Are German nipples the worst?

[Crackerofdoom]

I just learned the word for nipples in German is Brustwarzen

The literal translation is "breast warts"

Is this the worst direct translation or are there more out there?

I assume though that you will only use Du Arschloch with someone you are very familiar with? It would be the same in English - you can call a friend a tosspot, partly in jest when they do something stupid, but wouldn't use it more formally.

oldlygoingsomewhere

Thank you for that link boldly - it's brilliant!

I love the word Krankenhaus, just makes me laugh but should not, it means hospital in German.

(sorry if already mentioned)

you can call a friend a tosspot

In the trenches of Galipoli, just feet apart, the troops on both sides could hear each other's private conversations, and the Turks concluded that the name of the Australian God was 'bastard.'

@SchadenfreudePersonified

Because if you make it formal, you turn it from a spontaneous utterance made in the heat of the moment to sth you have thought about.

The Italian for bee is ape and wasp is vespa. Hence the brand names for the little three-wheeled delivery trucks and those annoying mopeds the teenagers all ride.

They wash their food, boatyard

No way! How did I not know this?!? That’s brilliant. I’m off to YouTube to find clips now.

@32MockersxxxxxxxSocialDistancing

In that community there was a conscious rejection of 'slave names' that had been forced on people and that tradition continues in the form of 'freestyle' names. There was also a lot of support by French Canadians in the underground railway and it is often considered that the La/Le prefix honours that history.

sophisticated qudos

I hope that was deliberate 'frenchification', mockers

Really enjoying the appreciation of languages here. Love the Spanish for giving birth, how poetic!

When learning English I was amazed by the word gift, as it means poison in German!

Dh always takes the mickey out of German compound nouns: Oh, look, wool that grows on a tree, let’s call it tree wool! (Baumwolle - cotton)

One of my A level students was absolutely amazed when I used the expression “vor meinem inneren Auge“ (before my inner eye - in my mind).

When learning English I was amazed by the word gift, as it means poison in German!

In Danish it means both poison and married!

@Peregrina

Definitely 'Dingsbums' where I am - and on Google translate.

'Handy' is always spelled 'Handy' even if it is pronounced 'Hendy' in some places. Where I am, it is pronounced 'Hondy' by the locals in their particular dialect.
MediaMarkt and Saturn, the equivalent of Currys/PC World, even have a section that sells 'Seniorhandys' - the phones with big buttons and/or only limited, simple functionality.

That is hilarious! Mitgift is dowry in German.

Brits just can't resist a bit of German bashing, can they. Where the English language appears more [latinate] concise (to the point or 'less literal' [Germanic]) it's mostly because it has loaned words from Greek, Latin (Roman invasion) or French (Norman invasion). English is often equally literal where it relies on words of Germanic origin, e.g.:
beforehand / prior
mindset / creed
midriff / abdomen
livelihood / career
landscape / terrain
living room / lounge
freedom / liberty
pull out / extract
'Dudel' in 'Dudelsack' (bagpipe) does not mean 'to yodel', but a type of droning, monotonous music 😉.

did not see any of it as german bashing. More appreciation of the intricacies and joy of language.

Raccoon in French is raton laveur so it seems by not including some reference to washing, English is definitely the odd one out.

As far as I can see it doesn’t have an amusing literal translation but I was recently amused by the German word for pregnancy - schwangerschaft just sounds rude!

I was in Jena where I heard it as Dinkbums.

Seniorhandys!

But this is no worse than the local pub which offers a seniors menu some lunchtimes, and will call out "Who ordered the senior fish?"

😂

Brits just can't resist a bit of German bashing, can they.

And some people just can't resist bringing down the mood, and taking unnecessary offence when none was made or intended.

Slightly off topic.. However, for those of you that have the alexa.. please say
"Alexa, what's one hundred, one hundred, one hundred, one hundred in Welsh?"
(Don't do this around the kiddos)

Over 50 years ago my German grandma would come to visit us here in England. Because my dad had very limited German they often played cards in the evening as little conversation was required. My grandma would frequently call people an Arschloch if she was losing, not realising that I understood her and was sniggering.

But this is no worse than the local pub which offers a seniors menu some lunchtimes, and will call out "Who ordered the senior fish?"

Where I'm from it's Dingsbums, short dings. My cousin has a proclivity for using "Could you please give me dings?" Blank stare "Yes, dings on dings over there", eventually we work out what she wants or she gets up and gets it herself.

Another, very universal word in German is "Hä", can be used in various circumstances, often used for "pardon" or to express surprise or disbelief.

'Dudel' in 'Dudelsack' (bagpipe) does not mean 'to yodel', but a type of droning, monotonous music

Which makes sense when you realise that the origin of the description droning is from the drone or male bee. And this led to musical instruments sounding a drone note. And parts of the instruments being described as drones or drone strings. And then on to describe people as droning - which then led to being boring.

A lot of music seems steeped in bee terminology - hum, buzz - even the pitch that Western Orchestras tune to - Middle A - was, before the adoption of Equal Temperament, exactly the same pitch range as a bumble Bee Buzz Pollinating.

I love German for the descriptions. Whilst it's common for it to be seen as harsh (thanks to war movies where it's the harsh words being shouted, largely), with the softer accents, as in English, it's warm and melodic and rhythmic.

Snowtag A lot of it comes across as pisstaking or arrogance, and tbh it's probably not for English native speakers to decide whether someone from another country whose language isn't English should or shouldn't be offended by these comments.