Among my favorite candies as a child were Haribo Gummibärchen (pronounce approximately: goommy-bear-hen), meaning small gummi bears, today’s Germanism in the English language. My mother bought them for us kids, every once in a while, probably because they could be dealt out in small amounts. They came in two sizes, but I’m not sure whether […]
Across the Fence
Across the Fence: Sprachraum
Of late, I have encountered quite a few fun discussions in Facebook groups that dealt with the meaning of some English terms. Some simply said that specific terms didn’t even exist for a specific item or meaning. E.g. one American-English speaker said that pasty was not a term for baked goods, and that those were […]
Across the Fence: Seltzer
I ran into the English Germanism Seltzer during my very first visit in the U.S. as a fifteen-year-old. My uncle in Maine loved to drink Seltzer with just a hint of natural fruit flavor. I tasted it and cringed. When I returned to Germany and told my mother about it, she stated, “You must have […]
Across the Fence: Der Kommissar
The English Germanism I am going to scrutinize today takes us into the musical era of the 1980s in Austria. Back then, the Neue Deutsche Welle (prounounce ‘noy-ah ‘doytsh-ah ‘vellah, meaning New German Wave) was celebrating one success after another – the sound was based of punk and rock elements, the language was German, and […]
Across the Fence: Behind the Scenes of Real-Life Police Work
“Apply today for the Lakewood Police Citizens Academy” – this article ran this last May 2 in The Suburban Times, and it electrified me. I had known about the program for a while, but hadn’t been ready to apply in the past. I had always wanted to know how law enforcement works – not just […]
Across the Fence: Dasein
Have you ever used the English Germanism Dasein (pronounce approximately: ‘dah-zine, meaning existence)? I found this one on my incredible list and wonder now, how often I have ever used it in German … It sounds so very philosophical – and actually, it is. Before I venture into anything that relates to philosophers, I want […]
Across the Fence: Quellenforschung
I never even knew the Germanism Quellenforschung (pronounce: ‘kvellen-for-shoong, i.e. source research), meaning basic research, exists in the English language. To be honest, basic research sounds almost like a wrong translation because Quellenforschung is anything BUT basic. It is fundamental and profound. It is a term from literary studies and is all about “the study […]
Across the Fence: Mitteleuropa
Today’s Germanism in the English language is one widely open for interpretation, although it might not seem so at first sight. The term Mitteleuropa (pronounce: ‘mittle-oy-‘ro-pah, meaning Central Europe) can be used politically, physiographically, or cultural-historically. And as, over the millennia, there has been a lot of migration and wars, its references have kept shifting […]
Across the Fence: Hamburger
The Germanism in the English language I chose for today is Hamburger. You may not be aware of it, but the pronunciation in German is slightly different: ‘hum-boor-gah. (Funny enough, Germans order cheeseburgers and Whoppers or whatever else names the concoctions have in the native English way of pronunciation.) I don’t even want to go […]