←back to thread

The Awful German Language (1880)

(faculty.georgetown.edu)
186 points nalinidash | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
Show context
rawbert ◴[] No.44002326[source]
As a developer working in a German company the question of translating some domain language items into English comes up here and there. Mostly we fail because the German compound words are so f*** precise that we are unable to find short matching English translations...unfortunately our non-native devs have to learn complex words they can't barely pronounce :D

Most of the time we try to use English for technical identifiers and German for business langugage, leading to lets say "interesting" code, but it works for us.

replies(18): >>44002397 #>>44002459 #>>44002514 #>>44002534 #>>44002678 #>>44002701 #>>44002803 #>>44002985 #>>44003209 #>>44003272 #>>44003276 #>>44003429 #>>44003432 #>>44005478 #>>44005580 #>>44006867 #>>44007883 #>>44008646 #
marcosscriven ◴[] No.44002985[source]
I think the issue of German compound nouns is seriously overegged. In almost all cases, it’s essentially the same as English, except with some spaces. It’s not like suddenly a short compound word expresses something that couldn’t be in English.
replies(10): >>44003194 #>>44003252 #>>44003401 #>>44003464 #>>44003598 #>>44003753 #>>44006295 #>>44006980 #>>44007613 #>>44010526 #
top_sigrid ◴[] No.44003598[source]
This is so true. My favourite example is when Top Gear made fun of the German word "Doppelkupplungsgetriebe" by spelling it, when it is quite literally the translation to "dual-clutch transmission". It stil is hilariously funny, but you cannot conclude that German is weird with these words.
replies(1): >>44004134 #
hengheng[dead post] ◴[] No.44004134[source]
[flagged]
1. BalinKing ◴[] No.44005210[source]
I don't think "appendicitis" signifies affluence—it happens to enough people that the word has become very commonly known and used.