Other great words
Some of my favourites are Sommersprossen - freckles, literally summer germination, also Flitterwochen which has to be the best word for honeymoon, meaning 'fluttering weeks'. Krankenwagen means exactly what it is: sick person's car, 'ambulance'.
Sent by: Adrian
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I really like the slangs "Hau ab!" meaning Get lost and "Halt deinen Mund!" that means Shut up. Easy and effective.
I am not a native of Germany but learning German out of interest.
Yes, you are right. I'm German and it is really weird that we use the word handy for mobile or cellular phone.
But the most Germans know that this is "false" English.
The German word for mobile phone is das Handy, and they think it is what the English say as well but it's not.
I was in Germany in the winter and was delighted to discover their word for glove: Handschuh literally hand shoe.
Hospital: in German Krankenhaus = sick house. In Dutch Ziekenhaus = sick house. Spital = Austrian and Swiss German for hospital.
Besides, a remark from me:
The "ambulance" IS indeed a car.
However, if you see a sign "Ambulanz" in Germany, this means that you will be medically treated and may go home afterwards.
The opposite is "stationär" that is if you get assigned a bed inside the hospital.
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