Ever get the feeling you're stuck in a linguistic time warp?
The longer you spend as an expat, the more aware you become of how you’re drifting away from your roots. And at no point does that become more apparent than during the Christmas holiday season, when most of us take a long-overdue trip back home to see the dozens of friends and relatives we’ve been meaning to visit all year. I’m not inferring that I’m developing Germanic tendencies here, but rather that I’m finding myself increasingly alienated from conversations with people back home. Ok, so it’s not particularly surprising that I’m no longer as tuned in to the latest British political scandals, nor as aware of what’s going on in the love lives of Princes Wills and Harry (despite the best efforts of the Bildzeitung). Nor do I have a problem with the fact that I can’t offer my thoughts on what happened in last week’s episode of I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here. Yet what I do find slightly disturbing is the way people use strange words and expressions. Spend a few years abroad and your English sticks at the point at which it was when you left home, while your compatriots’ vocabulary develops in line with the latest buzzwords used by some TV presenter or, worse, the contestants on Big Brother. And it’s not only the spoken language. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read how British magazine journalists are “loving it” when referring to the season’s latest trends. This is the McDonald’s slogan for goodness sake! And yet it’s made its way into the English language in the space of what, a year? So, while everyone back home is fluent in this new cool speak, we expats are firmly stuck in a linguistic time warp. But not only do we have to cope with the strange expressions of our own language, we also have to deal with the oddities of German, of which there are many. Take spiessig, for example. It rears its little head in numerous conversations and we’re all well aware of its mainly negative connotations. But which of us can offer a suitable translation into English? We sent our reporter out to get to the bottom of what spiessig actually means—read her findings on page 50. Indeed, there are many more words that appear to be uniquely German and, from next month on, we’ll be featuring them regularly on our “Letters” page (p. 6). If there are any expressions you’d like us to look into, get in touch! Another change for the New Year is the MUNICH FOUND good-service award. Though Germany is not a country known for its charming shop assistants and service staff, they are out there! Let us know of any you come across and we’ll pay them tribute. Speaking of special people, don’t forget that it’s Valentine’s Day this month—check out our pick of restaurants for a romantic liaison à deux (p. 16) or take advantage of one of the special deals featured in our Valentine’s “News & Views” (p. 7–12) For those after a real treat, why not take your loved one away for a cozy weekend in the mountains, staying at one of the magical huts we’ve discovered?—have a look at our travel feature on page 38 for ideas. Never mind loving it—they’ll be loving you! Enjoy!
