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The Awful German Language (1880)

(faculty.georgetown.edu)
189 points nalinidash | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.406s | source
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ycuser2 ◴[] No.44001883[source]
"Tomcat" is male in German, not female: Der Kater.

"Wife" is female in German, not neutral: Die Ehefrau. "Weib" is old language and rude to use these days.

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DocTomoe ◴[] No.44001908[source]
Consider that the text is, in fact, from the 19th century.

Also, 'Weib' is not rude in every context. "Wein, Weib und Gesang" is not diminutive towards women, but in fact appreciative (as in 'necessary for having a good time'). We have Weiberfassnacht. And then there are the dialects, in which "Weib" often is indicative of a homely, loving relationship (-> bairisch, Swabian). Context matters.

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Helmut10001 ◴[] No.44001994[source]
Sorry to be picky, but "Wein, Weib und Gesang" is not neutral. It reduces "Weib" to the value of Wein and Gesang, something only needed for pleasure.
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1. KwanEsq ◴[] No.44002277[source]
Would "wine, friends, and song" do the same?
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2. jraph ◴[] No.44002432[source]
No gender is weirdly specific in your version.

Not sure about the reduction, but "Wine, women and song" somewhat assumes the point of view from an heterosexual male and could feel offensive just for this.

"Wine, man and song" would sound weird, but it should not sound weirder than the "women" version. That's because we are all used to the male pov assumption and that's the core of the issue.

And of course, to add insult to injury, the phrase will feel like the reduction the grand parent describes to many.

So I think we'd be better off dropping those old phrases in favor of things like your version, which doesn't have these issues.

Note: not a German nor an English native speaker so I might be missing some cultural subtlety that could make my POV a bit wrong and disconnected from reality.