Category Archives: German language
Last night, I was watching one of the many World War II documentaries that appear on German television. This one concerned the battles in north Africa. An old British soldier stated in voice-over German that although things looked bad, General …
The other day, I was walking down a fairly steep hill when two little girls swept by me on tiny bicycles, wobbling along and picking up speed. Behind them trotted their anxious mother, shouting, “Bremse! Bremse!” Die Bremse, of course, …
In honor of the end of Oktoberfest in Munich, Bavaria, today’s word is die Maßkrugschlägerei. It’s a compound word, and sometimes hyphenated. You’re not likely to find it in your dictionary. Nevertheless, it’s a very handy word to know. Der …
Der Geist is a ghost. Der Fahrer is a driver. Put them together, and you have a terrible phenomenon but the perfect word to describe it. Der Geisterfahrer drives the wrong way on a divided highway, usually at excessive speeds. …
Noch means something like more, but in an adverbial way, as in the expression children hear from their Omas: “Iss noch!“–“Eat something else!” Wieder means again, as in the expression everybody knows even if they don’t know its exact meaning: …
Last night on Tatort, Inspector Borowski of Kiel had his hands full when eine Leiche showed up in a septic system. Then, not five minutes later, up popped another one, and before the show was over, Inspector Borowski himself had …
If die Jagd is a hunt, then die Schnitzeljagd is a hunt for schnitzels, right? This makes perfect sense to me–I’m on a hunt for the best Rahmschnitzel (schnitzel in cream sauce) money can buy. But no, that’s not quite …
The other night, my husband almost ran over an Igel who was out foraging at night. Yesterday, completely by coincidence, my daughter bought an Igel as a pet. What is this mysterious little animal? Here’s a hint: just about every …