/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.10850364]

What are your favorite untranslatable German words? Like Weltanschauung

[Anonymous No.10850386]

>>10850364
Weltschmerz
Dasein

[Anonymous No.10850396]

>>10850364

>untranslatable

Can't you just, like, make your point without hyperbole?

[Anonymous No.10850423]

Schadenfraude - my feeling towards the modern plight of Germany

[Anonymous No.10850555]

>>10850364
Geist
Geworfenheit
Seinsvergessenheit
fucking Ich, not as I but as self/ego (Selbst and Ego exist in german as well)

[Anonymous No.10850694]

>>10850423
>>10850555
Nice. Geist is the best one.

[Anonymous No.10850702]

>>10850364
Sehnsucht.

[Anonymous No.10850715]

Einzige

[Anonymous No.10850718]

>>10850364
Sachverhalten

[Anonymous No.10850744]

backpfeifengesicht

[Anonymous No.10850746]

>mfw i am german

[Anonymous No.10850753]

Sehnsucht is a beautiful term

[Anonymous No.10850759]

>>10850364
Untranslatable into English?

[Anonymous No.10850786]

>>10850759
Yes like the one above

[Anonymous No.10850793]

They can easily be translated into Dutch
t. Dutch

[Anonymous No.10850801]

>>10850702
>Sehnsucht
I learned this from the song:
>Sehnsucht
>Seuche, sehnsucht noch dir
>Sehnsucht in meinem hattern

[Anonymous No.10850812]

Reading German and Anglo thinkers really makes me consider that the very structure of language limits philosophical thought in some way. Just seeing how they talk about concepts in German philosophy is weird, like they're completely missing the point. I'm slavic myself and though it's obviously a different language, it's not nearly as counter-intuituve to transmit the concepts as it is in English.

[Anonymous No.10850814]

>>10850694
>Geist is the best one.
I do not see a better intrinsic value in "geist" over "ghost". The true difference that I see is that American culture has bastardized the word "ghost" so badly that it is no longer usable in the manner that it should be.

[Anonymous No.10850820]

>>10850812
Example, please.

[Anonymous No.10850824]

>>10850814
>Volksgeist
>Ghost of the people
Kek

[Anonymous No.10850830]

>>10850801
I learned it from C S Lewis

[Anonymous No.10850845]

>>10850824
>Kek
Does that seem odd to you? It seems no more odd to me than saying that a team has "spirit". Or:
>Zeitgeist
It really is a ghost.

[Anonymous No.10850855]

>>10850814
Wouldn't "Spirit" better embody "Geist"?

[Anonymous No.10850861]

>>10850830
>I learned it from C S Lewis
Can you point to this?

[Anonymous No.10850865]

>>10850820
The whole of German Idealism and its reception by thinkers.
I can't exactly point to specific passages here, it's just a general feeling.

[Anonymous No.10850870]

>>10850364
Gezellig!

[Anonymous No.10850891]

>>10850855
>Wouldn't "Spirit" better embody "Geist"?
Only because of evolving connotation and because that is how it is used in the common parlance in English, so far as I know. I study cognates so my sense of connotation is warped. I am "That Guy" that often uses words in casual conversation that others find awkward, though the meaning of the word in question is abundantly clear on observation.

[Anonymous No.10850900]

>>10850870
>Gezellig!
Pic related?

[Anonymous No.10850902]

>>10850845
>Does that seem odd to you?
Yep, sounds like a spooky bed sheet white ghost

[Anonymous No.10850918]

>>10850865
>it's just a general feeling
Kek.
>You know, the Geist of it.
I think I see what you mean. I can see the delta between Deutsch and English but I have little experience with Slavic.

[Anonymous No.10850930]

>>10850891
Considering the fact that geist is usually used in philosophy, it's not a stretch to use either spirit or mind as translations. Ghost obviously has too much of a supernatural connotation in English. Besides, don't Germans call actual ghosts "Gespenster" or something?

[Anonymous No.10850934]

>>10850902
I must carry some of the connotation from Deutsch so the oddity does not strike me. My grandfather was a native speaker of Deutsch and he influence my philosophy heavily, so this is no surprise to me.

[Anonymous No.10850952]

>>10850930
>Besides, don't Germans call actual ghosts "Gespenster" or something?
I have some of the Lese Geister series from Cornelsen that my daughter uses.
>ISBN 978-3-589-00467-6

[Anonymous No.10850972]

>>10850793
Wereldaanschouwing
Erzijn
Enige
Geest
Geworvenheid
Zijnsvergetenheid

Makes philosophy a lot easier

[Anonymous No.10850989]

>>10850364
Heimat
Einzige
Wotan
Weltenwende

[Anonymous No.10850993]

>>10850793
>>10850972
They can be translated to Norwegian pretty well too.

Verdensanskuelse(Weltansschaung)
Enestående(Einzig)
Påkastelse(Geworfenheit)
Værensforglemmelse(Seinsvergessenheit)

Etc.

[Anonymous No.10850998]

>>10850694
Giest can be translated perfectly you mong

[Anonymous No.10851007]

>>10850998
>Giest can be translated perfectly you mong
Though you are entirely correct, I believe what they are intending to communicate is that these words have no direct counterpart in English. I counter this postulation, also, as the counterparts in English do carry much of the same connotation within the scope of literature - just not in the common parlance.

[Anonymous No.10851067]

>>10850998
abstract, unobvious words like "ghost", "spirit", "mind" or "soul" almost always have very different connotations and particularities in different languages
for example, the Russian word "dusha" is usually translated as "soul", even though it often serves similar functions to the English words "heart" and "mind" as a centre of emotions and moral judgement

as a result it has a much broader range of meaning than "soul" and is used much more frequently

[Anonymous No.10851085]

"meas"- understanding and respect for the general estimation of the order of things e.g. You've no meas.

[Anonymous No.10851102]

>>10851067
>almost always have very different connotations and particularities in different languages
Though this may be true to some extent, many /lit/ readers read these texts in a cultural vacuum. Many of these words translate very well from Deutsch and it is only the reader finding peculiarity in many cases. Though we generally use "ghost" in English to mean "apparition" we still do have the phrase;
>giving up the ghost
I am stumped to think of another use for the word "ghost" in this manner - but there it is.

[Anonymous No.10851104]

>>10850900
well it doesn't look like anyone's going to ask you to leave or stop doing what you're doing and looks like you could pull up a seat.

[Anonymous No.10851112]

>>10851102
>ghost
ghost images in art. pepper's ghost in magic. there's a lot of them.

[Anonymous No.10851142]

>>10851112
>there's a lot of them.
You appear to be using the term "ghost" with its connotation of apparition. I am contrasting against that concept.

[Anonymous No.10851162]

>>10851007
Can you explain what you meant at the end? Are you saying that Geist and "spirit" carry the same sort of usages and connotation, because I would agree with you.

[Anonymous No.10851172]

>>10851102
>I am stumped to think of another use for the word "ghost" in this manner
I thought of another: Ryle's "Ghost in the Machine".

[Anonymous No.10851175]

>>10851142
no, ghost images in art don't appear (without using special scanners/destroying the painting), they have to be hidden by another layer on the image. you might be thinking of the physics thing which is later, and i don't understand well enough to say whether it's considered an apparition.

pepper's ghost is an apparition trick, but it's called pepper's ghost despite it not being pepper's. pepper tried to give credit to the inventor, and the press made a lot of jokes about hegel.
so the name is half from it being a phantasm, and half from the naming problem. i think in the end pepper wound up buying out the original inventor since he couldn't promote him or getting sued or something.
i feel like a nerd now thanks

[Anonymous No.10851197]

>>10851162
>Are you saying that Geist and "spirit" carry the same sort of usages and connotation?
Essentially, yes. The point that I am trying to draw, though, is that many of the words that we believe to have a heavy connotation only appear so because we are not as familiar with the language as we could be. I have no trouble with Zeitgest being "the ghost of the time", though this would read as very odd for many people. When I read the word "spirit" the word "ghost" lingers alongside it in connotation. Am I sperging here, or am I communicating this better?

[Anonymous No.10851202]

>>10851175
>i feel like a nerd now
Isn't that why we are here?

[Anonymous No.10851210]

>>10851102
>I am stumped to think of another use for the word "ghost" in this manner - but there it is.
ghosted/ghosting is a new one

[Anonymous No.10851215]

>>10851202
>reminding me where we are
i feel like i should recommend you cards as weapons

[Anonymous No.10851220]

>>10850364
Gemuetlichkeit.

[Anonymous No.10851235]

>>10851210
Thanks. I'll toss a new one in the mix.
>mausetod
I love this because of the imagery.
>anger
>frustration
>disgust
>all culminating in the catharsis of brutality
When the Hausfrau finally gets a hold of that mouse, it is done. Once again, this is translatable - there just is no direct counterpart in English.

[Anonymous No.10851244]

>>10851235
for some reason this reminded me of the Amish word i learnt in a Bryson book
>feddershei
the feeling of not wanting to write letters to people

[Anonymous No.10851261]

>>10851220
>Gemuetlichkeit
I wonder if, as English speakers, we read intensity into the Deutsch words because they took the liberty of combining the concepts into a single word. In English we could still easily express this concept but it would require a phrase.

[Anonymous No.10851266]

>>10851215
>i feel like i should recommend you cards as weapons
Willkommen.

[Anonymous No.10851273]

Volksgemeinschaft

[Anonymous No.10851285]

literally any authentic german word can be translated back into greek

[Anonymous No.10851296]

When will the 'untranslatable' meme die? Why do people think certain languages are imbued with magic powers?

[Anonymous No.10851303]

>>10851244
For some reason this reminded me of the part in the full version of "Sus, liebe Suse" where the child tells her father to pluck the feathers off of the Gockerle and use them to make a mattress for the children. The Rossmann Babydream CD collection has a good rendition of this song.
>Aia poppeia, schlagts Gockerle tot
>Er liegt mir kein Eier und frisst mir mein brot

[Anonymous No.10851313]

>>10851296
>Why do people think certain languages are imbued with magic powers?
For my previously stated reason that they read the "foreign" text in an antiseptic vacuum. What cause have you to try to stop me from enjoying a pleb tier thread?

[Anonymous No.10851330]

More related to translation than not translating things. The word for a hiccough, stammer, sob, gasp, or lull/catch in breath in Irish is "snag". When you add the word for music to make the compound "snagcheoil", it means jazz.

[Anonymous No.10851352]

Kummerspeck

[Anonymous No.10851370]

>>10851352
>Kummerspeck
Well, if you want to go that direction:
>Mitesser
and, perhaps:
>Schambereich
Dare I say:
>Brustwarze?

[Anonymous No.10851518]

Sprechgesang. I picked it up from a music review. There's a practical example of it at 1:44:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu96Zf6EWWA

[Anonymous No.10851537]

>Drachenfutter

Literally "dragon-fodder".

It means the gift you buy your wife when she's angry :) Who says Germans are humourless?

[Anonymous No.10851548]

>>10851518
Auf English, the death metal guys call that the "Cookie Monster Track".

[Anonymous No.10851553]

>>10851537
i fucking hate northern european humor so much you have no idea, i want to strangle every single one of you smug autists when you do the "in Danish 'x' means to wait for the dog to bring back the newspaper" :)))))))))

[Anonymous No.10851563]

>>10851553
lol

[Anonymous No.10851564]

>>10851537
>Who says Germans are humourless?
I'll give you a clue. They hate Germans and they hold controlling interests in publishing, media, and entertainment. Though Germans do certainly exhibit some stereotypical traits, the "humorless" aspect is a forced meme that dissolves upon first objective view.

[Anonymous No.10851577]

>>10851537
>Mutterkuchen
It's not a cake you want to eat. (unless you are a 4chan autist pervert).

[Anonymous No.10851585]

>>10851261
It would be difficult to convey this one in English without raising eyebrows- fellow-feeling, family, friends, warmth, glow, well-being with or without 'plenty,' etc. German's a far more shamelessly intimate language than English.

[Anonymous No.10851600]

>>10851553
lol
Northern Europeans FTW, obviously

[Anonymous No.10851606]

>>10851585

This sounds like the Dutch "gezellig".

[Anonymous No.10851613]

Fernweh

[Anonymous No.10851621]

>>10851613
or Zweisamkeit
or Verzehren
or Ungeziefer

[Anonymous No.10851625]

>>10851585
>It would be difficult to convey this one in English without raising eyebrows
Ah, but you forget that I am a total sperglord and that I have no remaining fornicative acts to bestow.

[Anonymous No.10851644]

>>10851621
>Zweisamkeit
Dass keine Hand die andere fand, und dunkler Wein am Boden rollte.

[Anonymous No.10851666]

>>10851644


Ich schrieb es auf: nicht länger sei verhehlt
Was als gedanken ich nicht mehr verbanne ·
Was ich nicht sage · du nicht fühlst: uns fehlt
Bis an das glück noch eine weite spanne.

An einer hohen blume welkem stiel
Entfaltest du's · ich stehe fern und ahne . .
Es war das weisse blatt das dir entfiel
Die grellste farbe auf dem fahlen plane.

Im freien Viereck mit den gelben steinen
In dessen mitte sich die brunnen regen
Willst du noch flüchtig späte rede pflegen
Da heut dir hell wie nie die Sterne scheinen.

Doch tritt von dem basaltenen behälter!
Er winkt die toten zweige zu bestatten ·
Im vollen mondenlichte weht es kälter
Als drüben unter jener föhren schatten . .

Ich lasse meine grosse traurigkeit
Dich falsch erraten um dich zu verschonen ·
Ich fühle hat die zeit uns kaum entzweit
So wirst du meinen traum nicht mehr bewohnen.

[Anonymous No.10851668]

>>10850364
Heil Hitler

[Anonymous No.10851688]

>>10851625
Failed to accompt for this, anon. That spiritual realms inclusive of the diction-ary remain open to thee prompts me shake thy spiritual hand. Bless thee, and good luck!
>Hals und Bein....

[Anonymous No.10851712]

>>10850824
spirit of the people

[Anonymous No.10851720]

>>10851666
Even as a german you have problems 'understanding' poems like that.

also nice trips

[Anonymous No.10851722]

Japanese counting tells you the shape of the objects being counted (bigger than a breadbox, human shaped, all kinds of shit).

I'm surprised none of the Germans on the board mentioned Heimat.

Is there a translation for palaver from English? It's talking nonsense at length when you should be doing business, resulting from the sound of market trade.

[Anonymous No.10851757]

>>10851688
>>Hals und Bein....
Hand und Fuss haben.

[Anonymous No.10851769]

>>10851720
>Even as a german you have problems 'understanding' poems like that.
>So wirst du meinen traum nicht mehr bewohnen.
You need to live this first before you can truly appreciate it, regardless of your language skills.

[Anonymous No.10851792]

>>10851757
Danke.

[Anonymous No.10851810]

>>10850364
>mfw wille

[Anonymous No.10851819]

>>10851722
palaver also concerns that person who talks at length (about what he at best only cursorily knows) with an attitude of knowing..

[Anonymous No.10851831]

>>10851819
Yeah, there's a sense of frothed up talk about it. Blagging might not have a translation from English either come to think about it.

[Anonymous No.10851840]

>>10851792
Es ist wie Vogelscheisse, mein Freund.

[Anonymous No.10851855]

>>10851819
Part of the magic of Deutsch is that you can just combine whatever words are necessary to create the word that you need. It is totally accepted. They have literally made an art form out of it. English speakers are too uptight about conservatism. Make your own Deutsch word for your purpose.

[Anonymous No.10851857]

>>10851831
>Blagging
done by a Hochstapler/Schwindler/Betrüger? you can have your pick of verbs from them.

[Anonymous No.10851869]

>>10850753
Literally saudade

[Anonymous No.10851892]

>>10851668
Hitler hat kein unangmessen getan.

[Anonymous No.10851895]

>>10851840
Hey! Got that one right!

[Anonymous No.10851909]

>>10851895
Jetz, hab' Ich keine Zeit.
Tschuss. Alles bestens.

[Anonymous No.10851924]

>>10851909
As well. Cheers.

[Anonymous No.10851931]

>Doch

[Anonymous No.10851939]

>>10851855
>Part of the magic of Deutsch is that you can just combine whatever words are necessary to create the word that you need. It is totally accepted.
This, instead of "laptop" you could make the word "Zusammenkloppenbarrechner", which means "foldable computer"

[Anonymous No.10851940]

>>10851931
And also
>Scheinheilig
>Schweigt

[Anonymous No.10851971]

>>10850993
Ayy noen norske her

[Anonymous No.10851975]

>>10850746
>mfw I am learning german

[Anonymous No.10851979]

>>10851971
>Hirraus, Maus!

[Anonymous No.10851981]

>>10851975
>>mfw I am learning german
There is absolutely no reason for it to not be fun.

[Anonymous No.10851989]

>>10851518
>death metal grows
>Spechgesang
no, that's not what it means. Sprechgesang (speech singing) just means rap

[Anonymous No.10852034]

>>10851939
>Zusammenkloppenbarrechner
not how it works
you can't just combine "zusammenklappbar" und "rechner" into one word, doing that with adjectives and nouns sounds like shit to a german speaker
As a german you would say "Klapprechner" instead, if you really want to make up your own word

[Anonymous No.10852053]

Komisch

[Anonymous No.10852055]

>>10852034
Ok. I just wanted to make something that sounded intimidating. I was 16 when I made up that word, and I'm glad someone took the time to fix it.

[Anonymous No.10852118]

>>10850702
>>10850801
Gneiss.
>Spannungsbogen
I liked Dune

[Anonymous No.10852147]

>>10851892
Hitler hat nichts falsch gemacht

[Anonymous No.10852244]

>>10852147
Vielen Dank, Herr Senpai.

[Anonymous No.10852408]

Reeeee, I fucked up, my dudes.

[Anonymous No.10852497]

Umnachtung

[Anonymous No.10853479]

>>10852497
Correct my etymology if I am wrong.
>Derangement
>Umnachtung
>The state of being of having the night about you.
Gute Nacht, famalam.

[Anonymous No.10854045]

>>10852408
>Reeeee
Kein Problem, Duderino. Ich habe viel Spass hier gemacht.

[Anonymous No.10854240]

>>10851939
>>10852034

I made this one up a few years back, for the indolent type lacking any sense of urgency:

>Rolltreppenichtstuer
("One who loiters on escalators")

[Anonymous No.10854270]

>>10850364
sonder?

[Anonymous No.10854304]

>cite words newly created within the work of a philosopher (e.g. Schoppy)
>"they can't be translated"
wat?
You can assign any new word to those concept (signifies, if you will) and assign the notions explained and outlined in those very books, and thus you have translated it.

You can call "Dasein", which wasn't used like that before his book, by "googoo" and you don't need a translation anymore. The fact that they are usually composite of other German words with slightly related meanings doesn't add something that's crucial and that couldn't be dropped.

[Anonymous No.10854327]

>>10850820
I feel the same way about English. It feels like clumsy using think fingers to say something in sign language. Obviously slavic ranks even lower than English in this regard, it's like grunting. Which is why Slavs aren't philosophers but good, conversational drinkers instead.

[Anonymous No.10855333]

>>10850793
Daily reminder that dutch is just a dialect of the german language.

[Anonymous No.10855342]

Außenküchenlösung
Fristsetzungsentbehrlichkeitsgrund

[Anonymous No.10855352]

>>10855333
and Germany is a region of north africa

[Anonymous No.10855609]

>>10851989
I thought it was a form of dramatic vocal that is somewhere between talking and singing?

Maybe my example was closer to sprechstimme. If you listen to the vocals around that section you'll notice that is a deliberate gear-shift.

[Anonymous No.10855620]

>>10854327
>Obviously slavic ranks even lower than English in this regard, it's like grunting.
I don't think you've ever heard someone speak a Slavic language. "Grunting" would be more apt for Dutch and/or Danish.

[Anonymous No.10855850]

>>10850972
Terrible translations.

[Anonymous No.10855870]

>>10850865
German idealism was rejected by the Anglos not because they did not understand it, but because they did. It's antithetical to their general worldview.

[Anonymous No.10856038]

>>10850793
Same goes for Hungarian in most cases. Living next to each other for so long has some perks.

[Anonymous No.10856751]

>>10850865
Schopenhauer often used Latin and Greek phrases in his books and I'm fairly sure he thought anybody who didn't know those languages could not truly understand philosophical thought. It made me conscious that only understanding English, as I do, is limiting to some degree - but I haven't done anything about it!

[Anonymous No.10857026]

>>10850364
dreilochstute

[Anonymous No.10857081]

>>10850364
feuertrunken
götterfunken
volk

[Anonymous No.10857277]

>>10850364
>this thread is still alive
>Flugabwehr
It just has a ring to it.

[Anonymous No.10857285]

>>10850364
doesn't weltanshauung mean worldview?

[Anonymous No.10857458]

>>10857285
We already determined that OP is a brainlet. That cannot stop us from enjoying the thread.
>Suchspassseite
und auch
>Giftgas
I have not explored the etymology of "Gift" yet. I am curious to see if there is a cognate to the English "gift" or if it is just a coincidence of parallel evolution.

[Anonymous No.10857488]

make me a german word for people that only buy reduced food at supermarkets plzzzz

[Anonymous No.10857512]

>>10850364

Bakkushan: a woman who is attractive from behind but not the front, from Japanese

[Anonymous No.10857525]

Lebenskunst: the art of living—learned from an elderly lady taxi driver in Munich, who told me she liked to do gymnastics nude in the forest

[Anonymous No.10857701]

Hungerkünstler

[Anonymous No.10857767]

>>10851007
>>10850364
I think the untranslatable nature of these words comes from cultural connotations that are slowly being bred out of existence, so enjoy them while they last!

[Anonymous No.10857771]

>>10857488
Rabattküchenkaufer

[Anonymous No.10857785]

>>10857512
>from Japanese

Makes sense

[Anonymous No.10857794]

>>10857701
thats me nigga

[Anonymous No.10857796]

>>10857512
>>10857785
kek

[Anonymous No.10857885]

Wehmut

[Anonymous No.10858246]

halt / eben / nun einmal / nunmal

[Anonymous No.10858250]

eigentlich

[Anonymous No.10858324]

>>10858250
>Moglichkeit

[Anonymous No.10858402]

sitzpinkler

[Anonymous No.10858468]

>>10850396
le reddit