2018-09-24

Describe the German language.

Describe the German language... Let's test the non-native speakers: What do you think this beautiful example sentence is trying to express?😎

Via Neesee M Clément

Originally shared by ****

😉

22 comments:

LeRoy Miller said...

Driving in a round is the opposite of driving around.

Olaf Fichtner said...

LeRoy Miller not quite...

LeRoy Miller said...

Olaf Fichtner Going in circles is the opposite of driving around.

Olaf Fichtner said...

LeRoy Miller don't give up...😎

LeRoy Miller said...

Olaf Fichtner :-) I've got to keep thinking, those were my best guesses.

Olaf Fichtner said...

LeRoy Miller see, ever noticed how difficult it is to copy German products or production processes.? There's a reason all documentation is in German only...😁

LeRoy Miller said...

Olaf Fichtner :-) Yes, I only know enough German to know that I don't know German :-)

LeRoy Miller said...

Olaf Fichtner "Driving around" is a noun and opposite "driving around" a verb.... I cheated and looked up what capitals are in German. So I would now guess it is something about avoiding or moving out of the way of something.

Olaf Fichtner said...

LeRoy Miller I wait a little longer before I publish the solution...

LeRoy Miller said...

Olaf Fichtner Please do let me know, I will be up all night worrying about it. LOL

Dan Weese said...

All the German prepositional verbs which begin with um- are trouble. Umbringen. Umfahren. Umsitzen. Then one finds oneself in the preterite wilderness of ich saß um . Isn't that a treat?

But umfahren is a merry little bitch. But it's no better in English, to run over s/t or to detour around s/t. I like German. A fine language for poets. Also robots.

Dan Weese said...

Olaf Fichtner Going from any language to English is a nightmare. English is a fucking train wreck of a language. There are only two rules:

The Americans can't speak English
The British can't write English.

LeRoy Miller said...

Dan Weese it is true, One more "rule" most native English speakers think everyone should speak English - I'm guilty of that one myself a few times.

Dan Weese said...

LeRoy Miller I started speaking English on a full-time basis when I was 13 years old. The Army sent me to Germany, the second day in country, I got myself a portable copy of Langenscheidts, Strutz 501 Verbs in German, a notebook, a pen - and a copy of the Frankfurter AZ - and set to work, translating the headlines.

But Kitzingen had endured American soldiers since the end of WW2 - and German troops for many decades more. This was not a place to learn German. My feeble attempts at German were greeted with derisive snorts - and responses in perfect demotic American English, every bit as good as my English.

So I betook myself down the road to Biebelried. I looked for a Gasthaus with German music in the jukebox, figuring in such a place, German would only be spoken. And there I'd sit, every night I could, patiently translating the newspaper. I acquired an unwelcome nickname Nur-auf-Deutsch , though I was later invited to Stammtisch in that Gasthaus. I was intent upon speaking and reading German - and it paid off handsomely.

LeRoy Miller said...

Dan Weese German is something I always wanted to learn, It is probably because my family came from Germany, via England - at least that is what we can find. My niece has learned German and even went to Germany right out of high school. When she got back she did speak better German.
She was emerged in it and spoke very little English while she was there, so it was get good at it, or don't eat. (At least that is what she said.)
I never had the chance to go, and the older I get that chance may never come. But it is something I've wanted to do.
I like this "game" of what does it mean, and maybe I'll just learn something.

Dan Weese said...

LeRoy Miller Do you really wish to learn German? German is its verbs. Once you've got a grip on the verbs, the rest of the language comes together like so many Lego bricks.

Since I learned German, all those years ago, German spelling has endured significant reforms. Get the 4th Edition Strutz 501 Verbs in German. Just study one verb at a time. That's enough of a meal for anyone. Gets you used to looking at the verb, all neatly dissected and laid out, no guessing, no screwing around: German is its verbs.

ISBN-13: 978-1438075860
ISBN-10: 9781438075860

JAnnabelle said...

Good Lord, auto-antonyms are devious beauties in English let alone in German 😀

Olaf Fichtner said...

OK, the solution: one "umfahren" is running over, the other is driving around. Which one is which? You can't tell when it's written, only the pronunciation is different.

Gerfried Bock said...

Olaf Fichtner
Es ist interessant. Ich musste schmunzeln. Du, nach der letzten Re. ref. habe ich sogar manchmal Probleme mit der Schreibweise.
Ich frage dann immer die "Jugend". ☺☺☺☺
Viele Grüße. 🙋

Olaf Fichtner said...

Gerfried Bock ich muss sowas jetzt sogar unterrichten...

LeRoy Miller said...

Olaf Fichtner I get it, maybe. :-) Almost like here in the states we can say "Hear is different from here!" only they both sound the same, written differently and have completely different meanings. Nice word puzzle, I might try my hand at more.

LeRoy Miller said...

Dan Weese got a copy coming to me, and I'll take your advice at one a day and see what I can make of it.