Category Archives: German language
In my Lucky Luke comic book, the cowboy warns that he and his friend are entering the territory of a tribe that has mastered die Tarnung. What have they mastered? You can tell from the photo above. Die Tarnung means …
Teilen means to part, to divide into parts, or to share out in parts, so der Teil (also das Teil) is a part or a fraction. But which part is der Vorteil? That’s the part that sets itself vor — …
The other day, as I was idly looking through house rental listings, I came across this statement: Ein Tresor ist vorhanden. What is vorhanden — available? Treasure?! I’ve always loved the word Tresor because it sounds so exciting and important, …
German dictionaries list tons of words for “radio station.” But thanks to a conversation with Rainer and Heidi last night, I now know that der Radiosender is the common word to use around here when you’re talking about your favorite …
Die Beiden Schwestern
While flipping through the Wilhelm Busch storybook Heidi loaned me, I came across this illustration, and I think we all know what’s going on here. (See my earlier post about this literary star whose stories paved the way for the …
The other day, Joe picked up a container of milk and wanted to know what haltbar meant. Because of how it’s used on the milk container — mindestens haltbar bis — he thought it might mean “fresh.” But it doesn’t. …
A couple of weeks ago, we learned what German lumberjacks say, but what about German stores or restaurants that need to warn patrons about hazards like low ceilings? The polite word of warning in these situations is “Vorsicht!” From vor …
Last night, as I was wandering through my local German grocery store, looking for interesting products to try, I came across Thunfisch Brotaufstrich. What is that? Let’s break it down. Der Thunfisch is pretty self-explanatory: it’s tuna. Das Brot is …
Last night, Joe and I were watching a show on Bavarian lumberjacks. “This is great!” I said. “Now I’ll learn how Germans say ‘Timber!’” And how do Germans say “Timber”? They yell, “Obacht!” Die Obacht means care or attention, so …
This weekend, my daughter chuckled over my using entspannen in an English sentence. But I love the word! The verb spannen means to tighten, stress, stretch, or otherwise put tension on something. The prefix ent- suggests something at a distance. …