Date: 12 Dec 1999 00:47:00 +0200
From: ASWAD-AT-anarch.free.de (catkawin)
Subject: Re: Gesundheit? Gesundheit!



Hi carp,

> "Gesundheit" is approximately 1/13 of my total knowledge of the Grrrman
> language.
I see.
I suppose you know about Grrman equivalents of good morning and such.
What you could say instead is something like "moin" [pronounciation  
shouldn't be too difficult]. This is used in the North of Grrmoney.
Many people believe it's an abbreviation for "morning" (Morgen) which,  
when grunted in the early morning to greet fellow workers and so, mostly  
gets abbreviated to something like "moang".

However, "moin" comes from the Friesian language (which I don't speak at  
all although being partly Friesian myself - 25%), and it means "good,  
nice", and in fact this is short for "moien dag" (Guten Tag).

If you ever happen to be over here, saying "moin" will make you very  
acceptable in the North. Just make sure you never say that in Bavaria, or  
else you'll get tared, feathered, hung AND shot.... ;)))))

> The rest is "nein," "yawohl,"
Since militarism is a no-go over here meanwhile, I'd advise saying "ja"  
[ya] rather, as the civilian equivalent. It can also regionally be said as  
"jau" [yow], as in 'yep', for example. Or even: "jau, ey".

> I can count to "nein"  and I now
Make that "neun" [noin] - but pardon the curiosity: what do you make of  
our "8" pronounciation-wise?????
> know I know one half of the meaning of "uber alles."
>
> And maybe "spreckenze anglais?"
Englisch, carp [Anglish] - Sprechen Sie Englisch.
But what would you need that for, you don't speek the language yourself,  
do you? ;))))
>
> Gesundheit.
What - me sneeze - I'm lucky I just got rid of that fuckin cold!
>
>
> das karp

Ahem. cough, cough. Carpo, please: "der". I suspect your better half would  
be far happier to live with "der karp" than "das karp" ("das" being  
neutre). But if this was a fit of self-criticism, we'll just leave it at  
that ;))))

Also, I realize that you seem to lack a vocabulary which is, shall we say,  
appropriate often enough that knowledge seems advisable. And being a  
teacher by profession originally, I can't resist this opportunity:


arsehole : Arschloch [!a:sch-lox] (the x/ch-sound being a P.I.T.A. ;));  
gender: das

a softer version would be : Armleuchter [a:mloixter]; g: der

Arschkeks ("Keks" is what you call cookie), g: der

Arschgesicht (arseface) [!a:sch-gezixt], g: das

Arschgeige [!a:sch-gaige] ("Geige" is "violine" - don't ask me how that  
one came about!), g: die

Sackratte [zack..] - literally, a crab (Sack being an unpolite word for  
what you carry your testicles in, and "Ratte" is "rat"), and people  
addressed like this won't assume you're passing niceties.

"Sack" and "Arsch" by themselves also make nice verbal injuries, and the  
combination "Sackgesicht" is also possible.

Oh yes, to make all this a bit more personal when applied, one would  
usually say: Du Arschloch, du Arschgesicht etc. Please note that we do not  
use "Sie" when abusing each other but the familiar "Du" most times. It is,  
on the other hand, quite possible to say "Sie Arschloch", and this adds to  
the insult if passed to a stranger, for example.

(Speaking about politeness reminds me of an anecdote: a friend was stopped  
by the police, and one of the officers did not like him and murmured:  
"Arschloch" -which, of course, officers aren't allowed to do. My friend  
replied by telling the officer: "For you, I am still "Herr Arschloch" ...)

It is also advisable to put either "Du" or "Sie" in front of whatever you  
call people, or else the thing might ricochet in an unpleasant way: if a  
person just calls you "Arschloch", you can always reply saying "Pleased to  
meet you" (in German: "angenehm", -add your last name-), thus subtly  
hinting at "Arschloch" being the other person's last name.

shit: Scheiße [shaisse - that "e" should be turned upside down to give the  
correct pronouciation, but this isn't on my keyboard] g: die

The most famous quote, written down by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:
leck mich am Arsch - always useful to be able to tell people they can kiss  
your sweet arse (although literally, we lick arses).

idiot is written the same way, capital letter of course, but pronounced  
[eed-!yot], g: der, female equiv.: die Idiotin - BTW, the others don't  
take a female ending.

Errr - anything else?

Jau: tschuess (bye),

catkawin