Sunday, July 29, 2018

Sayings in German that annoy me

...and probably shouldn't!

Yes, this is completely ridiculous, but the following sayings always invoke a slight ping of annoyance* when I see them.

  • Hallo zusammen This is a common greeting for a group and the spirit of what it means is "hello everyone." However, the direct translation is "hello together," and people often write it as such in English and I think, no, no, no as it doesn't make sense in English.
  • Words that have an English origin but are used incorrectly in German: oh, let's see: Handy (a cell phone; normally it's an adjective in English meaning "useful"); public viewing; and so on

*I don't say anything about it, though, besides here, as really, does it matter in the long run? I'm sure I use German in silly ways too. I also feel annoyance when people use the redundant English expressions like Jewish rabbi; advance notice; new technology (oh, how we've debated this one in my family); circle around, and so on.