Unanswered Google Queries Part III
do germans like americans to try and speak german
That depends. There is kind of a threshold of talent in speaking German that you need to cross before it becomes enjoyable for German ears to listen to you butchering their language. You will know by the average response you receive from Germans, if your German is good enough to continue to use without annoying them. If they respond back to you in English, stop speaking German.
get one’s roots done übersetzung
Ich bin hier kein Experte, aber ich schätze das wird entweder ein sehr schmerzvoller Tag beim Zahnarzt oder ein sehr teurer Besuch beim Friseur.
irony contained in the title modest proposal
The dude’s proposal was to eat kids to save money. Think about it.
By the way, it’s kind of flattering that simply copying the title of one of the world’s greatest pieces of literature would be enough for google to send people my way when they’re searching for completely unrelated items. Thanks for the ego boost, Google.
wieviel mett pro brötchen
I have a strong opinion here, and I think you should put on a much as you can, before it starts falling off. The roll itself is good, but it serves mostly as delivery mechanism for the meat and onions, therefore you should keep the ratio of mett to brötchen as high as possible while still keeping it mechanically stable.
“first floor” erdgeschoss cultural difference
This one was previously discussed here, but just as a reminder, Germans start counting from zero, just like computer scientists, with their thumb. By the time you get to one, you are already on the second item. So in Germany, the first floor is the second floor. Germans are so efficient that they never waste 0.
moved to munich in 1999
Actually I moved to Hamburg in 1999. It wasn’t until 2000 that I moved to Munich. Those are two cool cities. In fact, every time I moved in Germany I moved to a worse place, finally ending up in the boondocks in Lower Saxony. Really very anticlimactic, my German experience.
“muss nicht” must not
No, they aren’t the same. “muss nicht” is more like “doesn’t have to”. It’s complicated though, something you just have to get a feel for.
“sei gedrückt” in english
Be pushed.
correct way to drive on motorway with automatic transmission
Pretty simple with one caveat. If you are used to driving standard transmission, you may be tempted to stomp with your left foot on the nearest pedal when approaching a traffic light. Don’t do that, your passengers will hate you.
abspacken english übersetzung
We don’t have a word for this phenomenon in America, probably because we just all dance so cool anyway that we don’t have to be ironic about it.
advantages disadvantages duzen siezen in germany
The disadvantages I think are clear, but one advantage I find is that you don’t have to worry about how to address a stranger or someone you have just met. I find it kind of awkward in America while writing business correspondence to never have a clear line of when to use Mr., Mrs., or Ms. In German its much easier to address people you don’t know yet.
american styled bakery in germany
Surely you are joking.
american verbal greetings
’sup
Howdy
What’s shakin
How’s it hangin
How ya’ll folks doin
Hey (there/tiger/pal)
american’s don’t know anything
This is in no way true. American’s are experts in things that you don’t care about.
How many home runs did Manny Ramirez hit in the 2007 season? Oh you don’t know? That’s what I thought.
be donk mich, translation to english
thanks, I think?
beef jerky einführen eu
That is a fantastic idea. Also, if anyone wants to bring Taco Bell to Europe, I am interested in investing.
can 16 year old german citizen buy beer in the us
Yes, oddly enough, each state has written into its constitution a clause that allows citizens of other countries to follow the laws of their own country in the US as a kind of strange biproduct of freedom of religion, wherein the foreigner simply states that drinking Coors Light is a form of German worship.
Most cashiers don’t know this, so you will have to spend some time lecturing them before you’ll get your six pack.
can germans be anything they want to
No, the right to be anything you want to be is reserved for free countries like America. Germans can’t be Homeland-Loyal German Youth, even if they want.
can you buy ephedra in germany drug stores?
I haven’t actually tried this, but judging by the fact that you can’t even get eye drops at a drug store, I’m going to guess that a potentially lethal stimulant is also out of the question.
dangers in german forests
They also have squirrels. Watch out.
der deutsche wort fur ‘pet’
Der Wort ist der Haustier, if you mean the animal. Otherwise its der Streicheln if you mean the action.
deutschbag übersetzung
Sie haben das wohl nicht ganz richtig verstanden.
do german children go naked in the summer
No.
do germans eat hamburgers
Yes.
do germans pay church tax
Only if they don’t want to have tell their parents that they took their name off of church roles.
do swiss girls shave their armpits
The kind you would be interested in do.
do the benifit of studying abroad justify the difficulties?
If the benefits include improved spelling and grammar, then yes.
do you speak english better than frank?
My English is impeccable, so yes.
does the dutch and germans get along
No. The Dutch truly despise Germans, whereas the Germans are mostly irritated by the Dutch drivers and take glee in their failures in international soccer.
doppelt gemoppelt us-amerikanisch
Redundant.
We don’t care as much about perfection and thrift, so we don’t have a cool expression for it. Saying PIN number and ATM machine doesn’t bother us one bit.
fork spoon schieber
Ha! I told you guys this was for real. Even more proof here!
german gmbh what word does the letter h stand for in gmbh?
haftung. GerMan Business Haftung. Not sure what it means.
May 17th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
GmbH actually stands for “Gesellschaft mit begrenzter Haftung” which is a “limited liability company” in english. H stands for “Haftung”; meaning “liability”.
May 17th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Beef Jerky can be bought at “real” or “metro” in Germany.
May 17th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Hehe, there are some great list items here.
About the counting of the Stockwerk in German, I didn’t read the previous discussion, but just in case nobody knew about it, actually in the northern parts of German they start counting the Geschosse also with 1 for the first floor. It’s more of a regional thing, really. Oddly enough, in my student dormitoy in Karlsruhe (SW-Germany), the Erdgeschoss was also the first floor.
Oh, and we not only have killer squirrels in our forrests, we have also suicidal boars and Bambis. Be careful when drivingduring the Wildwechsel through a forrest! I hit a boar last year, it wasn’t very funny.
And about the pet thing, do you pet a pet, or do you stroke a pet in English?
May 17th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
“sei gedrückt” probably meant “be hugged”.
May 17th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
“In fact, every time I moved in Germany I moved to a worse place, finally ending up in the boondocks in Lower Saxony.”
Oh no, you were forced to go to Hannover, weren’t you? Even places like Ostrhauderfehn or Buchholz/Nordheide are much more fun!
May 17th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
[…] im nixfuerungutblog gelesen: can 16 year old german citizen buy beer in the […]
May 17th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Ich wünschte ich hätte das mit dem Bier unter 21 früher gewusst.
May 17th, 2009 at 10:59 pm
Worse than Hannover: Salzgitter.
Thanks for leaving the apartment nice and clean, haha!
May 17th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
“In fact, every time I moved in Germany I moved to a worse place, finally ending up in the boondocks in Lower Saxony.”
That’s nothing… your problems will start once you reach Bielefeld, because those you leave behind simply won’t be able to get in touch with you ever again… :p
May 17th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
“Sei gedrückt” in english actually means “Be hugged” or “Let me hug you”.
May 17th, 2009 at 11:59 pm
You have already stated that we Germany loooveee to correct the errors of others… therefore…
@philipp: it’s the “beschränkte” liability not the “begrenzte” liability.
I guess the “sei gedrückt” rather means something like “feel cuddled”.
About the dangers in German forests: there are for example ticks (small spiders). When being bitten by one of these there is the possibility to be infected with tick-borne encephalitis, Lyme disease and rickettsiosis.
May 18th, 2009 at 5:29 am
@ROFL
As a matter of fact: Bielefeld does not exist.
May 18th, 2009 at 6:41 am
Something like Beef Jerky or Biltong (though not made out of all the various animals as in Africa - beware of elephant!) is also produced in Switzerland. In fact, they basically just take the traditional Bündnerfleisch and cut it in thicker strips…
May 18th, 2009 at 8:03 am
Oh Gott, ich muss hier raus, ihr meint also wirklich das GmbH nicht “GerMan Business Haftung” heisst?
May 18th, 2009 at 8:58 am
Alcohol under 21? Are you serious about that? I can’t believe it
May 18th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
deutschbag??? I only just reluctantly accepted the origin of douchebag (and still don’t really want to think about it) - I refuse to even consider how anyone could imagine the word deutschbag….. Kommt gar nicht in frage
May 18th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
deutschbag? I only reluctantyl refused to accept the word douchbag as real (don’t really wanting to think about it’s origin) - deutschbag brings up connotations that are clearly - unnacceptable…. geht gar nicht
May 18th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
@Mea Culpa:
“sei gedrückt” IS Southwest-German for “let me hug you”. Perhaps also in Bavarian.
May 18th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Hey, I live in the boondocks of Lower Saxony too! Maybe we’re neighbours?
Love all the “helpful” comments from the usual suspects.
May 18th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
Possible definitions vor “deutschbag”
a) term for a really big jerk who happens to be German (e.g. Himmler, Goebbels - but not Hitler, that would be an Österbag!)
b) alternative English word for “rucksack”, indicating the country of origin
c) bag sewn out of old Lederhosn
May 19th, 2009 at 4:04 am
I did a semester of study in Germany (quite possibly the hardest thing Ive ever done, the evidence being that I failed all of my classes and now am having a hell of a time getting my transcript to America). But anyway I spent my entire time In Saxony and had an amazing time, which makes me wonder how much more fun I would have had elsewhere.
May 19th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Craig: If you failed all your classes, why the hell would you want to get a transcript for it?
May 19th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Hee. Craig must have also failed his geography class, otherwise he’d know that Saxony and Lower Saxony are two different states.
May 19th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
And then there is Saxony-Anhalt too! I imagine this must be quite confusing for foreigners…
May 20th, 2009 at 10:31 am
Awesome ^^
Pro Tip: try Vietnamese Beef Jerky. You can get it at decently stocked Asialäden. It’s very good, and really really hot. And it’s much cheaper than the (rather bland) American stuff, about 1/4 the price.
Also, the label specifically guarantees the product to be free of flesh-eating bacteria. What more could you ask for?
May 21st, 2009 at 11:13 am
Taco Bell in Germany: Where do I sign up?
May 25th, 2009 at 11:58 am
“Deutschbag” - maybe this was derived from “Kauf dir mal eine Tüte Deutsch” (go and buy yourself a bag of German language), meant for someone - usually a native - who has just committed an atrocity against the German language.
May 25th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Yes, please insert beef jerky in the EU.
May 25th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
EbeefjerkyU?
May 27th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
The counting of floors gets even weirder if you go further to the south to Austria. There they not only have ground floor, first floor, second floor, .. etc. but ground floor, Mezzanin, first floor, etc… the the “first” floor is actually in the third floor and approximately 10 meters above the street level.
May 28th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Fork spoon schieber? I believe it’s really a spork.
Oh, and in America we pet our pets, unless we are petting (with) our Pet…
John, the Peanut Gallery is getting to be funnier than you are. You might get demoted to “Provocateur” instead of “Chief Cook and Bottle Washer”. Do you rent yourself out as a conversationalist for boring dinner parties?
Stefan W.; EbeefjerkyU? is priceless! You pass the irony test. You may advance to America. If you pass Go collect $200.
I’m still thinking about “deutschbag”… maybe it’s French?
June 8th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
“Deutschbag” is in the Urban Dictionary:
“(pronounced doysh-bag) An insult used AGAINST German people. The word is derived from the german word for german, Deutsch, and the english insult Douchebag, and is used in the same sense as douchebag, but exclusively to Germans. ”
Also written as “Deustchbag” or” Deutchbag”
They also have “deutscholle”
June 8th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
Deutschmobil –> Volkswagen
Deutschmobil (bankrupt) –> Opel
Dutchmobil –> trailer
Deutschfood –> Sauerkraut
Deitschdrink –> beer
Deutschpants –> Lederhoasn
Deutschhund –> dachshund (Dackel oder Teckel)
Deutschbird —> Bundesadler
Deutschmouse —> orange fur, his friend is a tiny blue elephant
Amimouse –> black fur, his friend is a big anthropomorphic dog
Deutschteronomy —> fifth book of the Luther Bible
June 10th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Until I read Bird of Prey I figured you meant “Deutschbalg” = german brat’ In case Craig did a semester of German in Saxony, no wonder he failed. Saxons don’t speak German. If they name their children by the ABC, it is like: Arnst (Ernest). Baul (Paul), Deodor (Theodore)….
June 11th, 2009 at 7:18 am
” “sei gedrückt” in english
Be pushed.”
NO: be hugged (erst: umarmen, dann: drücken. Nicht exakt das gleiche, aber pushed ist es nicht!)
http://nothingforungood.com/unanswered-google-queries-part-iii/
June 11th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
“Until I read Bird of Prey I figured you meant “Deutschbalg” = german brat”
E.g. Bill Kaulitz?
June 12th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
To add to the chaos regarding floors: In our institute, the entrance is actually on floor -1, which is called “Sockelgeschoß” - therefore, the first floor is actually the third. Which gets quite confusing when you think “oh, it’s only on 2nd floor” (my office), and then walk and walk and walk… (ok, I don’t walk - there is a perfectly good elevator, where I don’t have to think about which floor is which - I just push the numbered button :))
June 14th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
It’s /das/ Haustier and /das/ Streicheln of course… Trying to provoke us, he? You know we hate uncorrected facts, no matter how obvious they are!
June 23rd, 2009 at 8:50 am
I don’t care much about beef jerky but Taco Bell would be awesome. I have no clue why Pizza Hut and KFC have Restaurants all over Germany but Taco Bell doesn’t
They all belong to Yum! Brands…
August 4th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
“… wherein the foreigner simply states that drinking Coors Light is a form of German worship.”
I recently moved to the UK and got a chance to try half a pint of that Coors Light stuff.
I pored it on the ground and went for a pint of the real stuff. (I’m drinking myself through the weird English ales. If there is one thing they can’t do here it is lager/pils)
But I wander off the subject. No German of any age will enjoy Coors Light under any circumstance.
And he will be extremely irritated by the fact that someone actually cared for his age to sell him that lemonade/water.
If I would be under age and tell the person at the counter some story of freedom of religion, I would want some reward for that in the form of alcohol or at least taste. *g*
August 7th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Okay, now I understand it. A Deutschbag is when you go hunting and you catch a German, right? Like, “Ich bin auf die Jagd gehen, so ich kann einen Deutsch-bag.”
Or is it an alte unangenehme Frau als “Die war keine deutschbag, die war meine Frau!”?
Anyone?
August 12th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
@Tilman: You handled the Coors Light thing all wrong. You should have spit your first mouthful all over the bartender and shouted, “If I wanted a bottle of horse p_ss, I would have ordered it! Now bring me a BEER!” Horrible stuff!
I live in the home-town of Inbev/Anheuser-Busch so I am a little predjudiced but I have to have more body in my beer. Since the Belgians bought A-B, I have lost my allegiance to most of their products and am drinking my way through various “micro-breweries” and finding that America can in fact brew “real” beer. I think most Germans would be surprised to find something drinkable over here, but there is. Had a dry-hopped American pale ale last night, brewed here in town and really enjoyed it.
October 12th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
@ AlsoJohn: amen to that. as a german being in the states a lot, i just love to try the different beers in those microbreweries. i even found a decent koelsch (i’m from cologne) in the middle of nowhere in texas. cheers
November 9th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
TACO BELL !!!
Yes, that would be a great choice !
I want Taco Bell in Germany!
P.S. I’ve seen Beef Jerky at some stores, e.g. Metro.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:45 am
…and yes, you can buy Ephedra in Germany - go to any Apotheke (pharmacy) that carries homeopathic products and get a bottle of Muttertinktur (mother tincture) of Ephedra Vulgaris. One brand I know of is Boiron, but there might be others. It will put you back something like ten Euros.
Caveat emptor - this is concentrated stuff and it *is* a homeopathic remedy for certain heart conditions, so be careful with the dosage… I have never taken more than 20 drops
November 12th, 2009 at 9:11 am
“do german children go naked in the summer ”
of course they do! As long as they are in the state of innocence nobody cares about their nuditiy. Concerning adults it depends on the regional background: Germans (East) were used to practise nudity (Freikörperkultur) at the beach. By the way an excellent opportunity to research on shaved pitholes and other regions to be shaved …
kindest regards to your mum! ;-))
excellent blog, it is highly useful for me in order to improve my poor english.
November 12th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
there certainly must be words for “abspacken” in AE, I figure something like to “freak” or “freak out” as “abspacken” is not limited to dancing frantically or something of the like. I think it can be used to describe any behaviour considered ‘not decent’ or ‘not normal’ (depends on the youth scene using the term) whilst including any means of body action …?
November 13th, 2009 at 10:04 am
“clowning” or “crumping” certainly meet my definition of “abspacken”.
but the intention behind it is probably not the same.
greetings from hamburg
p.s.: a fine blog. keep it up!
i´m looking forward to reading your book.
November 13th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
“re certainly must be words for “abspacken” in AE”
How is it with “to rock out” aka “to rawk out”
November 13th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
@Bird of Prey; I think “rock out” is AE and “rawk out” is BE!
December 7th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
@Newcomer: People from Saxony actually don’t call their Kids Arnst (Ernest). Baul (Paul), Deodor (Theodore)…, but Mandy, Sandy, Ronny, Schakke-line (Jaqueline), Kevin, Schantalle. Unfortunately, this phenomenon is spreading to other parts of Germany and known as “Kevinismus”: http://de.uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Kevinismus
T.
December 14th, 2009 at 6:42 am
I don’t miss Taco Bell in Germany I miss Mr.&Mrs. T. Bloody Mary Mix some friends organized it at the commisary at Frankfurt Airbase but they’re gone.
Has somebody an idea where I can buy these great stuff nearby Frankfurt/Main
December 14th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
@bytfisch: Make it yourself. To V-8 or tomato juice add ground black pepper, worchestershire sauce, Tobasco, celery salt, and lime juice.
I also grind in chipotle pepper flakes and sometimes use a sweet steak sauce to cut the acidity or Liquid Smoke to give it a smokey flavor. I have been told to also add a jigger of a robust beer, but have not tried that.
Do you have V-8, Tobasco, steak sauce, or Liquid Smoke in Germany?
December 25th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
@ John
we’ve got tobasco and steak sauce, but i’ve never heard of soemthing called liquid smoke. i assume it’s disgusting since it sounds alot like fake bbq to me^^
January 6th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
Was ist so schlecht an Sachsen (Saxony)?
January 6th, 2010 at 9:15 pm
@Torbin; Liquid Smoke is a powerful dark brown water-like sauce that will make anything it touches turn brown and smell like it just came from a campfire. It is not a BBQ sauce per se, but is used in BBQ sauce to add fake the grill flavor. Quite good and useful, actually, to make food you cook indoors taste like it was grilled outdoors. Yum!
January 11th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
To be a good German:
GmbH means “Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung”, not “…begrenzter…”
January 11th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
I must apologize… it was already mentioned.
January 30th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Perhaps the floor numbering difference should not be considered a US vs. Germany but a North America vs. Europe issue. Britons also start with a ground floor, counting the next one (above) as the first floor!
(Similar numbering in France, afaik)
Cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storey
February 6th, 2010 at 10:59 pm
Ey, etzet aber: wer schwätzt vom “ground zero”?
So, etz hoschd Erklärung fir Schellmerker, Du bluatiger Hennakopf:
dr erschde Stock isch halt amol ets Erdgschoss! :o)