Up to now I have avoided the “elephant in the room” – BREXIT. I can understand if you have had your fill of this topic. If so, maybe it is time for you to stop reading. Sorry, but I feel it’s time for me to let off a bit of steam.
Continue reading “Brexit Mess”
I always have difficulty remembering the expression for ‘savoury’ in German. Is it “herzhafte” or “deftig” or “pikant”?
Continue reading “The Measure of English Cooking”People often talk about having a “sweet tooth“, but what do you have if you prefer savoury food?
I don’t think it would be wrong to say that, as a nation, the English have got a “sweet tooth”. Brits are famous for their sweet cakes; such as, scones, Victoria sponge cake and apple pie – but the days of eating them everyday, for most people, have gone. Thank goodness!
Continue reading “A Sweet Tooth”I haven’t written for a while but my energy level is up again after a wonderful visit to my home city of York.
We left Düsseldorf with its breezy -5 degrees and arrived, after a short flight in a small propeller driven “Flybe” plane, at Leeds/Bradford airport to +12 degrees. Why did we pack all our winter woollies?
Read moreOne of my favourite songs is “No Roots” by Alice Merton. This fits with my recent post about our visit to a restaurant in York. Alice Merton sings about not having any roots (Wurzeln) and that she is always on the move. The question is: how important is it to establish roots? Are, as she implies, memories (Erinnerungen) enough?
Continue reading “No Roots”Before coming to Germany I had never heard of the expression “false friend” before. I soon learnt through my mistakes! There are some words in English which sound or look similar in German, but have a different meaning. This can cause confusion, if not, on occasions embarrassment.
You can find a list of the most common ones in every English school book or check out the link: www.englisch-hilfen.de.
I once embarrassed myself at a party when a German friend told a joke about a “Präservativ”. I thought he was talking about “jam” (Konservierungsmittel) only to be told he was actually talking about condoms!! No wonder I didn’t get the joke!
Here are some False Friends to be aware of:
backside: das Hinterteil die Rückseite: back
bodybag: der Leichensack die Bodybag : mono-strap backpack
chef: der Küchenchef der Chef: boss
gift: das Geschenk das Gift: poison
If a German were sitting in a restaurant and heard you say: “Did the boss give you a gift for your birthday?”, he or she may be a little worried!
Kettle: “a container or device in which water is boiled, having a lid, a spout and handle”.
I recently received a high tech kettle as a birthday present. It’s great. I can now boil the water at the correct temperature for all my teas. No longer do I have to take the lid off the kettle to wait until I think it’s cooled to 80 degrees. White, yellow, green, black.. all tasting perfect.
This blog is pure self-indulgence. Written as a record of my ramdom thoughts. I sometimes think my pattern of thinking is a little like a rubber ball (Flummi) bouncing around in my head. So many ideas pinging off in all directions. (That reminds me of the song:”Rubber Ball” by Bobby Vee from 1961. Check it out on You Tube!)
Continue reading “About me”I am sure you are aware that we English celebrate Christmas in a different way to people in Germany. The most obvious difference is that presents are not opened until Christmas Day, 25th December. This can prove a bit of a challenge when you have children and live as an expat in Germany.
Continue reading “Christmas Confusion”
Jürgen Klopp, the German football manager of Premier League club 
Liverpool , has given a lot of press interviews in English. His English is actually very good but at times he has caused a little confusion and hilarity amongst journalists. His use of German idioms or expressions, which he directly translates into English, do not always make sense to an Englishman.
I call this “Klopp-English” or kloppism. Maybe the most famous of these was: this is not a “wish concert.” (Das Leben ist kein Wunschkonzert).
Here is a list of possible kloppisms and the English expression. Do you recognise them?
“Don’t be the offended liver sausage!”- Don’t get in a huff!
“That is jacket like trousers.” – It’s the same difference.
“Keep the ears stiff” – Keep your chin up.
“Dead trousers” – Nothing happening/doing.
“A soft egg” – A wimp or wussy.
