Mastodawn

Denny Vrandečić Mar 30, 2023

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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Denny Vrandečić Mar 30, 2023

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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Denny Vrandečić Mar 30, 2023

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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#German #English #language #words

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Lucas Werkmeister Mar 30, 2023

@vrandecic
Quill? Schreibfeder, “writing feather”.
Desk? Schreibtisch, “writing table”.
Monitor? Bildschirm, “picture screen”.
Umbrella? Regenschirm, “rain screen”.
Parasol? Sonnenschirm, “sun screen”.

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