My new German word for today: "linken"

Excellent. My decision to listen to more German music has already paid off (in this case Blumentopf "Jeder zweite linkt Dich"):

linken F Verb/transitiv - (hereinlegen) F do the dirty on someone

Examples of appropriate usage gladly welcomed.

"Linke Sau" now makes sense..

Usually paired with swear words, "Das Arschloch hat mich gelinkt" for instance. Only for colloquial use...

Found this one in Leo: ...
Die Ware hielt bei weitem nicht, was sie sollte. Der Verkäufer hat mich voll gelinkt.

jemanden abziehen / jemanden abzocken, jemanden linken, jemanden reinlegen, jemanden an der nase herumführen/ (->jemanden anführen), jemanden verkohlen, jemanden aufs Glatteis führen... all about the same, with varying degrees of implied viciousness, the latter being simply well-humoured. Jemanden linken is mostly on the less humourous side, depending on the subculture the term is used in ;p

yeah, that is used politically to discredit lefties as well as non-politcally to describe untrustworthy selfish assholes ...

i also use the word to describe someone who is two-faced. i wouldn't trust that person.

That's the meaning I'd presumed, but that it's derived from a verb is very interesting.

Now alls I need is to root up the etymology of the word "doch".

Meheeheh ... good look at that

BTW , i really think you anglos should import something like doch into your language. Its clearly simply missing any aquivalent. One wonders how you still manage to have arguments

yep. untrustworthy. someone who will cross you as soon as he has the chance and something to gain from it.

The "linke" in "linke Sau" is derived from the word "left" to describe that person's political orientation.
I don't think there's any connection at all with the verb "linken".

That word is like the missing link, it's like the way that Maggi sauce makes everything taste German, "doch" just turns a discussion German. It's the verbal line in the sand, it means "everything you've posited thus far I refute and will now explain why I do it" or "No seriously" or "Dude you're just plain wrong" and other things. But there's no single equivalent in english that comes to mind. Does it have an equivalent in any other languages I wonder.

Oumm, just believe me, there is. Both is possible, and it all depends on who says it when to who.

And on top of that, it can also be used as a replacement for 'aber'/'but'. Must be pretty frustrating for non-native speakers.

it can mean yet, but, in spite of and much more ... simply put, its an indication of dissent / contradiction.

French. The word is "Si".

I don't really understand this post. What do you mean "both is possible"?
Rather than just believing you that the words are connected, could you post some sort of etymology for the verb?

you are absolutely wrong on this. "linke Sau" has nothing to do with political orientation at all and *IS* derived from "linken". It translates as "dirty pig". dirty in the sense of corrupt rather than filthy. Unless of course you are specifically implying that someone is a left-wing pig.

For example: a second hand car sales man would be a "linke Sau" in the sense of a dirty cheating scoundral whereas, i might describe the venerable Monkstown as a "linke Sau" because, being a true blue thatcherite myself, I oppose his politics whenever possible.

Ganz im Gegenteil, it's Top 5 Best Words Ever.

When she's right, she's right.

http://dict.leo.org/frde?lp=frde&lang=...h&relink=on

Spanish seems to have one to, if Leo is right. Which it normally is.

http://dict.leo.org/esde?lp=esde&search=doch

Leo translates "doch" as "still" into english.

http://dict.leo.org/ende?lp=ende&search=doch

*ponderous*.

No i can't because i am a native speaker, i just *know* what it means

Owain Glyndwr got it allright. Its mostly someone untrustworthy that can be expected to sell you out the minute they can, and only in certain circumstances the references the political orientation instead. However, note that it includes 'Sau', female pig, which reduces the political use of 'linke Sau' to serious attempts of looking for trouble, unless you *really* know that the target likes you enough to laugh . I remember an argument that started with the political use of 'linke Sau' and ended with two broken ribs, a nose and an arm.

Yea, but thats not even half of it.

My dictionary confirms that "link" can be used as an adjective to mean both left-wing and dirty/mean/underhanded. A google search on the phrase "linke Sau" didn't shed much light on the subject - some of the usage was political¹, other just generally defametory²; but people definitely do seem to use it in both ways.

Of course it may well be that political usage is a hijacked version of the defamation. I don't have an etymological dictionary to check this out, maybe someone else does.

1: half way down this page, also here
2: on this page and here


I understand that, but this thread is about learning to understand the language better. Simply asserting that you know something for sure and that we should take your word on it really isn't helpful at all.

Oum ... well i told you it comes either from 'linken' or from 'links', both meanings are possible. I tried to explain which situations would allow the use of which. Nothing more i can do i'm afraid. And frankly, if thats not helpful, i have no idea what would.

Not to sidetrack the linken discussion, but...


Here's a bit about the comparative linguistics of "doch" in English. Actually more of a good background of its various forms of usage.

I find that you can usually apply the phrase 'No, you're talking shite' quite well to achieve the effect. However, it's more likely to start a punch up than if you used 'doch'.

I laid a linken on somebody just the other day.

your dictionary is correct. However, the expression "linke Sau" does not (usually) mean left-wing pig but dirty cheating scoundral not to be trusted pig.

As it happens, i think you'll find the etymology of the words are probablythe same, though one in a round about sort of way. The verb "linken" (to cheat) and the adjective "link" (cheating) were probably derived because left-handed people were not to be trusted (left handedness being seen as a sign of the devil etc).

Is that a Bill Hicks reference perchance?

I'd be interested to know why you think this. I've asked a couple of German friends about the phrase and they were all familiar with the political/left-wing usage. Also, as I wrote before, most of the google search results for this phrase were not using the phrase as a general slur, but as a slur against lefties.

But I really like the left-handed theory, which sounds pretty convincing. I'm going to have to buy me a etymological dictionary (is that what it's called?), because I find this stuff fascinating.