pgnxJan 4, 2023
Jens Clasen

Some German words sound/look like English words but mean something totally different, e. g.

womit = "with what" not "vomit"
Rock = "skirt" not "rock"
groß = "big" not "gross"
Brief = "letter" not "brief"
Puff = "brothel" not "puff"
Boot = "boat" not "boot"
hell = "bright" not "hell"
Bad = "bath(room)" not "bad"
gut = "good" not "gut"
Fahrt = "trip" not "fart"
dick = "big" not "dick"
Gift = "poison" not "gift"

Got it? Bis bald! (bald = "soon" not "bald")

Enjoy our language!

#TheGermanWord

Jan 4, 2023 at 11:49amWeb
Show threadSvenGJan 4, 2023

@jensclasen
Still the most enjoyable swap is:
wer = "who"
wo = "where"

And don't get me started on "eventually", "become", or "Brathering"

Show threadDoritJan 4, 2023
@Paazraaf @jensclasen Aktuell = current (not actual) fällt mir bei „eventually“ auch noch ein, so viele „false friends“ …
Show threadDergoranJan 4, 2023
@doritc @Paazraaf @jensclasen
False friend is an false friend as well.
Show threadLaura Sykes #GreeneraliaJan 4, 2023

@jensclasen
Wow!
Now trying to commit these to memory.
I'm interested in 'brief' meaning letter.
There is perhaps some connection to the other meaning of 'brief' in English:

to brief someone is to tell them the essentials of a situation.
But also English barristers are given a brief by solicitors, ie chosen to act on behalf of clients. Definitely in writing!

Show threadChristiane GanteJan 4, 2023
@greeneralia @jensclasen German Brief comesnfrom Latin brevis, like English brief, too. The Latin word meaning 'short', but being used for short writings, letters, as well.
Show threadTommiJan 4, 2023

@greeneralia @jensclasen
Hi Laura, Yes, there seems to be a connection. The german brief comes from the late latin word breve = "short writing" (which comes from the latin brevis =„kurz“).

For me it looks like the english form "brief" retained the original latin meaning short from "short writing" , while the german form adapted the other part "writing".

(just my interpretation, no official source 😉)

Show threadLaura Sykes #GreeneraliaJan 4, 2023
@Tomi
Thank-you, Tommi!
Show threadDelfJan 4, 2023
@jensclasen "dick" = "thick" or "fat" ...
Eg. Big shoes != Dicke Schuhe
Show threadNgaioJan 4, 2023
@leKnecht @jensclasen Und Super Dickmanns nicht zu vergessen 😉
Show threadposiputtJan 4, 2023

@jensclasen also:

die = "the" not "die"

Show threadospalhJan 13, 2023
@posiputt @jensclasen
Sideshow Bob has a boat called »Beard«.
»Bart« 🇩🇪 is beard 🇬🇧, but masculine, so »der Bart«.
Boats are always feminine, so a boat called beard would be called »die Bart«.
Show threadospalhJan 13, 2023
»Da hinten liegt die Bart«:
The boat called Beard is moored over there
»Da hinten liegt der Bart«:
That Bart guy is lying over there.
Show threadmarcusJan 4, 2023
@jensclasen Fucking Hell = an Austrian beer brand, not a dire situation.
Show threadFlorian HaasJan 4, 2023
@mschomm @jensclasen A German beer brand, shamefully. I don't know how we could let that one escape across the border.
Show threadJan Eckhoff 💉⁸ 🐘Jan 4, 2023
@jensclasen "die in hell" is a normal phrase in a German shoe store.
Show threadmandelbrot57 🐿️ 🧶Jan 4, 2023
@jensclasen
bekommen = "to get" not "to become"
Show threadButenwerlterJan 4, 2023

@jensclasen

Kitchen means not kitchen, it's a nickname for jail or prison

Show threadTJJan 4, 2023

@jensclasen

Hmm, jetzt wird mir einiges klar 😂😉

My wife has a gift for me in the bad room.
Thankyou honey 😄😂😂

Nice, ein wenig Auffrischung von Englisch ist nie falsch. Ich hätte das mit "to get" falsch gemacht.

Show threadGJ Groothedde 🇪🇺Jan 4, 2023
@jensclasen Ist klar! (klar = "clear" indeed!)
Show threadDer DingsJan 4, 2023
@jensclasen I had to report to a customer from the US, that they were mentioned in magazines called „Die Bank“ (The bank) and „Ass compact“ (=> Assekuranz = Insurance).
Show threadHias aus OlivaJan 4, 2023
@jensclasen
The fun is, it works vice versa also. So it's pretty bad for Germans learning English with all these false friends (which is in German a wet fart 😁)
Show threadDiamond JoyJan 4, 2023
@jensclasen I love the sound of German. It's the verb at the end of the sentence that gets me. My brain gets lost. 🤷🏼‍♀️
Show threadSimon dē Gulielmō 🐧Jan 4, 2023
@jensclasen One thing I find funny in Danish is that 'gifte' as noun means 'poisons' (probably a loanword from German), but as a verb it means 'to marry someone' - it gives you the impression that they don't have a high opinion of marriage.
Show threadUli Kusterer (Not a kitteh)Jan 4, 2023
@jensclasen Heidelberg for a few months had a bathtub store named "Bad Design" ... that's what you get for mixing German and English.
Show threadmolosovsky 🐿✊💗Jan 4, 2023
@jensclasen Bayerischer Komiker vor Jahrzehnten:
Ȁnglisch is easy!
Wann I ›ich‹ sog, sogt da Änglända ›I‹;
sog I ›Ei‹, sogt da Änglända ›egg‹;
sog I ›Eck‹, sogt da Änglända ›corner‹;
sog I ›koana‹, sogt da Änglända ›nobody‹ …
und erst do wird’s dann scho gomblizierda.«
Show threaddie_christineJan 4, 2023

@jensclasen

Wand = "wall" not "wand"

Show threadInanJan 4, 2023
@jensclasen dick means thick
Show thread@korneliap.Sued.deJan 4, 2023
@inaner @jensclasen 🤭
Show threadDiver 🤿Jan 4, 2023
@jensclasen Great 😂👍 Darauf erst einmal ein:
Show thread@korneliap.Sued.deJan 4, 2023
@jensclasen to become means werden
To get means bekommen
Show threadBruno GirinJan 4, 2023
@jensclasen The most confusing for me is:
Wo = "where"
Wer = "who"
Show threadTrägerendmuffeJan 4, 2023
@jensclasen Don't forget "die in hell" = 'likewise ones, but light-coloured'
Show threadKnotzJan 4, 2023
@jensclasen kind war
Show threadVerpeiltikonJan 4, 2023
@jensclasen Oh, I can so relate to this! My favourite one at work is when a colleague asks: “Can I become the documents?” Cringe moments indeed. 😉
Show threadGerritJan 4, 2023
@jensclasen man muss die deutsche Sprache einfach lieben. Umfahren bedeutet anders betont das Gegenteil.
Show threadRadegundeJan 4, 2023
@jensclasen as a German try out to do sth "prophylactically" to get your English friends into a side-splitting laughter.
The public viewing I once visited was not funny.
Show threadDominik SachsJan 4, 2023
@jensclasen Kommt daher der Begriff „einen fahren lassen“? 😬
Show threadzerphJan 30, 2023
@Sachse_ohne_e @jensclasen Ausfahrt, denke ich.
Show threadJesus Christus 😇Jan 4, 2023

@jensclasen I like the words sounding and spelling very simular and also have a simular meaning

Sun = Sonne
day = Tag
Sunday = Sonntag
sunny = sonnig
house = Haus
home = Heim
blue = blau
green = grün
red = rot
fuck = Fick
shoe = Schuh
for = für
angel = Engel
God = Gott
hair = Haar
and = und
way = Weg (friesisch = Wai)

and many, many others ...

#TheGermanWord

Show threadChaz BrenchleyJan 4, 2023
@jensclasen - I have always loved this in other languages, but yes, most particularly in German. We have so much in common, and yet...
Show threadMichael BJan 5, 2023
@jensclasen Baden Baden. The worst town in the world.
Show threadMichael BJan 5, 2023
@jensclasen
Welt = "world" not "welt"
Mut = "courage" not "mud"
Fock = "foresail" not what you thought it means
Luv = "upwind" not "love"
Show threadDrSJan 5, 2023
@jensclasen I loved learning German at school (easy to pronounce with a Scottish accent and some similar words - kirk / Kirche).
But yeah, sorry, to a room of teenagers there was much giggling about fahrt.
Show threadMarcelo MagallonJan 5, 2023

@jensclasen

brav = well behaved (as in "braver Hund!" ~ "good boy!") and not "brave" (courageous ~ "mutig").

I made that mistake once and it led it to some embarrassing confusion.

Which reminds me, "Pein" is "anguish" (or "pain") but "peinlich" is not "painful" but "embarrassing".

Show threadJürgen Voskuhl Jan 5, 2023
@jensclasen Sometimes English isn't easy as well. 🤷‍♂️
Show threadanlomedadJan 5, 2023
@jvos63
... either 😁
@jensclasen
Show threadGeDaantjeJan 6, 2023
@jensclasen something to start with @AngryGirlK 😄
Show threadAngryGirlKJan 6, 2023
@GeDaantje @jensclasen oh my goodness 🤭🤭 thank you for thinking of me! I love this! I am so excited!