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German words


Sven_Q45

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Now I must ask a question, too. Ok the question is stupid like the German words. :D No really, why do you english people often use the German word "Gesundheit"? For example in Zak on Mars or in the Stuttgart episode from Sam and Max Season 2. I´m so proud of Season 2. It comes out in Germany in Juli. Well I must play it cuz I live near Stuttgart. ;) Played the demo.

 

Well back to my stupid question. ;)

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It says here that the expression came form Jewish immigrants to the US. Why it got widespread use, nobody knows... it's just one of those things where somehow a foreign word becomes commonplace, kind of like with the Dutch word 'apartheid', for instance.

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Well, as Haggis said, Jewish immigrants probably brought it from the Fatherland, but it became a trend..so to say:D It's like saying words like 'awesome' or 'cool' in today's society. Maybe 'Gesundheit' doesn't mean the same as 'cool' it is still very much a habit or trend....that's just my opinion though:D

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Speaking of German words, in Dutch we also have some that are used pretty regularly - 'überhaupt', 'sowieso', 'unheimlich', and 'fingerspitzengefühl' are some that I can think of.

 

Dude, I didn't know you were Dutch. Awesome!

 

There's quite a lot of 'mixing' of languages going on. We use a lot of French, English, German etc. I tried to think of other Dutch words that they use in other countries, but 'apartheid' was the only one I could think of. Surely we have better words?

 

I always thought of 'Houdoe' as one of the warmest greetings we have, everyone should start using it. Of course, with Haggis living in Rotterdam, he will probably disagree.;)

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Well we in Swabia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabia) often use 3 French words for example trottoir and plafont cuz there were Frechmens here. Don´t know when. The third word I can´t write. But we speek it otherwise. :D

And in Germany we often say ciao. That´s Italian. And very often English words in advertising and slogans.

 

@AlfredJ

Yes like Danish. They use many German, French, English and Dutch words.

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There's quite a lot of 'mixing' of languages going on. We use a lot of French, English, German etc. I tried to think of other Dutch words that they use in other countries, but 'apartheid' was the only one I could think of. Surely we have better words?

'Boomslang' is another one, although I suspect that's more Afrikaans than English. Of course 'Afrikaans' is itself a Dutch word...

 

I always thought of 'Houdoe' as one of the warmest greetings we have, everyone should start using it. Of course, with Haggis living in Rotterdam, he will probably disagree.;)

Well, at least it's better than 'doei'. :D I don't actually say 'houdoe' myself, but I have some relatives who are from Brabant (Wikipedia link for those not from the Netherlands), so I'm not completely against it. My own parents have even lived there for a while, and of course many Rotterdammers were originally farmers who lived in Brabant and Zeeland, but came to Rotterdam when the economy was booming.

 

Interesting how this is turning into a history/culture/language lecture. :)

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Kindergarten is a german compound that is used here in the States. Also here in New York City we have strange sounding boroughs such as Manhattan,Queens,The Bronx,Staten Island,and Brooklyn. I think does are Dutch words right?

A lot of the names in present-day New York derive from Dutch, yeah. 'Staten' is a Dutch word, for instance, 'Brooklyn' derives from the Dutch village 'Breukelen', and 'Flushing Meadows' comes from 'Vlissingen', also a Dutch town. Of course the Dutch made quite a mark on New York history, and if you're interested in that, I'd recommend this book.

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A lot of the names in present-day New York derive from Dutch, yeah. 'Staten' is a Dutch word, for instance, 'Brooklyn' derives from the Dutch village 'Breukelen', and 'Flushing Meadows' comes from 'Vlissingen', also a Dutch town. Of course the Dutch made quite a mark on New York history, and if you're interested in that, I'd recommend this book.

 

I know its in my history textbook from 2004!

Yay 4 oldness!

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A lot of the names in present-day New York derive from Dutch, yeah. 'Staten' is a Dutch word, for instance, 'Brooklyn' derives from the Dutch village 'Breukelen', and 'Flushing Meadows' comes from 'Vlissingen', also a Dutch town. Of course the Dutch made quite a mark on New York history, and if you're interested in that, I'd recommend this book.

It´s often called New Amsterdam.

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