hopfgeist, 24 days ago

@jensclasen To translate "Bock" as "goat" seems a rather narrow special case. It is more appropriately translated as buck (which is specifically a male goat, or the male in any of several other species). Goat in general is "Ziege".

I mostly enjoy these language special uses, but would enjoy them more if they were more accurate.

airwhale, 24 days ago

@hopfgeist @jensclasen

Exactly what I was thinking. ...and young bucks usually want to.

Also, quite a few of these idioms translate perfectly to corresponding Scandinavian ones.

gsuberland, 24 days ago

@jensclasen idioms! fun.

CatherineFlick, 24 days ago

@jensclasen I wonder if the last one is because one of the first phrases English speakers often learn in German is "Wie komme ich am Bahnhof?"?

fiee, 24 days ago

@CatherineFlick
I don’t think so, it’s not related to foreigners. Origin unclear, some speculations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahnhof_verstehen

BTW it’s “zum Bahnhof”.

@jensclasen

CatherineFlick, 24 days ago

@fiee @jensclasen also just realised I got this wrong because I meant to type "am besten zum" instead of just "am" XD Can't forget the besten!

fiee, 24 days ago

@CatherineFlick
Lass dich nicht zum Besten halten!
And don’t let the train station best you!
😉

@jensclasen

CatherineFlick, 24 days ago

@fiee @jensclasen goes to show how long it's been for me ^_^;;;;;;

fiee, 24 days ago

@CatherineFlick
Prepositions are generally not easy, I guess. And I assume I make many mistakes in English…

am = an dem = at the
zum = zu dem = to the

Many Germans also use wrong prepositions, depending on dialects. Common joke:

„Wo geht’s denn hier bei Aldi?“
„ZU Aldi!“
„Was, schon so spät?“

CatherineFlick, 24 days ago

@fiee haha! fair enough :D thanks!

ppscrv, 24 days ago

@CatherineFlick @fiee My favourite:„Gib mir ein Bier aber mit ohne Alkohol.“

fiee, 24 days ago

@ppscrv @CatherineFlick
“mit ohne” is quite common, but always used jokingly (so far…)

WRT alcohol: people often use “antialkoholisch” instead of “alkoholfrei”, but to drink something that removes alcohol is still wishful thinking 😉