I haven't posted anything in or about the German language lately. Unfortunately I haven't done much speaking, reading or writing in German at all recently until I helped translate the packaging on the Micro Korg vocoder that Nathan bought last week (fun new vocab word: Schwanenhalsmicrofon. Literally "swan-neck microphone"). This got me inspired to go back to my multi-volume set of Goethe, which I plan to quote from extensively on this site over the next few months.
In the meantime, something more modern and succinct...
A few years ago, my friend Till was sitting next to a mysterious looking guy on the S-bahn in Berlin. From what I remember him telling me, the guy was of Asian descent, had long hair drawn into a pony tail, and was totally focused on writing a text message on his phone for several stops. Eventually the guy looked up, handed Till the phone and asked if he would proofread the message for him.
As it turns out, the guy's German was impeccable. The message, however, was a bit unorthodox. It read:
Vielen Dank für deine Hilfe. Ich habe die Medikamente bekommen. Ich habe bei einer Schlägerei und Schiesserei noch zweimal meine Nase gebrochen!
Which means, in English:
Many thanks for your help. I have received the medications. I have broken my nose two more times during a beat-down and a shootout!
The interesting words here -- and the subjects of today's German lesson -- are "Schlägerei" and "Schiesserei." Schlägerei comes from the verb "schlagen" (to strike) and the suffix "erei," which generally has a negative connotation, is an allomorph meaning something like "around" in this case. So literally it's something like "punch-around," which to me conjures up a pretty funny image, much like the one above taken from a Spiegel.de article about a post-soccer game brawl. "Schiesserei" is the same thing, only with guns (schiessen = shoot).
So with these new vocabulary words under your belt, and this dubious explanation of their meaning, you're all set for your big trip to German-speaking lands. Thanks to Till and the mysterious Asian-German warrior for providing the context for today's lesson.
1 comment:
Let us not forget the even greater word, "Schweinerei", which translated to English would be "Pigery".
It can be defined either as a) something similar to what we call in English as a "pig sty" or b) something like sassy or rascally.
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