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German word or typo?

I like the German word Schifffahrt, shipping, for it's 3 Fs!

Editorial note: It didn't always have 3 Fs. The word Schifffahrt is a noun composed of the words Schiff, ship, and Fahrt, ride. Before the orthographic reform in 1996 you'd drop one of the 3 Fs, but after the reform you have to write all 3 of them. The same goes for other interesting compound nouns with three identical vowels or consonants in a row: Stalllaterne, stable lamp, Kaffeeernte, coffee harvest, or Zooorchester, zoo orchestra. Honestly, have you ever seen a zoo orchestra?

Sent by: Felix

Comments

Andy, Nuremberg (D) 2010-01-04

Kaffeeernte - lovely. Actually, you write "Kaffee-Ernte" or "See-Elefant" (elephant seal) to avoid 3 e's in a sequence.

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Sadia, Lahore 2009-11-06

My sister was learning German as a kid and in her English class one day she mixed both languages! When asked what she did on her weekend, she replied 'I became a computer'! when infact she had got one. (to get = bekommen)

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Anonymous, London 2009-10-14

Schusssicher meaning bulletproof, it's also a weird word. I like Pflaumenmus, plum jam.

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doreyart, California, US 2009-09-28

I am looking for a German word used by my husband's family for a light meal. Probably low German. They pronounced it something like 'fasbah'.


Ed. note: That sounds very much like the German word "Vesper", which is exactly what you described - a light meal or snack eaten between bigger meals.

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Aly 2006-07-01

If you all were German pupils (like me) you wouldn't like those words! They're very stupid! Betttuch - sheet - is also one. They want to make a new reform which returns some of the new spelling rules! That's sooooo stuuuuupiiiiid!!!! ):-(

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Claudia 2006-06-18

To Micheal: "Sauerstoffflasche" was spelt in this way even before the ortographic reform. The rule was: dropping the third consonant before a vowel, no dropping before another consonant. Therefore: "Schiffahrt", but "Sauerstoffflasche".

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Chris 2006-03-31

Flussschifffahrt, a river boat trip.

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Paul 2006-02-16

Following the spelling reform, it is also acceptable to write these compand nouns, which result in a triple letter, with a hypen: µþ²¹±ô±ô±ð³Ù³Ù-°Õä²Ô³ú±ð°ù, ballet dancer,
¹ó³Üß²ú²¹±ô±ô-³¢Ã¤²Ô»å±ð°ù²õ±è¾±±ð±ô, international football game. I prefer the triple letter form.

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Zach 2005-10-13

Another word with three consecutive letters is Imbissstube, meaning snack bar.

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Michael 2005-07-19

Sauerstoffflasche, oxygen tank, is an other example.

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