Thursday, August 22, 2013

German for puzzle nerds


Hello fellow yodelers and Alex Trebek types. Welcome to The Frau’s German Puzzle Day for Nerds. It’s a language lesson and game all in one. See! German is fun again. Take these words below apart to figure out their meaning and you'll have fun. Because not having fun is not optional! Once you enjoy these words, maybe a language that uses verbs as afterthoughts will no longer render you mute.

Learning German: Puzzles make perfect
Dudelsack

Any guesses for this one? Let The Frau help. Think doodle. Think sack. Think doodle in a sack. Now take your doodling sack to Scotland and play it in a skirt because Dudelsack means bagpipe.

Osterglocke

Oster is for Easter. Glocke is for bell. Easter bell? Almost. An Osterglocke is something that resembles a bell and blooms around Easter: a daffodil.

Handschuhe

Another puzzler for you Alex Trebekers. Take a Schuhe and put it on your Hand. What are you wearing now (besides your Dudelsack)? Gloves!

Rathaus

There’s a rat in my house! There's a rat in my house! It’s obviously a politician. Because a Rathaus is the place where the government works. It’s the town hall.

Notfahrt

Not. Fahrt. Wow, it really must be an emergency if you canNot Fahrt.

Stinksauer

Give me a Stink. Give me a Sauer. What do we have? Someone very pissed off (or hopping mad, for you Brits). Now say it in a sentence everyone: Ich bin Stinksauer that The Frau had the nerve to make a Fahrt joke on her blog. How vulgar! How cliché! That’s why we have Stinksauer, yodelers! When no English word can describe your anger, you know what language to turn to.

Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän

The Frau can't explain it, but maybe you can! For those who want Extra Spass, please put your explanation of this word in the comments below. Winners will receive a big fat Danke Vielmal. Creativity is encouraged and possibly rewarded.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Dudel" is an older word for anything that sounds "pipey" (eg. flute, horn), and is mostly used for carneval horns. In Swissgerman, sometimes we use "Gedudle" as a meaning of music or a noise that sounds awkward or unpleasant ("Hör met däm blöde Gedudle uf!").

Anonymous said...

According to the "Neue deutsche Rechtschreibung" "Schifffahrt" is written with three Fs; "das Schiff" (boat) and "die Fahrt" (tour/run, but changes its meaning as an appendix to Schiff).

Hattie said...

If you think German is funny, try Swedish!

Unknown said...

My Grandmother used to say Nudelschpater or close enough. Meant scatter brain!

Martin said...

A correction: "Das Rathaus" (Town Hall) is not where the government works, but where the parliament sessions takes place; in fact, for both parliaments, "der Geimeinderat" (City of Zurich), and "der Kantonsrat" (Canton of Zurich). "Das Rathaus" is owned by the canton of Zurich.

"Der Stadtrat" (Zurich City Council), the executive government of the City of Zurich, however holds its meetings in the "Stadthaus" (City Hall). "Der Regierungsrat" (Government Council of the Canton of Zurich) however resides at Neumühlequai, opposite the main railway station.

Martin said...

... and by the way, they do not delibrate ("beRATen") in a hangar/hall, but in a house ;-)

Cheri said...

This is fantastic!

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