I really love some German words, and can only shake my head about how inaccessible English likes to be.
Hydrogen? That's Wasserstoff, "water stuff".
Carbon? Kohlenstoff, "coal stuff".
Triangle? Dreieck, "three corner".
Quadrilateral? Viereck, "four corner".
Pentagon? Fünfeck, "five corner".
Rectangle? Rechteck, "right corner".
Suburb? Vorort, "before the place".
Telescope? Fernrohr, "far pipe".
Television? Fernseher, "far viewer".
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Dentist? Zahnarzt, "tooth doctor".
Dermatologist? Hautarzt, "skin doctor".
Otorhinolaryngologist? Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Arzt, "throat nose ear doctor".
Veterinary? Tierarzt, "animal doctor".
Unicorn? Einhorn, "one horn".
Canine unit? Hundestaffel, "dog group / unit".
Mutton? Schaffleisch, "sheep meat".
Pork? Schweinefleisch, "pig meat".
Refrigerator? Kühlschrank, "cooling cabinet".
Automobile? Fahrzeug, "driving gear".
Aeroplane? Flugzeug, "flying gear".
Bicycle? Fahrrad, "drive wheel".
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Library? Bücherei, "bookery".
Dictionary? Wörterbuch, "word book".
Orthography? Rechtschreibung, "right writing".
Capital? Großbuchstabe, "big letter".
The other capital? Hauptstadt, "head city".
I could go on. There's so much Greek and Latin and French mixed into English, and it often feels so unnecessary. The literal translations often sound entirely understandable.
Any other examples that come to your mind? Also in other languages?
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@LucasWerkmeister
@vrandecic Again very similar in Finnish:
Quill: sulkakynä, "feather pen"
Desk: kirjoituspöytä, "writing table"
Monitor: näyttö, "display" or "evidence"
Umbrella: sateenvarjo, "rain shadow"
Parasol: aurinkovarjo, "sun shadow"
Swedish is similar too. Also Estonian. It's really English that is the odd, illogical language that everyone has to learn.
@LucasWerkmeister @vrandecic … I raise
"Stationary" Schreibwaren, "writing goods"
"Typewriter" Schreibmaschine, "writing machine"
"Office" Schreibstube, "writing room" -- okay, this one is very archaic
"Spelling" Schreibweise, "writing kind"
"Excercise book", "Schreibheft", "writing book"
etc :-)
For spelling I would have used buchstabieren - literally, "to letter".
@LucasWerkmeister @vrandecic
Hospital?
Ambulance?
Morgue?
I'm curious.
@hellomiakoda @LucasWerkmeister
Hospital: Krankenhaus, "house for the sick"
Ambulance: Krankenwagen, "car for the sick"
Morgue: Leichenhalle, "Hall for (dead body)" (Leiche is not a compound work, unlike in English the "dead body")
Ok, let me take a guess...
Hearse would be "car for the (dead body)", leichenwagen?
@orangelantern @vrandecic @LucasWerkmeister
😏
Leichenrohr would be where to hide the evidence, "Pipe for the (dead body)"
@orangelantern @vrandecic @LucasWerkmeister
Leichenfleisch! SOYLENT GREEN!!!
🤣
@orangelantern @vrandecic @LucasWerkmeister
Schweinelichen = Officer down!! 🤣
Denny Vrandečić
Lucas Werkmeister
Osma Suominen
Ysegrim
Miakoda 
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