Tag Archives: Language

German of the day: Rabatt

October 17, 2025 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Hi-tech Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

That means discount.

In this case down from “700% more expensive in the United States than in the rest of the world.”

Trump Strikes Deal With German Merck on Tariffs, IVF Costs – President Donald Trump announced a deal with Germany’s Merck KGaA to cut the price of its fertility medicines in exchange for relief from threatened tariffs, a step toward fulfilling his campaign promise of making IVF less expensive and more widely available in the US…

The discount will slash more than $2,000 from the cost of treatment, said Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz.

German of the day: Drohen

October 16, 2025 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

That means to threaten.

And Drone means drone.

Germany to spend 10 bln euros on drones in coming years, defence minister says – Germany will spend 10 billion euros($11.62 billion)in coming years for all kinds of drones, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said at a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels.

He also said that Germany will offer to take the lead in an European Union air defence shield and that Germany will increase its contribution to air policing.

German of the day: Verbale sexuelle Belästigung

October 11, 2025 By in Hard Facts, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

That means catcalling.

No wonder Germans prefer using the English word catcalling now too.

Sexual harassment: Germany debates ban on catcalling – While it is illegal in Germany to give a one-fingered salute, making obscene sexual remarks and gestures is not. The center-left Social Democrats want to change that.

Suggestive gestures or noises, graphically obscene remarks — an everyday experience for many women across the world. In some European countries such behavior can land you with a fine or even a jail sentence.

But in Germany, verbal sexual harassment in public is not criminalized under sexual offences legislation passed in 2016, which made non-consensual sexualized acts of touching like groping a crime for the first time.

German of the day: Eskalationsfalle

October 6, 2025 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hi-tech, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means escalation trap.

Berlin calls for strengthening defenses without falling into Putin’s “escalation trap” – The German Minister of Defense, Boris Pistorius, said Sunday that Germany must strengthen its defense capabilities, particularly against drones, while avoiding falling into what he called “the escalation trap” set by the Russian president Vladimir Putin.

During a defense exercise in Hamburg, the minister stressed the need for Berlin to invest in anti-drone and electronic jamming systems, as incursions into European airspace have increased since the start of the war in Ukraine.

“We must build strong defenses, but without responding precipitously to every provocation. This is exactly what Putin wants: a spiral of reactions that would lead to a direct confrontation,” Pistorius warned.

German of the day: Das waren Zeiten!

October 3, 2025 By in Hard Facts, History, Holidays Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

That means “those were the days!”

When everything still worked in Germany. Before German reunification.

5 facts about German Unity Day – On October 3, Germany celebrates the reunification of East and West. How did it come about — and how is it celebrated? How do Germans feel about reunification today?

Following the end of World War II in 1945, a defeated Germany was divided into four occupation zones, controlled by the Allied powers: the United States, France, Great Britain and the Soviet Union.

In 1949, two states emerged: the democratic Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in the West, and the socialist German Democratic Republic (GDR) in the East, with the latter being under Soviet control. From that point on, Germany was divided…

German of the day: Drohnenschwarm

October 2, 2025 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hi-tech Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means drone swarm.

Test reactions and agitate – According to security authorities, the recent drone flights in Schleswig-Holstein are not so much for espionage as for other purposes. The perpetrators presumably also want to send a warning...

Last week, drones flew over a power plant in Kiel, the university hospital, the Thyssenkrupp marine division’s factory premises, the state parliament in Kiel, and other buildings.

Jimmy Kimmel in German?

September 24, 2025 By in Hard Facts, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

He’s certainly not funny in English. Go for it, Jimmy.

When can we book your flight?

Jimmy Kimmel says ‘Germany offered’ him a job as he slams Trump in show return – Late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! returned to ABC on September 23, almost a week after the network pulled it off the air last week.

“The guy in Germany offered me a job. Can you imagine?”

In his comments on the Sept. 15 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Kimmel suggested that Tyler Robinson, the man accused of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk at his Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University on September 10, was “one of” President Donald Trump’s MAGA, Make America Great Again, movement.

German of the day (2025): Hausverbot

September 21, 2025 By in Hard Facts, History, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means house ban.

“Nothing personal, nor is this anti-Semitism, I just can’t stand you.”

“Jews are not allowed here!!!!”

German shop sign banning Jews sparks wide condemnation, police action – Flensburg store owner claims ban ‘not even antisemitism. I just can’t stand you’; Israeli envoy: ‘The 1930s are back’; German official slams sign as Jew hatred ‘in its purest form.’