Versitality of the German language 1

[kwbMitel]

I know I'm probably annoying German speaking members but I'm honestly amazed at some of the words and expressions that are used.

Recent find is Eierlegende Wollmilchsau.

I have no idea how much common use this term enjoys but I love its directness.

I'm led to believe it means to describe something that can do everything well. When translated to English it says: "egg-laying wool-milk-sow"

Very cool

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What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[kwbMitel]

@Olaf - re:By the way, there is a famous test word for speaking bavarian dialect - Oachkatzlschwoaf - which in standard german would be Eichkatzenschweif, if you "translate" it word by word. It's squirrels tail, but that's less important, it has some typical bavarian phonemes in it.

Interestingly, I came a across a video recently that depicted some Germans having issues with pronounciation of the English version of Squirrel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejuK8_12Fmg&feature=youtu.be

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What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[Olaf Doschke]

I have no speakers here, but I'll watch it later. Thanks for that.

It is a hard word, but it's easier, if you first say "square", and then move towards "girl" from there.
The hardest is to say "months", because of th followed by s. Most germans will end up with pronouncing it "munz", th alone is difficult enough, but you can practice it.

And by the way @mscallisto, I like Ochsenschwanzsuppe myself, never made it myself, though. It's very spicy in the sense of tangy, not hot.

Bye, Olaf.

 

[yelworcm]

For trivia geeks out there, a word to test a person's accent (and by extension their nationality, or culture of origin) is called a Shibboleth. The Wikipedia article makes for an interesting read.

 

[yelworcm]

Dang it all. It is "link" here, and "url" at dbforums. Can you not edit posts here?

 

[kwbMitel]

[ignore]Shibboleth[/ignore]

will appear as

Shibboleth

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What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[kwbMitel]

And no, you cannot edit, I use the preview option a lot to ensure it looks right before submission

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What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[SantaMufasa]

Yelworcm,

I adjusted the link for you.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
“People may forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

 

[kwbMitel]

Ah, Santa to the rescue. I was not aware of your power. Noted.

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What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[mscallisto]

Shibboleth seems to be a wide range of pronunciations:

http://www.forvo.com/word/shibboleth/#en

Sam

 

[yelworcm]

Thanks, Mufasa.