Fun with words

Fun with German Words

The good thing about long German words is that they really make sense - when you understand that they are usually a lot of smaller words all stuck together. If you don't know that or don't know what those smaller words are, it can be a bit daunting.

For example, here is a label that is on a package of vine (cluster) tomatoes. They are simply called:

Cocktailrispentomaten - literally Cocktail Panicle (or bunch) tomatoes. Of course the picture is a dead giveaway because you can see the tomatoes in a bunch.

Also, food usually contains a Zufriedenheitsgarantie (satisfaction guarantee).

When you want to go to the store for the Spring Closeout Sale, you go to the Frühlingsschlussverkauf.

When we went in to get our visa, we got an Aufenthaltserlaubnis, literally "permission to be a resident."

The church words are no different. The sisters in the church attend Frauenhilfsvereinigung, or in other words, "women's help organization" (Relief Society). Sacrament meeting is Abendmahlsversammlung.

There are some interesting words that I found in the Book of Mormon. For example, in Alma when they were preparing for war it was Kriegsvorbereitungen (Alma 50:1) and the Christians were told not to "shrink" (or cower), which in German is zurückzuschrecken (Alma 43:48).

But when you get to the numbers, you really have fun. Here is the 327th year, as mentioned in in Mormon 2:3 : Dreihundertundsiebenundzwanzigsten Jahr.

I know that Mark Twain had fun with the language and wrote a book: "That Awful German Language," where part of his complaint had to do with the large words. It is a fun little book to read.