Tag Archives: Language

German of the day: Waffen und Messer verboten!

May 26, 2025 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means weapons and knives are forbidden (here).

Why didn’t anybody think of this before? Problem solved. At least “temporarily.”

Federal police declare temporary knife ban at major Berlin train stations – A temporary knife ban at major Berlin stations promises safety but raises questions about policing and public space.

Starting next week, Berlin’s central train stations will become no-knife zones, at least for part of the day. In an effort to curb rising violence, federal police are instituting a month-long weapons ban across twelve of the city’s busiest stations.

German of the day: Schneckentempo

May 19, 2025 By in Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means moving at a snail’s pace.

But at least it’s still movement. In the right direction.

Germany drops opposition to nuclear power in rapprochement with France – Paris wins approval from Berlin to remove anti-nuclear bias in EU legislation, say officials.

Germany has dropped its long-held opposition to nuclear power, in the first concrete sign of rapprochement with France by Berlin’s new government led by conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Berlin has signalled to Paris it will no longer block French efforts to ensure nuclear power is treated on par with renewable energy in EU legislation, according to French and German officials.

German of the day: Märchenwald

May 11, 2025 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means fairytale forest.

You know, the German Brothers Grimm kind. The kind Germans these days level for wind parks.

Plan for windfarm in German ‘fairytale forest’ stokes green energy culture war – Far right accused of misinformation over turbines at Reinhardswald, which has left local people divided.

Deep in the woods that inspired the Brothers Grimm, past the tower from which Rapunzel threw down her hair and the castle in which Sleeping Beauty slumbered, lies a construction site that the far right has declared a crime against national soil and identity.

In this quiet corner of Germany’s “fairytale forest”, workers are clearing land and building access roads to erect 18 wind turbines.

German of the day: Trittbrettfahrerei

May 9, 2025 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means free-riding.

After solomnly commemorating the end of World War II 80 years ago…

German politicians solomnly commemorated the end of 80 years of free-riding on defense spending.

It was emotional.

Newly elected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz joined a wreath-laying ceremony in Berlin. The Bundestag also held its own remembrance service.

German of the day: Umgehen

May 8, 2025 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means to circumvent.

Punitive tariffs: Audi apparently plans production in the USA – According to media reports, Audi is planning to build cars in the USA in order to avoid import tariffs. Until now, Audi has been serving the US market via imports, but the Ingolstadt-based car manufacturer is now confronted with the 25 percent tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump in recent weeks.

According to the report, Audi is looking at three US sites and could also use production capacities of the Volkswagen Group – the manufacturer has not yet wanted to comment on the media reports.

German of the day: Aller Anfang ist schwer

May 6, 2025 By in Hard Facts, Helections, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means every beginning is hard.

And this one was hard to believe. And hard to follow.

Germany’s Merz becomes chancellor after surviving historic vote failure – Conservative leader Friedrich Merz has won a parliament vote to become Germany’s next chancellor at the second attempt.

Merz had initially fallen six votes short of the absolute majority he needed on Tuesday morning – a significant blow to his prestige and an unprecedented failure in post-war German history.

As it was a secret ballot in the 630-seat Bundestag, there was no indication who had refused to back him – whether MPs from his centre-left coalition partner or his own conservatives.

German of the day: “Fast die Hälfte”

May 4, 2025 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means almost half.

As in “almost half of Germans are in favor of banning the AfD, according to a survey.” And this means, of course, that the majority of Germans are against banning the AfD.

Almost half of Germans in favor of banning the AfD, according to survey – 61% of Germans consider the AfD to be a right-wing extremist party. According to a representative survey, 48% want it to be banned.

German of the day: Genug!

April 25, 2025 By in Hard Facts, Helections, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means enough! As in enough already!

Most Germans Have Had Enough of the Firewall Against AfD – While establishment parties continue to ostracize the party, only a third of the country supports the cordon sanitaire, with half wanting AfD to be treated as any other democratic party.

After a turbulent election season dominated by the establishment’s demonization of the national conservative AfD—now Germany’s most popular party—the plurality of Germans believe that ending the undemocratic cordon sanitaire against them is long overdue, regardless of who they vote for.

German of the day: Erholung

April 9, 2025 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

That means rally.

Dow surges 2,300 points for biggest rally in 5 years after Trump pauses some tariffs – Stocks surged Wednesday after President Donald Trump announced a pause in some of the ‘reciprocal’ tariffs, causing a market that’s been under extreme pressure for the last week to explode higher.

The S&P 500 skyrocketed 7.6%, on pace for its biggest one-day gain in five years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 2,423 points, or 6.4%, also its biggest gain since 2020. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 9.8%.