Wurstküche is the final word in the Understanding German series. Actually my wife pointed this one out to me and in my mind I am positive I am pronouncing it wrong.
If you missed any of the other words in the series they were: Shmuck, Rathaus, and of course Ausfahrt.
I hope you learned something. Now we need a German cartoonist to do a similar series on American words that just don’t translate well.
Today’s lesson in understanding German is on the word “Schmuck”. Signage everywhere in Germany/Austria have some version of this word such as here:
No this isn’t a passageway for jerks. Schmuck in German means “jewelry” or “adornment” so some variation of it is used on signage by Jewelers. This is not to be confused with the same word derived from Yiddish that means a “foolish or contemptible person” or literally the word for a male appendage.
Missed the first two words. Check out the definitions for Rathaus and Ausfahrt
We continue our “Understanding German Cartoon Series” with the German word “Rathaus” (see Ausfahrt in case you missed that one). In every small town this word is prevalent on signs and a central building. It simply means “Town Hall” or “City Hall”. But for those of us in the States who deal with a bunch of political rats in power, it can take on a whole new meaning.
Stay tuned…more to come later this week.
Having never been exposed to much German except for a few bars of Wayne Newton’s Danke Schoen (thanks Ferris Bueller – you are a righteous dude), I was pleasantly surprised at all the words I found funny traveling the last few weeks in Europe. So today I give you the first German word that might need translation for those of us not so up on our Germanic languages.
Lesson time once again. If you check out the listing for Pumpernickel in the dictionary the first definition is:
a dark coarse sourdough bread made of unbolted rye flour
However when you look at the etymology of the word and it’s origins, it is actually based on two german words. “Pumpern” means to break wind and “nickel” means goblin or devil. So together they mean “Devil’s Fart.” Think about that next time you buy a loaf.
If interested check out this Snopes article which discusses another widely accepted but not as accurate origin of the word involving Napolean and his horse.