Tag Archives: Language

German of the day: Täter-Opfer-Umkehr

May 23, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means the reversal of perpetrator and victim.

As in: “Just seeking an arrest warrant against Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Hamas leader Sinwar at the same time is already an absurd reversal of perpetrator and victim.”

Would Germany arrest Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if the International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant?

Yes, the Scholz government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit on Wednesday. CDU leader Friedrich Merz is clearly critical of this.

When asked whether Germany would comply with a decision by the court, the Scholz spokesperson said only briefly: “Of course, we comply with the law.”

German of the day: Reich

May 22, 2024 By in Higher Education, Humor Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

That means rich.

And Donald Trump apparently wants to “unify the rich” to help move our country down the right path. I mean up the right path, of course (Biden & Co. are responsible for the down part). And if anybody knows about rich, its Donald Trump.

Trump’s social media account shares a campaign video with a headline about a ‘unified Reich’ – A video posted to Donald Trump’s account on his social media network included references to a “unified Reich” among hypothetical news headlines if he wins the election in November.

German of the day: Büroschlaf ist am gesündesten

May 17, 2024 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means sleeping in the office is the most healthy kind of sleep.

Have the Germans become lazy at work?

Germans have long been known for their diligence, sense of duty, reliability and productivity. Recent data suggests that Germans are working fewer hours. But that doesn’t tell the whole story.

A glance at current OECD labor figures can be startling. In 2022, the average American worked over 1,800 hours per year, while the average German worked only 1,340 hours. However, labor market researcher Enzo Weber from the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) in Nuremberg, Germany, dismisses suggestions of the once-industrious Germans now only wanting to enjoy their sweet lives.

“Germany has a very high female labor force participation rate compared to most other countries,” Weber told DW, noting that the main difference to other countries was that about every second woman works part-time, which mathematically lowers the average annual working hours.

German of the day: Entschlossenheit

May 12, 2024 By in History, Hard Facts Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

That means determination.

Unfortunately, it’s not a word you hear very often anymore. In either language.

Sunday in front of Tempelhof Airport: Airlift festival for ALL!

The Berlin Airlift ended 75 years ago. To mark the anniversary on May 12, there will be a ceremony at the Airlift Memorial on Sunday. This will be followed by a public festival for all Berliners in the courtyard of honor in front of Tempelhof Airport.

German of the day: Da ist nichts zu lachen

April 24, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Health, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means that’s nothing to laugh about.

Although, actually…

Car sharing driver overturns – laughing gas in the car!

Serious accident at night in Berlin-Wilmersdorf! A car-sharing car crashed into several parked cars and left a field of debris in its wake.

German of the day: Unwahrscheinlich

April 11, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means unlikely. As in “a recovery of German industry to the level before the war in Ukraine is unlikely.”

Go Green, go… lean.

Germany set to permanently pay for reliance on Russian gas—as power chief says ‘significant structural demand destruction’ means it will never fully recover from energy crisis.

German industry got rich, thanks partly to its close energy trading relationship with political and economic rival Russia. The past few years have shown just how misguided that relationship was, as Russia invaded Ukraine and cut off Germany’s cheap, vital gas supply.

Now, one of Germany’s leading renewable-power bosses has suggested it’s a mistake the country could rue forever, as the fallout from the energy crisis is set to permanently damage its industry.

But why would you leave Helsinki in the first place?

April 9, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

To come to Berlin, I mean.

Finns are the happiest people on Earth, I’m told. Germans, well, aren’t. And Berliners erst recht nicht (certainly not).

Traveling from Berlin to Helsinki — without using a plane. Flying is a major CO2 emitter when traveling. But how feasible are alternative modes of transportation?

German of the day: “Planetary Health Menüs”

March 29, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

That means, well, I’m not really sure what that means.

I think it means Planet Earth has to go on a diet. Is that how they’re saving it now?

‘People mustn’t feel meat is being taken away’: German hospitals serve planetary health diet.

That’s right. People mustn’t think meat is being taken away just because we’ve taken away the meat. Our meals still meat the minimum daily requirements of… what? Of what we require our patients not to eat.

German of the day: Die Schnauze voll haben

March 28, 2024 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Having the snout full means to be fed up with it, to be sick to death of it.

And the German Greens are filling up everybody’s snouts these days.

Germans Fed Up With Greens as Founding Member Resigns – The aggressive policies of the German Greens have alienated not only many voters in Germany but also their own supporters, including one of the founders of the party who has accused them of pursuing a warmongering foreign policy…

Annalena Baerbock, the young, inexperienced minister of foreign affairs, has promised to introduce a ‘feminist foreign policy,’ but she seems helpless in the face of the momentous challenges posed by the Russian-Ukraine war. The Greens have converted from a ‘pacifist’ party into the most belligerent party of all.