29 Fakten, mit denen Nicht-Deutsche sofort alles über Deutschland lernen, was wirklich wichtig ist
Der Subreddit „GermanFacts” sammelt typisch deutsche Fakten und Übersetzungen.
Fact number one: Face-Expression.
Other German facts:
2. Diarrhea translates to "Durchfall" – literally "Falling through".
3. Since Germans are allowed to drink on the streets, the beer you drink on the way to a party is called a "Wegbier" ("way beer").
4. The apple core has no "real" Standard German word. It is so regionally different that there are dozens of different words for it.
5. In Germany there's a city called "Essen", which means in german "food" or "to eat".
6. The word for "you're welcome" and "please" are the same in German: "Bitte".
7. A pejorative german word for "moustache" is "Pornobalken", literally "porn girder".
8. The german word "Jein" is a mix of the words "Ja" and "Nein", meaning "Yes and No".
9. In 1999, the german state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern passed a law called "Rinderkennzeichnungs- und Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungs-aufgabenübertragungsgesetz".
10. The surname of German international Bastian Schweinsteiger means "pig climber".
11. Gums, like in your mouth, translates to "Zahnfleisch", literally "Tooth Meat".
12. "Pommes Schranke" means "fries with ketchup and mayonnaise".
13. While "Max Mustermann" is the average Joe or John Bloggs there is also "Lieschen Müller".
14. In German, the word for a catchy song you can't get out of your head is the word for earwig, Ohrwurm. Literally, this means ear-worm.
15. The german term for "mullet" is "Vokuhila", which is short for "vorne kurz, hinten lang" - literally: "Short in the front, long in the back".
16. The German word „Gift” means poison... HOLY SHIT!
17. In German you have to distinguish between "ein paar" (some, a few) and "ein Paar" (a pair, exactly two).
18. A shandy, a mix of beer and lemonade, is colloquially called "das Radler" in German, literally "cyclist".
19. Black Pudding is known as 'tote Oma' (f.) in Germany - literally 'dead grandma'.
20. Germans sing „Happy Birthday” almost every time in English – just with a German accent.
21. In German, the word "doch" is used as "yes" in response to a negative question or statement.
22. When something is ordinary, nothing special, plain vanilla, it's pejoratively called "08/15" in German, pronounced "Null Acht Fünfzehn".
23. When football fans in Germany think that the referee is biased against their team, they chant "Schieber!" (der), literally "pusher".
24. When nothing is happening or something is dead boring, it's colloquially called "tote Hose" (without article) in German, literally "dead trousers".
25. A pejorative word for a low quality, insignificant newspaper is "das Käseblatt" in German, literally "cheese newspaper".
26. If you're hungover in Germany, you have a "Kater", literally a "male cat". It's also called "Katzenjammer", "cat wailing".
27. In German, the day before yesterday is called "vorgestern" and the day after tomorrow "übermorgen".
28. An old hit song that has remained popular is called "der Evergreen" in German.
29. An often used word for "cell phone" in German is the English word "Handy".