German language column describing words which are German-English homophones.hom
A fondly remembered teacher of French used to call them “faux amis.” False friends, those words in a foreign language that look or sound deceptively like words in your own language, but may have a dangerously different meaning. consider the german tourist in England who was trying to order a rare steak. He didn’t know the proper word and came up with, “I would like a bloody beefsteak.” Of course the German word blutig translates as “bloodstained” or “bloody,” but the waiter misunderstood. His straight-faced reply was, “Certainly, sir. And would you like some f…ing chips on the side?” Another tourist, impatiently awaiting his dinner, asked the waiter, “When will I become a beefsteak?” The startled reply was, “Never, I hope!” But the similarity between bekommen (to get) and “become” (werden) is certainly confusing to anyone. Be wary of German words derived from Latin. They may look like English derivatives, but have taken on an entirely different meaning during the ages. One such example is sensibel, which does not, as you’d expect, translate into “sensible,” but “sensitive.” Another such is genial. In German, it means “full of genius,” which differs from its English counterpart, which translates as freundlich or liebenswurdig. it is said that Kunst kommt von Können – “art is born of ability.” That’s an etymologically sound statement, since the word for “art” is really derived from the word for “ability.” Kunstdünger, however, is not manure for art, but rather artificial fertilizer. In this instance, the German derivations of the word are tricky: künstlich means artificial, künstlerisch, however, artistic. But an Artist is a circus performer. Künstler is the generic term for artists. In the same vein, Interpret is not an interpreter, but a performing artist. Someone who translates the spoken word is called Dolmetscher; for the written text, he is an Übersetzer. even good translators occasionally fall into the trap of not rendering English words into German, but simply using homophonic German ones. In a book on American musicals you may find the phrase “tin-pan alley” turned into Zinn-pfannen-Allee. This is nonsense, since tin may mean the metal Zinn, but in this case must be translated with its second meaning Blech. The German word Allee describes a tree-lined street or road; an “alley” is a Gasse. Another pet peeve, the soundbite “vital interest” is religiously rendered as vitale Interessen, even though the German word vital means “full of life.” Some psychologists claim that the doodles you create while on the phone are a clue to your personality. A Dudelsack is not a bag of doodles, but a bagpipe. Dudeln describes quiet background music. What you do on the paper by the telephone is kritzeln. One who says, “I oversaw the critical phase myself” may be expected to be of some importance. Someone who states, “Ich habe die kritische Phase übersehen” may find himself out of a job. While “oversee” translates as überwachen, the latter individual overlooked (übersah) something very important. And das ist alles means the same as its English homophone - that is all! <<<