Robot -> Das Bipenböpenmann
Guitar -> Die Stringenstick
To die -> Endenleib
this post was submitted on 09 Jun 2025
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My favorite song is "Wir sind die Bibenböpenmannen" by Kraftwerk
Whoever decided that first one was high off their ass
Woooosh. It's closer to der Roboter, die Gitarre, sterben.
It doesn't matter how robot your robot is, German robots are Roboter.
You're just jealous that we can actually understand what our words mean instead of copying them wholesale from latin or french (which we also do, just not as much).
agreed. plus everything can be funny if you just translate it word for word, even though in almost all languages the meaning for the original words barely cross people's minds when they use compound words.
eg:
German: Kamin
French: Cheminée
Spanish: Chimenea
English: FIREPLACE!
like fucking cavemen
I counter:
French: briquet
Spanish: mechero
English: lighter
German: Feuerzeug => FIRE THING
Who's the caveman now?
Chimney.
same origin, not the same meaning.
But yeah, fireplace just sounds so much cooler...
Although... Why not... Fire shoe? Yeah, that's even better.
Fire shoe it is. I'll let Oxford know.
Also not the same thing, the fireplace is the part where the fire goes, the chimney is the part above it that makes it so you don’t die of smoke inhalation
'Fire shoe' encompasses both meanings satisfactorily.
I'll have you know that the history of 'gloves' in English goes back long before the Norman conquest; the roots in English are neither from French nor Latin.
What I really want to know is if shoes in German are called 'fußglof'?
If you say, 'yes', then I really will be jealous. I want a foot glove...
Fußhandschuhe
No, they're called 'Läderlappen'.
German is easy:
gloves = Handschuhe => hand shoes
scarf = Halsschuh => neck shoe
condom = Schwanzschuh => dick shoe
Wow, you're right. German really is amazing!
mittens = Faustschuhe => fist shoes
hat = Kopfschuh => head shoe
glasses = Augenschuhe => eye shoes
earrings = Ohrschuhe => ear shoes
mask = Gesichtsschuh => face shoe
bra = Brustschuhe => breast shoes
shirt = Rumpfschuh => torso shoe
pants = Beinschuhe => leg shoes
helmet = Gehirnschuh => brain shoe
diaper = Babyschambereichschuh => baby shame-area shoe
So, germans have a foot fetish?
No. It's more about the shoes.
Handschuhe und Pferdegranaten
Are you joking or do you really think, the second one is a word used in german? I cannot tell. It is not.
It's a reference to the saying "Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades"
The second word is a (probably poorly, I hardly know any German) made-up compound word for "horse grenades", so it's handshoes and horse grenades instead
Japanese Tebukuro - Hand Socks
It's worse than that, it means hand bags (手袋)
Worse, better who can say?
ananas
WENN HIER EINER ANNA NASS MACHT DANN BIN ICH DAS!
Loved that joke as a kid. Took me far too long to actually get it.
that one is more common across languages than pineapple tho
Dutch is the same, heh.
Does Dutch keep both forms?
I believe both Old English and Old High German kept both the compound word (hand shoe) and the singular word (e.g. glōf) before eventually choosing one and discarding the other. I'm curious if there are any Germanic languages that have kept both forms into the modern era.
We have 'handschoenen'. It's used a lot.
The alternative closest to glove I'd say would be "want(en)", but it's not nearly used as much as "handschoen(en)" - hand shoes.
Wanten would actually be mittens. Gloves where all the fingers are fused together. Mostly used by kids or cooks (the ovenwanten 😋).
the French word gant has the same etymological root as the Dutch word want
Just a bit more mangled
ist das aus baunwolle gemacht?
I've read enough clothing labels to know that that should be Baumwolle. Tree wool. Because of course cotton is "tree wool" in German.
Tree wool.
Okay, that is really cool. I think German wins here.