For all of you anxious to get the answers to last week's quiz on German Directness, you will find them here:
Glühbirne: glowing pear = light bulb
Kühlschrank: cool cabinet = refrigerator
Handschuhe: hand shoes = gloves
Fahrstuhl: riding chair = elevator
Fingerhut: finger hat = thimble
Unkraut: not an herb = a weed
Zahnfleisch: tooth flesh = gums
Blinddarm: blind/dummy intestine = appendix
Gehirnerschütterung: brain jolting/shaking = concussion
Durchfall: fall through = diarrhea
Gelbsucht: yellow addiction (ailment) = jaundice
Nacktschnecke: naked snail = slug
Stinktier: stink animal = skunk
Nashorn: nose horn = rhinoceros
Hundertfüßer: hundred footer = centipede
Waschbär: wash bear = raccoon
Nilpferd/Flusspferd: Nile/River horse = hippopotamus
Vorfreude: pre-joy = anticipation
Muskelkater: muscle hangover = muscle soreness you experience the day after a hard workout
Brustwarze: breast wart = nipple
Staubsauger: dust sucker = vacuum cleaner
Ausweglosigkeit: state of having no way out = hopelessness
Vorstandsvorsitzender: in a company, the one who stands in front of those who sit in front = the chairman of the board
Thanks to everyone who played, and double thanks to everyone who posted their best guesses. Lots of right answers, and many of you seem ready to take the plunge and enroll in a German course of your own.
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So, some of my answers were a little lame. I will admit that the correct answers made perfect sense. If you're German. Which I am not. But, all in all, I think I did pretty well. But seriously, doesn't it make more sense to say rhinoceros than nose horn?
ReplyDeleteThis was absolutely hilarious. Thanks!
ReplyDelete"But seriously, doesn't it make more sense to say rhinoceros than nose horn?"
ReplyDeleteThe literal meaning of "rhinoceros" is "nose horn". Similarly, "suicide" literally means "self-murder", centipede means a "hundred footer", and so on. So English has also many "direct" words, but people normally don't realize it because they don't understand the original languages.
Incidentally, as a native speaker of German, you don't usually stop to think about the individual parts of compound nouns, you just take them for granted. It's funny to get to see them from a different perspective! :)