My German phrase of the Day, courtesy of my daily calender:
Lieber den spatz in der Hand als die Taube auf dem Dach.
Literally - better the sparrow in the hand than the pigeon on the roof. In English we have"Better the bird in the hand as two in the bush." The German version sounds funny to me until I start to think about the English version. They're both silly.
der Schnurrbart - mustache.
As in, ich habe heute ein Mann gesehen mit ein riesig Schnurrbart. Today I saw a man with a huge mustache. It was one of those handlebar mustaches.
Oh my goodness - there is a Handlebar Mustache Club!
Du fehlst mir. I miss you.
This can also be written/said as Ich vermisst dich, but I hear the former more often. I believe the former is more everyday language while the latter is more hoch Deutsch (high German).
Du fehlst mir Bill.
Today, I'm off with the three S's to play golf. Stefan and Simone are experienced golfers while Sandra and I are newbies. Never played in our lifes.
We're going to a training course with 9 holes and a driving range. Since it's a training course, Sandra and I don't have to pass our theory test before going on the course. Yes, a theory test. Real German golf courses and clubs require you to take a test before going out on the green. Because you can't just have fun you know, you have to know the rules - and obey them!
For my GWOD fans, some golfing terms:
golf - der Golf, das Golfspiel
golf club - der Golfschlaeger
golf course - der Golfplatz
I'll write up a report at the end of the day. Tschuss!
This lovely phrase means, literally, "That's getting on my cookie." This cracks me up. Of course it really means "That's getting on my nerves."
Mein neueste Projekt geht mir langsam auf den Keks. My lastest project is slowly getting on my nerves.
Amanda will be happy, I have two new GWOD's. :)
Zerfall - breakup, collapse, disintegration. As in, what the Spanish ETA is doing now. From a Der Spiegel article: ETA vor dem Zerfall - ETA before the breakup.
liieren - to associate, ally. However, in the context I read at Der Spiegel, it means "being together with someone": Der 35-jährige Amerikaner (Marilyn Manson) ist mit Stripperin und Fetisch-Model Dita von Teese, 32, liiert. "The 35 year old American is together with the stripper and fetish model Dita von Teese, 32." I think the word liieren is the wrong word though, since the article is talking about their upcoming marriage.
gerade - even [number]
ungerade - odd [number]
I knew the word "gerade" meant "straight" [as in "Du sollst gerade aus fahren..." You should drive straight.....], but this meaning is new to me.
Rechtschreibung - spelling. As in "Könntest du bitte meine Rechtschreibung prüfen?". Could you check my spelling please?
Schwachsinn - idiotic, moronic. "Das ist nur Schwachsinn." That's just idoitic.
Bock - literally, a goat. However, when used in this context: "Ich habe kein Bock mehr." (Literally, "I have no goat anymore"), it means more along the lines of "I've had it up to here". This is a GWOD because my daily German calendar taught me about Sündenbock, a scapegoat, and because PapaScott is feeling listless and used the phrase to describe his mood - with literal translation. I always understood the meaning of the phrase - my boss uses it a lot - but not the literal meaning of the word Bock.
finger schnippen - to snap the fingers. As in "Wir werden es machen, finger schnippen, es ist produktiv." Literally, "We'll do it, snap our fingers and it's in production working". However, the meaning is that whatever we're doing is really easy.
There, now don't you feel smarter? :)
Oh, and feel free to correct me if I'm not translating something correctly.
Update: per a commenter, I corrected the spelling of the work "produktiv" and the translation of said word. Thanks!
Speil - to skewer.
Yesterday was a colleagues birthday. She plays the piano, so we bought her a book of music from a classical pianist (or music of a classical composer, one of them). Mick decided that I should write the dedication in the front, since I have the nicest handwriting. They gave me some suggestions, and I wrote:
Speilen, Speilen, Üben!
What I meant was "Play, Play, Practice!", but that is
Spielen, Spielen, Üben!
Sigh. So I ended up writing "Skewer, Skewer, Practice!", so something similar. Those ei's and ie's get me everytime.
empoert - disgusted
Pauschal-Unterstellungen - Blanket Assumption
For German Word of the Day I was putting up whatever especially interesting word that I learned on a particular day. I realize I haven't been to through with that. There are lots of instances of me learning a new word and not putting it up here. So I'll do a better job of keeping an eye out for those words. Maybe I should just make the German Word of the Day topical. Something that I'm using a lot or hearing a lot on a particular day? Okay, in keeping with this theme, today's GWOD is:
Fruehaufsteher - early riser.
As in, "Ich bin heute ein Fruehaufsteherin." "I'm an early riser today." :)
My German Word of the Day: just. In English, just.
Even though I can't find it in LEO anywhere, my German colleagues assure me this is a German word with the same meaning as the same word in English.
I'm reading a German novel right now (Die Detektivin by Nikola Hahn) and saw this word. At first I thought I found a typo, but when I asked Stefan, he said no. It's just an older German word. Which makes sense, since the book is set in Frankfurt in the 1880's. It's very good too. More on the book later.
My German Word of the Day (GWOD) is das Zahnrad - cog wheel.
My German Phrase of the Day (GPOD) is "Ich mache Hackfleisch von dir" - "I'll make chopped meat of you". I think there's a similar phrase in English, but it has to do with chopped liver. Help, anyone?
I was explaining to Stefan about how Hackfleisch - minced meat (Br.) or ground meat (Am.) - means the same in English, but it just SOUNDS better in German. Like it's got some feeling behind it. That's when he explained the phrase above.
Update: as a reader points out in the comments, I wrote the phrase above wrong. It's "Ich mache Hackfleisch aus dir." Thanks Vasili!
I'm learning more than I ever thought I would about hackfleisch.