Archiv der Kategorie: Sprache

A Word That Says it All

Recently, someone on Quora asked „How did the phrase “oy vey” become popularized in the USA?“ This sent me scrambling for my well-leafed copy of Leo Rosten’s wonderful book, Joy of Yiddish, which is the penultimate guide to the variety … Weiterlesen →

Veröffentlicht unter Sprache, Yiddish | Verschlagwortet mit , , , | Hinterlasse einen Kommentar

Apples and Pears

Britain and America may be, as George Bernhard Shaw famously said, two countries separated by a common language, but speakers of Cockney live on an entirely different planet. At least that’s my impresssion after hoisting a couple of pints at … Weiterlesen →

Veröffentlicht unter Sprache | Hinterlasse einen Kommentar

Donald Trump, Typoglycemiast: Elected to lead, not to proofread!

Just about everything about Donald Trump – his hairdo, his sixth-grade vocabulary, his inability to focus on complex issues, his tendency to grope first and think later – have been fodder for journalistic witticisms in the past, but leave it … Weiterlesen →

Veröffentlicht unter An American in Germany, Sprache | Verschlagwortet mit , , , , , , , , , , , | Hinterlasse einen Kommentar

Words with no meaning

There are words that originally had no meaning but aquired one later. Lewis Carroll, the author of “Alice in Wonderland”, was especially good at making up words, many of which have joined the official canon. His usual method was to … Weiterlesen →

Veröffentlicht unter Allgemein, Sprache | Verschlagwortet mit , , , , , , | Hinterlasse einen Kommentar