German is a very silly language.

[Cuthalion]

I was raised in America but with parents who speak German to each other. And, of course, with the aid of a bit of actual learning over the years, I've picked up enough German to understand a decent bit. Thus I may find the following more amusing than you do.

But first! A bit of background.

Rhabarber is German for rhubarb, a kind of plant whose stems you can cook and eat.

In German, you can stack words. So for example in scrabble you could say something like "the spoon used to eat meals at <a certain type of meeting>" and it would be a valid word.

Aaand so here you go.


http://youtu.be/gG62zay3kck

[Rain Dragon]

Ahaha, thank you for sharing Cuthalion! ^^

Wait, so how did it end up in the end? Rubarb Barbara's bar's barbarians' beard barber's beer bar? How should one translate this particular sentence-word nonsense into English that makes sense? I know not!

EDIT - Lost track of plurals!

EDIT - I missed Bärbel! Ehhh, I think that's the bartender's name at rubarb Babera's bar's barbarians' beard barber's beer bar. Ahhhh! I give up!

Ahaha, if you go to YouTube and turn on closed captions it's even funnier. :smallbiggrin:

[No brains]

Well, 'barbarian' is supposed to come from the Greek word for 'babbler' and now we know why.

[Eldariel]

Thanks for sharing :) That's fairly clever, not to mention totally awesome. You could do the same in Finnish too, but the words wouldn't sound as awesome tho. It's totally plausible to say Rhababarinbaarinbarbaariparranparturinoluenolutbaa rinbaarimikko, though.

[Ravens_cry]

I think you can do the same thing in, of all languages, Quechua, though I only know that by hearsay; I do not speak that language.

[Rawhide]

German is a wonderful language, you can yell "ich liebe dich" (I love you), and it STILL sounds like an execution order.

[ben-zayb]

Yeah, learning basic Deutsch is really fun and silly in its own way. Nouns having "genders" yet some like the ones for girls (Mädchen) is technically (because -chen, for little, makes it so?) Neuter instead of Feminine, among other peculiarities.

If I got this one correct, one long word I could think of is "Wirtschaftswissenschaftlerinnen", which is basically "female economists" (economy + science + job based on that + female + plural). And of course, there's that internet meme "Kugelschreiber", where almost every other language gets something similarly simple as "Pen".

[Ravens_cry]

German is a wonderful language, you can yell "ich liebe dich" (I love you), and it STILL sounds like an execution order.
It's all in how you say it, though this does seem to be a common sentiment. As Bill Bryson put it, the phrase for asking for something with whipped cream sounds like something a smoker would cough up in the morning.

[Domino Quartz]

German is a wonderful language, you can yell "ich liebe dich" (I love you), and it STILL sounds like an execution order.

You could say "Ich liebe dich" and have it sound like that, but only if you were doing it on purpose. One of the main things I find strange about German is the fact that you're allowed to make ridiculously long compound words out of strings of smaller ones.

[Asta Kask]

The Awful German Language (http://www.cs.utah.edu/~gback/awfgrmlg.html)

By Mark Twain.

[Eldariel]

You could say "Ich liebe dich" and have it sound like that, but only if you were doing it on purpose.

Yeah, I find German can sound oh-so-beautiful when spoken in a certain way. Quite apparent in particularly classical performances, such as many a German opera. It certainly does contain a lot of strong sounds though.

[Kato]

I don't think compound words are allowed in German Scrabble :smalltongue: On the other hand, compound words are hardly the weirdest thing about German... if I had to go on a whim I think I'd have to agree with ben: our pretty random assignment of genders to every noun there is. Some especially outrageous examples include the female "Herrensocke" (men's socks) or the male "Damenstrumpf" (women's stocking), or our cutlery consisting of female forks, male spoons and neuter knives... I'd never be able to get this in my head if I wasn't raised with it.


German is a wonderful language, you can yell "ich liebe dich" (I love you), and it STILL sounds like an execution order.
As others have mentioned, it's all in the way you say things. Yeah, we may have a tendency to use sounds which sound harsher than, say, french, but if I told a woman I love her I could also make it sound quite pleasant. (Well, in theory, anyway)


The Awful German Language (http://www.cs.utah.edu/~gback/awfgrmlg.html)

By Mark Twain.
Huh, I guess I'll have to read that at some point.

[Athistaurr]

And of course, there's that internet meme "Kugelschreiber", where almost every other language gets something similarly simple as "Pen".
To be fair, the translation of pen is as short as "Stift".
A "Kugelschreiber" is the description of a ball-point pen.

Concerning Scrabble, I thought to achieve a compound word was the point of the game :-)

[Eldariel]

I don't think compound words are allowed in German Scrabble :smalltongue: On the other hand, compound words are hardly the weirdest thing about German... if I had to go on a whim I think I'd have to agree with ben: our pretty random assignment of genders to every noun there is. Some especially outrageous examples include the female "Herrensocke" (men's socks) or the male "Damenstrumpf" (women's stocking), or our cutlery consisting of female forks, male spoons and neuter knives...

While it makes sense etymologically, I think the most ridiculous example is "das Mädchen" - "a girl" is a neutre, what?

[Eldan]

If I got this one correct, one long word I could think of is "Wirtschaftswissenschaftlerinnen", which is basically "female economists" (economy + science + job based on that + female + plural). And of course, there's that internet meme "Kugelschreiber", where almost every other language gets something similarly simple as "Pen".

To be fair, "Kugelschreiber" is a compound word of "Kugel" (ball, sphere) and "schreiber" (writing implement). So, the correct translation is really "ball point pen", which only has one less syllable. At least in Switzerland, we tend to call them "Kugi", or, more rarely "Stift". (Stift is a versatile word. Pen, bolt, crayon, nail, peg... basically anything long, thin and round.)


While it makes sense etymologically, I think the most ridiculous example is "das Mädchen" - "a girl" is a neutre, what?

"-chen" is a diminutive ending, i.e. an ending that makes something small. And things with a diminutive ending are always neuter. I.e. "Der Mann"->"Das Männchen", the little man. "Maid", "Mad" or "Magd" is archaic now in that sense, but it's basically cognate to the English "maid" or "maiden". So a "Mädchen" is a small maid.

The fun thing, of course, is that, as QI once explained, the word "girl" in English used to be gender neutral for any child. So you had "knave girl" and "maid girl", which brings you back to German "Knabe" and "Maid".

[ben-zayb]

To be fair, the translation of pen is as short as "Stift".
A "Kugelschreiber" is the description of a ball-point pen.I was under the impression that such term refers to a pencil (shorthand for Bleistift?) only?

[Eldan]

I was under the impression that such term refers to a pencil (shorthand for Bleistift?) only?

Nah. German doesn't really differentiate between the two. Filzstift (felt pen), Bleistift (pencil, literally "lead pen") and Kugelschreiber can all be abbreviated into "Stift". Anything you write with, really.

[shadow_archmagi]

Ahaha, thank you for sharing Cuthalion! ^^

Wait, so how did it end up in the end? Rubarb Barbara's bar's barbarians' beard barber's beer bar? How should one translate this particular sentence-word nonsense into English that makes sense? I know not!

EDIT - Lost track of plurals!

EDIT - I missed Bärbel! Ehhh, I think that's the bartender's name at rubarb Babera's bar's barbarians' beard barber's beer bar. Ahhhh! I give up!

Ahaha, if you go to YouTube and turn on closed captions it's even funnier. :smallbiggrin:

You uh, did it right the first time. It's the bar with the beer that the barbers drink when they're not attending to the beards of the barbarians who frequent the other bar where Barbara's Rubarb is often served.

German often gets very complex, but you can always just take it one chunk at a time and plow through.

[Asta Kask]

You can make similar compound words in Swedish as well: Flaggstångsknoppspolerarlärling (apprentice to the man who polishes the knobs on flagpoles). Maybe not a word we use every day, but completely legal. In Swedish, compound words are not allowed in Scrabble unless they are listed in one, specific wordbook issued by the Swedish Academy.

[ben-zayb]

Nah. German doesn't really differentiate between the two. Filzstift (felt pen), Bleistift (pencil, literally "lead pen") and Kugelschreiber can all be abbreviated into "Stift". Anything you write with, really.Oh, alright. Learnt something new for today :smallamused:
Concerning Scrabble, I thought to achieve a compound word was the point of the game :-)I'm pretty sure that the main strategy in Scrabble is to memorize all 2- and 3- letter word instead, so that you can stuff up even simple, boring, words, but in parallel with your opponent's (and getting all the good squares in the process).

[Eldan]

I'm pretty sure that the main strategy in Scrabble is to memorize all 2- and 3- letter word instead, so that you can stuff up even simple, boring, words, but in parallel with your opponent's (and getting all the good squares in the process).

German scrabble has the stupid rule that you aren't allowed to use foreign words or loan words. Which can lead to really long and tedious discussions, since, if you go back far enough, half the words are foreign. Even every-day words such as "Fenster" (window). The rule mostly gets interpreted as "if no on is sure whether it's foreign or not, it counts".

[Rain Dragon]

You uh, did it right the first time.

In the second edit, I was talking about Rhababerbarbarabarbarbarenbartbarbierbierbarbärbel which you can find at 1:49.

[Cuthalion]

Excerpt from Twain's essay:

It is a bleak Day. Hear the Rain, how he pours, and the Hail, how he rattles; and see the Snow, how he drifts along, and of the Mud, how deep he is! Ah the poor Fishwife, it is stuck fast in the Mire; it has dropped its Basket of Fishes; and its Hands have been cut by the Scales as it seized some of the falling Creatures; and one Scale has even got into its Eye, and it cannot get her out. It opens its Mouth to cry for Help; but if any Sound comes out of him, alas he is drowned by the raging of the Storm. And now a Tomcat has got one of the Fishes and she will surely escape with him. No, she bites off a Fin, she holds her in her Mouth -- will she swallow her? No, the Fishwife's brave Mother-dog deserts his Puppies and rescues the Fin -- which he eats, himself, as his Reward. O, horror, the Lightning has struck the Fish-basket; he sets him on Fire; see the Flame, how she licks the doomed Utensil with her red and angry Tongue; now she attacks the helpless Fishwife's Foot -- she burns him up, all but the big Toe, and even she is partly consumed; and still she spreads, still she waves her fiery Tongues; she attacks the Fishwife's Leg and destroys it; she attacks its Hand and destroys her also; she attacks the Fishwife's Leg and destroys her also; she attacks its Body and consumes him; she wreathes herself about its Heart and it is consumed; next about its Breast, and in a Moment she is a Cinder; now she reaches its Neck -- he goes; now its Chin -- it goes; now its Nose -- she goes. In another Moment, except Help come, the Fishwife will be no more. Time presses -- is there none to succor and save? Yes! Joy, joy, with flying Feet the she-Englishwoman comes! But alas, the generous she-Female is too late: where now is the fated Fishwife? It has ceased from its Sufferings, it has gone to a better Land; all that is left of it for its loved Ones to lament over, is this poor smoldering Ash-heap. Ah, woeful, woeful Ash-heap! Let us take him up tenderly, reverently, upon the lowly Shovel, and bear him to his long Rest, with the Prayer that when he rises again it will be a Realm where he will have one good square responsible Sex, and have it all to himself, instead of having a mangy lot of assorted Sexes scattered all over him in Spots.

This is what you would get if you translated things from German including the gender of the nouns. And it's hilarious.

[Yora]

You can make similar compound words in Swedish as well: Flaggstångsknoppspolerarlärling (apprentice to the man who polishes the knobs on flagpoles). Maybe not a word we use every day, but completely legal. In Swedish, compound words are not allowed in Scrabble unless they are listed in one, specific wordbook issued by the Swedish Academy.
You can do it in all germanic languages. Including English. It's just that english is the only one in which the elements are separated by spaces. It's also less visible since you don't have to adjust for gender and cases, allowing you to simply take the words apart again.

"Screwdriver handle" really is the same as Schraubenziehergriff.

I am currently learning Japanese which has the funny element of stacking up verb endings. "did not want" would be "-katta, -nai, -tai", which all get assembled to -takunakatta. That's a lot more fun than just stacking nouns and adjectives together.

[Asta Kask]

You can do it in all germanic languages. Including English. It's just that english is the only one in which the elements are separated by spaces. It's also less visible since you don't have to adjust for gender and cases, allowing you to simply take the words apart again.

And since one can easily make an infinite number of words we should be able to bury the Eskimos-100-words-for-snow myth. But it always pops up again. Together with the 10%-of-our-brain myth it's the one that annoys me the most.

[Eldan]

And, indeed, some English words are stuck together, like aforementioned screwdriver. Why not screw driver, you hypocrites, huh? :smalltongue:


And since one can easily make an infinite number of words we should be able to bury the Eskimos-100-words-for-snow myth. But it always pops up again. Together with the 10%-of-our-brain myth it's the one that annoys me the most.

Plus I can easily get to a dozen words for frozen water in English or German. And then there's the Wiki articles on Types of Snow. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Types_of_snow)

[Timeras]

As others have mentioned, it's all in the way you say things. Yeah, we may have a tendency to use sounds which sound harsher than, say, french, but if I told a woman I love her I could also make it sound quite pleasant. (Well, in theory, anyway)


Exactly. This is something that always annoys me. To prove how aggressive the german language sounds, people say something in english or french, speaking in an unnaturally soft tone, then scream the german translation (often an unusual way of saying it, chosen because it sounds harsher) at the top of their lungs.
The fact that they have to do this to prove their point just proves that they don't have a point.

[Rain Dragon]

You can do it in all germanic languages. Including English. It's just that english is the only one in which the elements are separated by spaces. It's also less visible since you don't have to adjust for gender and cases, allowing you to simply take the words apart again.

"Screwdriver handle" really is the same as Schraubenziehergriff.

I am currently learning Japanese which has the funny element of stacking up verb endings. "did not want" would be "-katta, -nai, -tai", which all get assembled to -takunakatta. That's a lot more fun than just stacking nouns and adjectives together.

Mmm.

Try saying 'is, was, isn't, wasn't' verb forms of 'atatakai 「暖かい」' really quickly one after the other.

Atatakai 「is warm」 - atatakakatta 「was warm」 - atatakakunai 「is not warm」 - atatakakunakatta 「was not warm」

Atatakakunakatta sounds really ridiculous. :smallbiggrin:

Then we have a tongue twister from this website. (http://www.uebersetzung.at/twister/ja.htm) 「#36」

Atatakakunakattakara, atatakai fuku wo tsukatta.

'Because it wasn’t warm I used warm clothes.'

Yay ridiculous language things. :smalleek:

[Asta Kask]

Finnish:
"Tuli tuli, tuli tuuli, tuuli tuuli, tuli sammui."
"Came fire, came wind, wind blew, fire got out."

[Eldan]

Exactly. This is something that always annoys me. To prove how aggressive the german language sounds, people say something in english or french, speaking in an unnaturally soft tone, then scream the german translation (often an unusual way of saying it, chosen because it sounds harsher) at the top of their lungs.
The fact that they have to do this to prove their point just proves that they don't have a point.

You can always defeat that by showing them some youtube videos or audio samples of softer German dialects like Bernese (http://www.dialekt.ch/mp3/bernbiet/Balzli_Baerner_Mittelland.htm) or
Swabian. Though I could not find a good Swabian example right now.

[Eldariel]

Finnish:
"Tuli tuli, tuli tuuli, tuuli tuuli, tuli sammui."
"Came fire, came wind, wind blew, fire got out."

Another Finnish example (it's originally a tonguetwister) - a discussion from the hayfield before Midsummer:
"Kokko, kokoo kokoon koko kokko." - "Kokko [name], assemble the whole bonfire."
"Koko kokkoko?" - "The whole of it?"
"Koko kokko." - "Yes, the whole."


I am currently learning Japanese which has the funny element of stacking up verb endings. "did not want" would be "-katta, -nai, -tai", which all get assembled to -takunakatta. That's a lot more fun than just stacking nouns and adjectives together.

All agglutinative languages do that to a degree (there are some famous examples of Finnish around the internet). As something a bit more exotic: in Inuit languages (Eskimo languages) a whole sentence can be a single word (they're "polysynthetic"). Take Yu'pik for example:
"Irniaqenrilngermiki qanruqu'urluki yuullerkaatnek mat'umek, ciutmun ayallratni piurallerkaatnek" would be approximately translated as: "Though they are not his children, he would constantly teach them about proper living, about the right path they should follow as they progressed in lives."

[Dienekes]

My family if very German, so in college for my language credit I tried to learn it. I failed. I know how to swear at you in German pretty well, but truth be told I learned that from my uncle. Anyway, my family thought these videos were hilarious, you might like them.

One (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlATOHGj9EY)
Two (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YQAYEmwBvs)
Three (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDWw_0deJ3c)
Four
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghRKZRcxeI4)

[Yora]

But nobody talks like that.

(Except Saxons maybe...)

[Timeras]

You can always defeat that by showing them some youtube videos or audio samples of softer German dialects like Bernese (http://www.dialekt.ch/mp3/bernbiet/Balzli_Baerner_Mittelland.htm) or
Swabian. Though I could not find a good Swabian example right now.

But then I would have to admit that this is actually the same language (sort of). And that's really not worth it. :smalltongue:

[Dienekes]

But nobody talks like that.

(Except Saxons maybe...)

No one at all. Like I said I've been around German most my life. But a joke is a joke, and even my ever so German Oma thought it was funny. Hyperbole for the sake of humor is pretty well known.

[Killer Angel]

German is a wonderful language, you can yell "ich liebe dich" (I love you), and it STILL sounds like an execution order.


You could say "Ich liebe dich" and have it sound like that, but only if you were doing it on purpose.

yes, but if you want to yell orders, german is the language you need. :smallcool:

[Eldan]

Interestingly, to me, English always seemed the more shouty language. Shorter words, stronger sounds. They don't even have Umlauts, which just sound silly when shouted.

[dehro]

to be fair, not only German gets a bad rep... whenever I talk to my mother on the phone (in dutch) people around me think I'm having an argument... and they're only rarely right.

that said, I'm am so sending this to a couple of friends who moved to Germany...

[Kato]

And since one can easily make an infinite number of words we should be able to bury the Eskimos-100-words-for-snow myth. But it always pops up again. Together with the 10%-of-our-brain myth it's the one that annoys me the most.
Meh, let's not turn this into a "stupid myths" thread :smallwink: There are hundreds (or more)


But nobody talks like that.

(Except Saxons maybe...)

Hey... :smalltongue: I speak German very well and most people are surprised when they learn I'm a Saxon. (Well, apart from a few weird words common to the GDR and my "weird way to tell time". The latter always ticks people off)


With no offense, I've found Spanish to be a pretty shouty and aggressive language, but then my experience with it isn't that large and it may be related to them just being passionate people.
But German is for some reason pretty well suited for giving orders, I feel. I guess it's more coincidence than anything else, though.

[Brother Oni]

Another Finnish example (it's originally a tonguetwister) - a discussion from the hayfield before Midsummer:
"Kokko, kokoo kokoon koko kokko." - "Kokko [name], assemble the whole bonfire."
"Koko kokkoko?" - "The whole of it?"
"Koko kokko." - "Yes, the whole."

Mandarin chinese is fond of these:
四 是 四 ， 十 是 十 ， 十 四 是 十 四 ， 四 十 是 四 十: 4 is 4, 10 is 10, 14 is 14, 40 is 40. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TuVL3mlBR4)
The pinyin for the above is 'sì shì sì, shí shì shí, shí sì shì shí sì, sì shí shì sì shí'.



With no offense, I've found Spanish to be a pretty shouty and aggressive language, but then my experience with it isn't that large and it may be related to them just being passionate people.

Have you seen two Italians having a heated discussion? At times, it looks like they're having a fist fight (or trying to achieve unaided flight) with all the hand waving they do. :smalltongue:

[aberratio ictus]

You can always defeat that by showing them some youtube videos or audio samples of softer German dialects like Bernese (http://www.dialekt.ch/mp3/bernbiet/Balzli_Baerner_Mittelland.htm) or
Swabian. Though I could not find a good Swabian example right now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF2djJcPO2A
Here you go.

[Asta Kask]

In Sweden we have "Gnällbälte" (whining belt) so called because the vowels uttered here sound like strange nasal whines to outsiders. Possibly the result of Sveonic and Geatic dialects colliding.

[Somensjev]

in the german languages defence i'm certain that every language his it's silly words

i mean, english has "eellogofusciohipoppokunurious" the only word so far that has disappointed everyone i know who looked up it's definition :smallbiggrin:

[dehro]

Have you seen two Italians having a heated discussion? At times, it looks like they're having a fist fight (or trying to achieve unaided flight) with all the hand waving they do. :smalltongue:

fun fact, people who are first or second generation immigrants in italy tend to use their mother tongue when arguing, switching to italian for the choice of swearwords.
it's not like other languages don't have them, but there must be something more satisfying about cussing someone out in italian.

[Eldan]

in the german languages defence i'm certain that every language his it's silly words

i mean, english has "eellogofusciohipoppokunurious" the only word so far that has disappointed everyone i know who looked up it's definition :smallbiggrin:

Where can you look up the definition? Google gives me nothing.

[Somensjev]

Where can you look up the definition? Google gives me nothing.

i found it on this (http://phrontistery.info/e.html) website

scroll down the page a bit, it's the only 30 letter word there, and it's close to the top

apparently it's defined in very few places

[Eldan]

http://glossographia.wordpress.com/2013/09/01/eellogofusciouhipoppokunurious/And that lead me to this interesting article.

[Somensjev]

http://glossographia.wordpress.com/2013/09/01/eellogofusciouhipoppokunurious/And that lead me to this interesting article.

i just read this before, i used google to make sure my spelling was correct (it was) and that caught my eye

[Ravens_cry]

to be fair, not only German gets a bad rep... whenever I talk to my mother on the phone (in dutch) people around me think I'm having an argument... and they're only rarely right.

I thought Dutch sounded like English using all the wrong words.:smalltongue:

[Kato]

My family if very German, so in college for my language credit I tried to learn it. I failed. I know how to swear at you in German pretty well, but truth be told I learned that from my uncle. Anyway, my family thought these videos were hilarious, you might like them.

One (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlATOHGj9EY)
Two (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YQAYEmwBvs)
Three (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDWw_0deJ3c)
Four
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghRKZRcxeI4)

While this was pretty entertaining I have to say I like this one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDrKI8o7YIM) much more. :smallbiggrin:

[Asta Kask]

Swedish tonguetwisters:

"Sex laxar i en laxask." (Six salmons in a salmon box)
"Far, får får får? Inte får får får, får får lamm." (Dad, to sheep get sheep? Sheep do not get sheep, they get lambs)
"Packa pappas kappsäck full med papper." (Pack Dad's rucksack full with paper)
"Röd dragon, grön dragon" (Red tarragon, green tarragon)

[shadow_archmagi]

Yeah, English is better for shouting because German has too many words that just sound ridiculous. My particular favorite word combination is "dunkelgrau Flugzeug." I guess I just think of U's as hilarious.

[Eldariel]

There's this old joke about which language is more beautiful, Finnish or Swedish. It seems strangely appropriate in context:

An international panel was assembled to set to rest the age-old question of which language is more beautiful, Finnish or Swedish. Both were asked to say the sentence "Island, island, grassy island; grass island's fair maiden."

In Finnish it goes:
"Saari, saari, heinäsaari; heinäsaaren kaunis impi."

In Swedish:
"Ö, ö, hö-ö; hö-öns sköna mö."

No answer has been reached thus far; the panel is still laughing.

EDIT: And just to be clear, Swedish, particularly the High Swedish from Sweden, is actually a very beautiful language sung spoken with a flowing, contagious prosody. It does, however, contain few one-letter words, which makes for hilarity such as this.

[Togath]

I'm surprised no-one's brought up the English "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" :smallsmile:

[Ravens_cry]

I'm surprised no-one's brought up the English "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" :smallsmile:
We were all buffaloed into not doing it by Buffalo buffalo.

[dehro]

I'm surprised no-one's brought up the English "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" :smallsmile:

Wha...who.. What now?

[Togath]

Wha...who.. What now?

It's a grammatically correct sentence made out of the words Buffalo(place), buffalo(animal), and buffalo(semi-obscure verb)

[ben-zayb]

Wha...who.. What now?If I got it correctly:
Bisons from Buffalo (NY?), which are victims of bullying by other bisons from Buffalo, are themselves bullying other bisons from Buffalo.

There's also this Chinese poem (lifted from Wikipedia):
« Shī Shì shí shī shǐ »

Shíshì shīshì Shī Shì, shì shī, shì shí shí shī.
Shì shíshí shì shì shì shī.
Shí shí, shì shí shī shì shì.
Shì shí, shì Shī Shì shì shì.
Shì shì shì shí shī, shì shǐ shì, shǐ shì shí shī shìshì.
Shì shí shì shí shī shī, shì shíshì.
Shíshì shī, Shì shǐ shì shì shíshì.
Shíshì shì, Shì shǐ shì shí shì shí shī.
Shí shí, shǐ shí shì shí shī shī, shí shí shí shī shī.
Shì shì shì shì.

« Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den »

In a stone den was a poet called Shi, who was a lion addict, and had resolved to eat ten lions.
He often went to the market to look for lions.
At ten o'clock, ten lions had just arrived at the market.
At that time, Shi had just arrived at the market.
He saw those ten lions, and using his trusty arrows, caused the ten lions to die.
He brought the corpses of the ten lions to the stone den.
The stone den was damp. He asked his servants to wipe it.
After the stone den was wiped, he tried to eat those ten lions.
When he ate, he realized that these ten lions were in fact ten stone lion corpses.
Try to explain this matter.

[Mauve Shirt]

I love the German language. I studied it for 10 years, got an advanced degree in it, so I'm a little biased, but it's just SO much fun. It makes almost mathematical sense. The grammar is only confusing if you don't try. The vocabulary is where I fail, to be honest, my word recall is terrible on the spot. But just how the words feel in one's mouth (make your own joke) I love it.
I want to learn other Germanic languages, but it's difficult to do so while making money. At least to the extent that I studied German; obviously Rosetta Stone could give me enough Dutch, but not an appreciation for the art of the language, you know?

As native German speakers look at me like I'm drunk AND high, and everyone else considers having me committed.

[Domino Quartz]

I'm surprised no-one's brought up the English "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" :smallsmile:

Just looking at that sentence makes it seem like "buffalo" is no longer a real word.

[Eldariel]

It's a grammatically correct sentence made out of the words Buffalo(place), buffalo(animal), and buffalo(semi-obscure verb)

It's worth noting that it works with the collective interpretation of the word "buffalo" which also enables the verb to appear in the third plural instead of the third singular and thus not get the -s suffix.

[Krazzman]

Minor nitpick. Screwdriver is Schraubendreher. The other thing would better be translated into Screwpuller or Zange (pair of tongs).

Also the different versions of the german language made room for a certaing joke about Switzerlandish (or Austrian) speakers.
"The only thing where we are different is the shared language."
Also even I have problems understanding bavarian.

Coming from a second language is always hard. I know no one that wasn't born in germany who speaks another language fluent while still having nearly no accent.

In my experience the further east you go the harsher the language sounds from non understanding persons.
For example colleague talked in quick polish on the phone. It really sounded like she was shouting at the other person. While the message was something like "I'm buying milk and eggs, anything else I need to bring? No? Ok, bye dad."

[Appleshy1973]

Rhabarber is German for rhubarb, a kind of plant whose stems you can cook and eat.



Danke.

I love the German language too.

[Jeff the Green]

So, could one agglutinize a word for "a word we need to steal from German"?

[Eldan]

That would probably not turn into one word. "Ein Word, das wir vom Deutschen stehlen müssen" would be the closest translation. Honestly, if something is one long word in German, it's probably a string of nouns in English too, with a few "ofs" and "of thes" in the middle.

[TuggyNE]

Just looking at that sentence makes it seem like "buffalo" is no longer a real word.

You have been buffaloed! :smallbiggrin:

[Eldan]

That would probably not turn into one word. "Ein Word, das wir vom Deutschen stehlen müssen" would be the closest translation. Honestly, if something is one long word in German, it's probably a string of nouns in English too, with a few "ofs" and "of thes" in the middle.

PS: I forgot to mention that you can agglutinize adjectives and verbs to some degree. I.e. "worth stealing" could be translated as "stehlenswert". Which is not really a word I've ever heard, but could be.

Ediit: and what do you know, google tells me this is apparently a legal term.

[Lycunadari]

There's also this nice little sentence, though it's more fun when it's spoken:

Selten ess' ich Essig, ess' ich Essig, ess' ich Essig im Salat. (I rarely eat vinegar, when I eat vinegar, I eat vinegar in the salad.)
Ess' ich ( short for 'I eat' ) and Essig (vinegar) sound nearly identical.

[Kato]

I love the German language. I studied it for 10 years, got an advanced degree in it, so I'm a little biased, but it's just SO much fun. It makes almost mathematical sense. The grammar is only confusing if you don't try.

It is still rather confusing when you try. There are some rules as to when to use dative and accusative (well, obviously, there are strict rules but the logic behind it is hard), there are about as many if not more irregular verbs as in English (is there any language that can just use one set of rules instead of having all these crazy exceptions?!) and the whole gender thing is still without rhyme and reason, to be honest.

[Asta Kask]

It is still rather confusing when you try. There are some rules as to when to use dative and accusative (well, obviously, there are strict rules but the logic behind it is hard), there are about as many if not more irregular verbs as in English (is there any language that can just use one set of rules instead of having all these crazy exceptions?!) and the whole gender thing is still without rhyme and reason, to be honest.

I think Finnish has very few irregularities.

[Cuthalion]

I thought Dutch sounded like English using all the wrong words.:smalltongue:
I always feel like I should understand Dutch. It's English and German but neither and it's kinda annoying. :smalltongue:

[Eldan]

When I see a written Dutch text, I can often sort of guess the meaning. No chance if spoken, though.

[Tiffanie Lirle]

It is still rather confusing when you try. There are some rules as to when to use dative and accusative (well, obviously, there are strict rules but the logic behind it is hard), there are about as many if not more irregular verbs as in English (is there any language that can just use one set of rules instead of having all these crazy exceptions?!) and the whole gender thing is still without rhyme and reason, to be honest.

German reporting in. Wanted to throw in my 2 Pfennig, a bit of a ramble inc.

The best way to learn German is being forced to speak it regularly. Don't get caught up on studying the Grammar or getting most of the forms and times right because you wont, it might count a lot in some private school in the UK or wherever, but we just don't care here in the Vaterland. We get a lot of people who studied German internationally over here in my line of work and you can tell right away because they can't communicate normally at all. They always sound so unnatural because they don't have that special zing only people who understand the German language notice. They speak a very 'cold' German.

Germany is made up of 16 States (Roughly similar to the concept of states in the US) called Bundesländer. The thing is, every. single. one has it's own accent and dialect. I'm from a state called Hessen, we have our own dialect called Hessisch, yet if a German from a different state, say.. 'Bayern', came and spoke to me then I would be able to tell right away that said person is from Bayern because he would be speaking 'Bayrisch' and so on. They are vastly different and a foreigner learning the language would have no chance or understanding either. Thankfully we have Hochdeutsch (High or Standard German) which is the language learned by politicians and foreigners. It's the rare form of accentless German that you don't hear too often around here.

German is often criticized for being a harsh sounding language with very sharp words and I admit that it is very hard to learn. But it's actually a very deep and extremely intricate language that offers so many possibilities and opens so many doors.

[Ravens_cry]

This makes sense considering that Germany is a comparatively young unified country compared to say, France or England.

[Mauve Shirt]

It is still rather confusing when you try. There are some rules as to when to use dative and accusative (well, obviously, there are strict rules but the logic behind it is hard), there are about as many if not more irregular verbs as in English (is there any language that can just use one set of rules instead of having all these crazy exceptions?!) and the whole gender thing is still without rhyme and reason, to be honest.

Hrm. I suppose you're right. I guess I find that to be part of its charm.


German reporting in. Wanted to throw in my 2 Pfennig, a bit of a ramble inc.

The best way to learn German is being forced to speak it regularly. Don't get caught up on studying the Grammar or getting most of the forms and times right because you wont, it might count a lot in some private school in the UK or wherever, but we just don't care here in the Vaterland. We get a lot of people who studied German internationally over here in my line of work and you can tell right away because they can't communicate normally at all. They always sound so unnatural because they don't have that special zing only people who understand the German language notice. They speak a very 'cold' German.

I tell you what, I know some fellow German students who lived and breathed the language and were grammatical experts, but they did not sound at all like they knew the language because they couldn't sufficiently fake an accent. I'm told that my occasional gender slip sounds more realistic than his perfect deutsch 'cause I at least affect a Hessisch accent, albeit my deutsch is more hoch.

Also your pfennig are no longer acceptable. Eurocents or bust.

[Tiffanie Lirle]

Also your pfennig are no longer acceptable. Eurocents or bust.
Depends on the circles you move around in. There are a still a lot of people who don't exactly share that point of view. :smalltongue:

[Asta Kask]

The best way to learn German is being forced to speak it regularly.

The most pleasant way to learn German is to listen Mozart and Wagner. Your vocabulary may be a little unusual, but you'll be in bliss all the time.

[Eldan]

The most pleasant way to learn German is to listen Mozart and Wagner. Your vocabulary may be a little unusual, but you'll be in bliss all the time.

If you actually manage to understand a word of what is said. I'm a native speaker and 90% of the time, I don't.

[Asta Kask]

The librettos are usually on the Internet.

[Iruka]

I thought Dutch sounded like English using all the wrong words.:smalltongue:

Nah, Dutch sounds like really weird German. :smalltongue:


The most pleasant way to learn German is to listen Mozart and Wagner. Your vocabulary may be a little unusual, but you'll be in bliss all the time.

Just be careful to which of Mozart's songs you listen to. :smallbiggrin:

[Brother Oni]

Depends on the circles you move around in. There are a still a lot of people who don't exactly share that point of view. :smalltongue:

The whole of England for example. :smalltongue:


If you actually manage to understand a word of what is said. I'm a native speaker and 90% of the time, I don't.

Well since you're Swiss, you're technically not a native German speaker. :smalltongue:

[Eldan]

Swiss German is not officially it's own language. It's just a group (well, three groups) of dialects that are unintelligible to Germans. :smalltongue:

[Cuthalion]

If you actually manage to understand a word of what is said. I'm a native speaker and 90% of the time, I don't.
Most English operas are like that too. Occasionally you get a decent one, but usually not.

[nedz]

Swiss German is not officially it's own language. It's just a group (well, three groups) of dialects that are unintelligible to Germans. :smalltongue:

Even Swabians ?

I thought that the three Swiss dialects were in the same language sub-group as Swabian and Alsation ?

[Eldan]

Even Swabians ?

I thought that the three Swiss dialects were in the same language sub-group as Swabian and Alsation ?

Sort of but not really. They are all Allemanic dialects. But not even all Swiss people necessarily understand each other all the time.

[dehro]

Sort of but not really. They are all Allemanic dialects. But not even all Swiss people necessarily understand each other all the time.

good.. wouldn't want to be the only one not to have a clue, when I'm at a trade show with the (swiss) company I work for.