sea-king
Jun 19 2008, 3:31 pm
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.
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?
eurovol
Jun 19 2008, 4:10 pm
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.
damara4178
Jun 19 2008, 4:18 pm
Ausfahrt = Ass fart
greenlakechris
Jul 2 2008, 7:39 pm
rick_de
Jul 2 2008, 8:10 pm
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
Jul 2 2008, 8:14 pm
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
Jul 2 2008, 8:29 pm
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
Jul 2 2008, 8:31 pm
I once asked for a glass of Leistungswasser in a Mexican restaurant...
I love the German word "damit". Always brings giggles.
Krieg
Jul 3 2008, 10:23 am
My the first 3 months in Germany I thought Notausgang meant not-exit.
silty1
Jul 3 2008, 10:45 am
Es gibt eine Kunstaustelling bei der Ausfahrt
Fucking.
HellesAngel
Jul 3 2008, 10:47 am
Rilana
Jul 3 2008, 10:57 am
Sechs
greenlakechris
Jul 3 2008, 11:43 am
Oh, here's an obvious one: every morning, ich gehe mich duschen.
That took about two years to get used to!
oddrey
Jul 3 2008, 11:47 am
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
Jul 3 2008, 1:26 pm
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
Jul 3 2008, 1:31 pm
Ever since my friend guessed in German class the meaning for "Urteil," I keep thinking it means "clock-piece"
LeoZwalf
Jul 3 2008, 2:16 pm
I've never liked the word "Schatz", despite its affectionate meaning. Just makes me think of 'cats' or 'shat'...
cruiser
Jul 3 2008, 2:47 pm
...beat me to it!
Jon Blaze
Jul 3 2008, 4:22 pm
The #1 choice has to be "Dick"
SquirrelKate
Jul 3 2008, 4:52 pm
I had to ask my boyfriend what "keine ursache" meant... and I translated it as "thing with no ears" / "kein ohr sache"
Quark, cream cheese type stuff. Always makes me think of Fozzy Bear's wocka wocka wocka!
aspiadas
Jul 3 2008, 5:46 pm
Ich komme sofort... always makes me want to reply "me too"
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
Jul 4 2008, 6:16 am
The bottle of Dusch Das is always funny, no matter how embarrassed I am to admit it.
aspiadas
Jul 4 2008, 1:31 pm
Sometimes Durchwahl comes out like Durchfall... and I used to mix up Verwaltung (Verwalten) with Vergewaltigung (Vergewaltigen)
Expaticus
Jul 4 2008, 2:38 pm
Hallo. Gute Fahrt. Ausfahrt. Dick. Birgit (always sounds to me like "Beer Gut").
Betty Tyranny
Jul 4 2008, 5:41 pm
Sitzt.
Betty Tyranny
Jul 5 2008, 4:28 pm
eurovol
Jul 5 2008, 7:44 pm
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
Jul 5 2008, 7:55 pm
Kunst.
Expaticus
Jul 5 2008, 8:21 pm
Kripo. Quark (noted earlier). Putz (or worse yet, Putzfrau). Rathaus. Body Bag. Oldtimer. Funk.
robinson100
Jul 5 2008, 9:03 pm
Bad reiniger - rather implies that it just won´t do the job!
Goeters
Jul 7 2008, 1:30 pm
Someone already mentioned Dick. But they have those chocolates called Dickmanns ;-)
BattalionBoy
Jul 7 2008, 1:35 pm
Saugen mein Schwanz - I always found these words amusing.
long-haul
Jul 7 2008, 1:47 pm
ist deine VATER DICK?
BattalionBoy
Jul 7 2008, 1:54 pm
Der Chef natürlich.
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
Jul 7 2008, 2:07 pm
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
Jul 7 2008, 3:48 pm
Another brand of toilet paper;
Happy End!
giulietta
Jul 15 2008, 2:36 am
I always got a big kick out of the past tense of essen being aß
Jon Blaze
Jul 15 2008, 6:48 am
There's a guy who lives around the corner from me named Aßmann
Qwertz
Jul 15 2008, 8:30 am
Dickies, haendy.
AnswerToLife42
Jul 15 2008, 9:31 am
Wir haben einen Igel im garten.
Chat_Capone
Jul 15 2008, 3:13 pm
"Kant", as in the writer
Qwertz
Jul 16 2008, 5:22 pm
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
Jul 16 2008, 6:10 pm
I was serious.
It's a pretty common name actuallyI'll even take a pic of the guys doorbell if it makes you feel better
Mik Dickinson
Jul 16 2008, 8:36 pm
Muschi = slang for vagina and then you have to explain Mushy Peas
robinson100
Jul 16 2008, 8:58 pm
... 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
Jul 17 2008, 7:14 am
@ JB: Assfresser= Scavenger...
Also the misuse of "Mailbox" to mean ansafone message.
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