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German words that make you think strange thoughts

They sound like rude English words, etc.

Toytown Germany > Discussion forum > Germany-wide > Life in Germany
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sea-king
So there I was on the way to the shops and I started to think, as you do.
Sometimes a German word will pop unbiddeen into that desert that most folk call my brain and, like a cactus in the rainy season , bloom and flower. dry.gif
The word that keeps annoying me, and it'll do it to you too from now on, is Kunterbunt=colourful, multi-hued.

I keep thinking Kunterbunt= Butteredcunt.

Do other examples of German words make you think of English words that are completely unrelated? blink.gif
eurovol
Geschlechtverkehr!

Every time I here that I think of the old joke with the fat lady, the lost ring, the lost keys and the VW Bug. wacko.gif
damara4178
Ausfahrt = Ass fart
greenlakechris
Gute Fahrt
rick_de
Whenever I hear the name "Herr Oberst.." (a rank in the German military) I cant help thinking of it as "Herr Obst".
Another one is "Leibarzt", eg in reference to characters in WW2, makes me think of Liebarzt, like something out of a British tabloid "love doctor"!
greenlakechris
When I first got to Munich (and Toytown was just an expat get-together dinner-booking service) one girl at the table said she'd been ordering soup for two months "ohne zweifel" (instead of ohne zwiebeln)

I still can't get that out of my head!
black1
I can do one in reverse, my German partner can't hear the word fickle. They can't accept it's not rude, even though they know it's not.
aspiadas
I once asked for a glass of Leistungswasser in a Mexican restaurant...
Bipa
I love the German word "damit". Always brings giggles.
Krieg
My the first 3 months in Germany I thought Notausgang meant not-exit.
silty1
Es gibt eine Kunstaustelling bei der Ausfahrt Fucking. tongue.gif
HellesAngel
Vomit?
Rilana
Sechs
greenlakechris
Oh, here's an obvious one: every morning, ich gehe mich duschen.

That took about two years to get used to!
oddrey
Another related example: a German colleague was once complaining (in English) about a manager that kept "penetrating" his employees...turned out she was thinking of the word "penetrant" (German for pushy, annoying). Best day of work ever.
SquirrelKate
By McDonalds we often order 6 cheeseburgers...

their message to the burger making people "sechs cheese" or SEX CHEESE

also the confusing thing between Schwul and Schwuel. I'm thinking people are liking the gay weather.
clrbluesky
Ever since my friend guessed in German class the meaning for "Urteil," I keep thinking it means "clock-piece" wink.gif
LeoZwalf
I've never liked the word "Schatz", despite its affectionate meaning. Just makes me think of 'cats' or 'shat'...
cruiser
...beat me to it! biggrin.gif
Jon Blaze
The #1 choice has to be "Dick" tongue.gif
SquirrelKate
I had to ask my boyfriend what "keine ursache" meant... and I translated it as "thing with no ears" / "kein ohr sache"
bern
Quark, cream cheese type stuff. Always makes me think of Fozzy Bear's wocka wocka wocka!
aspiadas
Ich komme sofort... always makes me want to reply "me too"
RMA
QUOTE (SquirrelKate @ Jul 3 2008, 2:26 pm) *
also the confusing thing between Schwul and Schwuel. I'm thinking people are liking the gay weather.

I have the same problem, I can never remember which is which, so I always pronounce it somewhere in the middle and rely on the audience interpreting it correctly out of the context.
JohnCM
The bottle of Dusch Das is always funny, no matter how embarrassed I am to admit it.
aspiadas
Sometimes Durchwahl comes out like Durchfall... and I used to mix up Verwaltung (Verwalten) with Vergewaltigung (Vergewaltigen)
Expaticus
Hallo. Gute Fahrt. Ausfahrt. Dick. Birgit (always sounds to me like "Beer Gut").
Betty Tyranny
Sitzt.
Betty Tyranny
Fettlöser.
eurovol
Besides the weather thing above, I find Mosche and Muschi are hard to get straight depending on the accents. As I posted somewhere else, I burst out laughing at the guy on the radio talking about the big demonstration against the building of a large "Muschi" somewhere in Munich. Not hard to imagine when they have one built in Tuebingen.
Steve Shadforth
Kunst.
Expaticus
Kripo. Quark (noted earlier). Putz (or worse yet, Putzfrau). Rathaus. Body Bag. Oldtimer. Funk.
robinson100
Bad reiniger - rather implies that it just won´t do the job!
Goeters
Someone already mentioned Dick. But they have those chocolates called Dickmanns ;-)
BattalionBoy
Saugen mein Schwanz - I always found these words amusing.
long-haul
ist deine VATER DICK?
BattalionBoy
Der Chef natürlich.
mo3
A personal favourite of mine is the brand of toilet paper called "Big Willy" that I have seen in numerous public toilets here!

Either it is wishful thinking or they have some insider information about the people who use their products!
gideon
QUOTE (BattalionBoy @ Jul 7 2008, 2:35 pm) *
Saugen mein Schwanz - I always found these words amusing.

Errr didn't get very far with the German courses did we?
Feierabend
Another brand of toilet paper;

Happy End!
giulietta
I always got a big kick out of the past tense of essen being aß
Jon Blaze
There's a guy who lives around the corner from me named Aßmann biggrin.gif
Qwertz
Dickies, haendy.
AnswerToLife42
Wir haben einen Igel im garten.
Chat_Capone
"Kant", as in the writer
Qwertz
QUOTE (Jon Blaze @ Jul 15 2008, 7:48 am) *
There's a guy who lives around the corner from me named Aßmann

Yeah, Assfresser.
Jon Blaze
I was serious.
It's a pretty common name actually
I'll even take a pic of the guys doorbell if it makes you feel better rolleyes.gif
Mik Dickinson
Muschi = slang for vagina and then you have to explain Mushy Peas
robinson100
... maybe you shouldn´t even try to explain it Mik???

I like SMS - the Germans (that I know) seem to be convinced that it comes from the English, and there we are calling it a text message - the world can be a bit confusing sometimes!
Qwertz
@ JB: Assfresser= Scavenger...

Also the misuse of "Mailbox" to mean ansafone message.
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