Posts in July 2009

Die Onomatopöie

Posted by Yohann

See how many of these look familar to you

plitsch, platsch

summ summ

bumm!

trörö

tatütata

mäh

hatschi!

wuff wuff

peng

piep piep

klingling

miau

muh

kuckuck

 

German Proverbs Translated

Posted by Yohann

1) Basically saying that a blind man should not be a judge of colors. In other words, a person should not talk about things he knows not.

2) Be a friend to one and an enemy to none. This is a good general motto to follow, isn’t it?

3) Confession of a fault is half the amends, or admitting guilt is the first step.

4) Deeds are fruits, words are but leaves. Said in a different way, actions speak louder than words.

5) Every man is the maker of his own fortune.

6) Every man thinks his own geese swans. It’s like saying every father thinks his children are the best looking or more generally, every man thinks his ___ is the best.

7) He that has a wolf for his companion, must carry a dog under his cloak. If you hang out with a bad crowd, you have to watch your back (ex: carry a gun/dog for self-defense).

8) He that pries into every bush will hardly get into the wood. If you over analyze the details, you’ll never get the big picture.

9) He that dispraises a thing wants it for himself. When someone wants something he’ll try to put it down out of envy.

10) He who goes borrowing goes sorrowing. If you borrow money you’ll grow to regret it later.

11) He who judges between two friends, loses one or both. Taking sides will affect your friendships.

12) He who served well need not be afraid to ask for his wages. If you’ve worked hard and did all you were told to do, you won’t feel guilty when you ask what you are due.

13) Hunger is the best sauce. When you’re hungry everthing tates good.

14) Impatience gathers unripe fruit. Hasty decisions cause hasty results.

15) Liars should have good memories.

 

German Proverbs

Posted by Yohann

Here are some of my favorite German proverbs. Let’s see if you can understand some of them.

1) Er spricht davon, wie der Blinde von der Farbe.

2) Eines Freund, keines Feind

3) Bekannt, ist halb gebüsst

4) Worte sind gut, wenn Werke folgen

5) Jeder ist seines Glücks Schmidt

6) Jedem dünkt seine Eule ein Falk

7) Wer bei’m Wolf zu Gevatter stehen will, muss einen Hund unter’m Mantel haben

8) Wer sich alle Büsche besieht, kommt selten zu Holze

9) Wer verachtet, der will kaufen

10) Borgen macht Sorgen

11) Wer zwischen zweien Freunden Richter ist, verliert den einen

12) Ein Dienst ist des andern werth

13) Hunger ist der beste Koch

14) Wenn Du die Angel ziehst zu früh, so fängst Du nie

15) Lügner muss ein gut Gedächtniss haben

 

Answers to the Word the Day

Posted by Yohann

1) shy - schüchtern

2) pain - der Schmerz

3) sweet - süss

4) rarely - selten

5) rich - reich

6) neighbor - der Nachbar

7) mouth - der Mund

8) office - das Büro

9) later - später

10) also - auch

11) to sit - sitzen

12) vacation - der Urlaub

13) together - zusammen

14) hospital - das Krankenhaus

15) to think - denken

 

Word of the Day Practice

Posted by Yohann

Time for the Word of the Day vocab practice. The goal is to identify the German counterpart to the English words below. All the words are used from the Word of the Day.

1) shy

2) pain

3) sweet

4) rarely

5) rich

6) neighbor

7) mouth

8) office

9) later

10) also

11) to sit

12) vacation

13) together

14) hospital

15) to think