavarian locations) and I've still got lots of close family there, including my Oma, who lives in Muenchen. I was just visiting her in November and had a great time.

Aww... it sounds so cute when you use the German terms Mutti, Oma, Onkel in English sentences. Does your family usually do so? Its interesting!

[Tenshi]

Originally Posted by gertiekeddle

I would say 'Spiele Deine Rolle und bleib gut; darin liegt die Ehre.' Just to poke Tenshi, who did a grammar mistake.

Ehhhhh "do" = "machen", "tun" or not? So "do it well" = "mach es gut"
Wouldn't "bleib gut" be "stay good", "remain good"?

[gertiekeddle]

Literally it would be remain, yep. But actually I did this not on purpose, just felt like 'bleiben' fits better. The mistakes were 'Spiel' (its spiele) and 'Deiner' (its Deine). Sorry for the confusion!

[Alastor]

Originally Posted by Tenshi

Ehhhhh "do" = "machen", "tun" or not? So "do it well" = "mach es gut"
Wouldn't "bleib gut" be "stay good", "remain good"?

Considering the original text 'do it well' meaning play that role well, I as non German would prefer 'mach es gut'. As it seems to be the one of the three that comes closest.

[Tenshi]

Originally Posted by gertiekeddle

Literally it would be remain, yep. But actually I did this not on purpose, just felt like 'bleiben' fits better. The mistakes were 'Spiel' (its spiele) and 'Deiner' (its Deine). Sorry for the confusion!

Ooops that was a typo.