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Sunday, January 25, 2009

German words I love

Okay, literal translation is a minefield for miscommunication yada yada yada. I know. But I LURV how literal the language is:
gums--Zahnfleisch. Tooth meat.
mulled wine--Glühwein. Glow wine.
light bulb--Glühbirne. Glow-pear (think of the shape)

and then there's the -zeug ending. Zeug roughly translates as "thing/stuff":
Feuerzeug--fire thing (lighter)
Flugzeug--flying thing (airplane)
Werkzeug--work thing (tool)
Fahrzeug--driving thing (vehicle)

I snort every time I learn a new one:)