Thanks. I wasted a year on Duolingo and got very little idioms, just some supposedly common sayings like das is schnee von gestern, oder es kostet nur einen apfel und ein ei.
Honestly, ich_iel has done more for my understanding than Duolingo did, but it is still almost nil.
In some areas people pronounce an initial ch as a k, like kina instead china. But apart from that neither of the two actual ch sounds exists in English.
That's not a valid comparison at all, and it's not pedantic to point that out no matter how preemptively you claim that it is.
Bilapial ≠ lapiodental! It's not that hard to understand.
The entire similarity between K and the German Ch is based on them both being velar (and unvoiced). You're crafting a strawman by focusing on the "fricative and plosive" manner while ignoring that the sound is made at the same place.
S and T are almost a better comparison because they're both technically alveolar, but that ignores the fact that S has a dental component. Try making a T sound and then an S sound without moving your teeth. It won't work.
The phrase is funny when you anglicize the pronunciation. Is this really a comprehension issue?
BuT tHaTs NoT hOw YoU sAy It~
Ya... everybody knows. I really didn't expect the conversation on this joke to be so divided, but I guess the Germans are living up to their reputation for their sense of humour.
Behold: Metten's "Dicke Sauerländer Bockwurst" (Thick Sauerländer Sausage - Sauerländer is an ambiguous term that means to say the sausage is from the "Sauerland" region, but a person from that region would be referred to as a Sauerländer as well)
Why are Americans literally seemingly physically incapable of pronouncing words like "suchen" and "dich" in the proper way? Of course I am biased as a native german speaker, but I swear, those sounds aren't that complicated to make?
The problem isnt that they are complicated to say but that german and english use different letter and phonic pronounciation. So without any german lessons an english speaker wouldnt be aware of that.
77 Comments
deacon@lemmy.world · 89 pts · 161d
Isn’t it closer to “we are looking for you”?
realitaetsverlust@piefed.zip · 71 pts · 161d
If you take it literally, yes, but it is usually used in a hiring context.
deacon@lemmy.world · 33 pts · 161d
Thanks. I wasted a year on Duolingo and got very little idioms, just some supposedly common sayings like das is schnee von gestern, oder es kostet nur einen apfel und ein ei.
Honestly, ich_iel has done more for my understanding than Duolingo did, but it is still almost nil.
idiomaddict@lemmy.world · 31 pts · 161d
Careful, Zangendeutsch is a trap for English speakers. Like, not an intentional one, but you have to check the vocab you pick up there.
islandcoda42@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 160d
I’m still working on my die/ der/ das ‘s
luxadazy@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 160d
zaphod@sopuli.xyz · 28 pts · 161d
suchen = to search/look for
and ch doesn't make a k sound, not even close.
justme@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 16 pts · 161d
Aaah, thanks, I had a hard time to figure out what is supposed to be funny here.
meekah@discuss.tchncs.de · 9 pts · 161d
I'm fairly certain the German ch sound doesn't exist in English
hikaru755@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 161d
Made even worse by the fact that depending on the word it can make two different sounds and neither of them exist in English
zaphod@sopuli.xyz · 5 pts · 161d
In some areas people pronounce an initial ch as a k, like kina instead china. But apart from that neither of the two actual ch sounds exists in English.
CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de · 3 pts · 161d
Und often enough, ch is pronounced (t)sh, like China, duchess, choose or Apache.
nightlily@leminal.space · 7 pts · 161d
Unless you’re a Berliner, but then you have to wonder why your baked goods are talking, and why they insist on being called Pfannkuchen instead.
wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz · 3 pts · 161d
Well it is close, though. A velar fricative versus a velar plosive. Both unvoiced.
jaennaet@sopuli.xyz · 7 pts · 161d
zaphod@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 161d
Korean for example doesn't have an F sound, a lot of loanwords that have an F sound use P instead, France turns into Prangseu and coffee to copy.
jaennaet@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 160d
InFerNo@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 161d
In Dutch, a T is sometimes pronounced S
Politie (police) is pronounced polisie for example
In the word politiek (politics) it remains a T sound
Democratie -> democrasie
Etcetera
zaphod@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 161d
You find that in a lot of european languages, even in English almost everything that ends in -tion is pronounced -shon.
jaennaet@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 160d
wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 160d
That's not a valid comparison at all, and it's not pedantic to point that out no matter how preemptively you claim that it is.
Bilapial ≠ lapiodental! It's not that hard to understand.
The entire similarity between K and the German Ch is based on them both being velar (and unvoiced). You're crafting a strawman by focusing on the "fricative and plosive" manner while ignoring that the sound is made at the same place.
S and T are almost a better comparison because they're both technically alveolar, but that ignores the fact that S has a dental component. Try making a T sound and then an S sound without moving your teeth. It won't work.
jaennaet@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 160d
meekah@discuss.tchncs.de · 1 pts · 160d
Coming back to this thread, because sometimes it actually is pronounced as a k
e.g. Fuchs, Lachs, wachsen
tbf, it usually is not a k, and most importantly it isn't in this context
zaphod@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 160d
Yeah, but only in combination with an s, so it's chs that's pronounced as ks.
meekah@discuss.tchncs.de · 1 pts · 160d
oooh good point
Deceptichum@quokk.au · -7 pts · 161d
meekah@discuss.tchncs.de · 8 pts · 161d
This is about German, not English
Deceptichum@quokk.au · 1 pts · 161d
meekah@discuss.tchncs.de · 2 pts · 160d
the statement you replied to was about how ch sounds in german though
jaennaet@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 161d
Deceptichum@quokk.au · 2 pts · 161d
jaennaet@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 161d
CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de · -2 pts · 161d
I see. So it's kina, dukess, koose and Apake? Gotta have a word with some english teakers, brb.
meekah@discuss.tchncs.de · 1 pts · 160d
zaphod@sopuli.xyz · 3 pts · 161d
I just so happen to have passed by one of my old schools, what should I do next?
glorkon@lemmy.world · 39 pts · 161d
Must be a case of this superior sense of humor that we Germans famously do not possess.
Qwel@sopuli.xyz · 12 pts · 161d
"ch" is sometimes pronounced "k" in some languages, but then it's quite rare
After considering the issue for a while, I think people just really really want to see dicks everywhere
FelixCress@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 161d
For that, all you need to do is to turn on the TV and watch any news.
RisingSwell@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 161d
Happens often in English even if it isn't the default. Chasm and school for example.
InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 161d
Enjoy
TerdFerguson@lemmy.world · 21 pts · 160d
Haaaaaa. C’mon Deutschland, its a funny phrase. We don’t need a lesson in pronunciation.
In Estonian, twelve months is kaksteist kuud Sounds like “cocks taste good”.
We’re all allowed to enjoy the penis humour.
Jiral@lemmy.org · 0 pts · 160d
That's the thing though. The sign says something like "we're sooshan deesh"
TerdFerguson@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 160d
The phrase is funny when you anglicize the pronunciation. Is this really a comprehension issue?
BuT tHaTs NoT hOw YoU sAy It~
Ya... everybody knows. I really didn't expect the conversation on this joke to be so divided, but I guess the Germans are living up to their reputation for their sense of humour.
Jiral@lemmy.org · 1 pts · 160d
You are just envious that they have Suchard chocolate in Switzerland.
TerdFerguson@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 160d
ZINGER
Knossos@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 161d
What gets me is the potatoes that are advertised as extra big...
"Extra dick!"
python@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 161d
Behold: Metten's "Dicke Sauerländer Bockwurst" (Thick Sauerländer Sausage - Sauerländer is an ambiguous term that means to say the sausage is from the "Sauerland" region, but a person from that region would be referred to as a Sauerländer as well)
Jorn@sh.itjust.works · 17 pts · 160d
Knowing the German pronunciation makes it not as funny. But seeing "extra dick burgers" at the store still gives me a chuckle.
SchwertImStein@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 15 pts · 161d
Oh, this must be so funny when you are monolingual and have no idea how to pronounce German
smuuthbrane@sh.itjust.works · 15 pts · 161d
I never knew the Germans were so open about fellation.
NottaLottaOcelot@lemmy.ca · 10 pts · 161d
They’re not, but it’s the wurst kept secret in all of Europe
smuuthbrane@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 161d
I should have known Germans are all about sausage.
Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 12 pts · 161d
We're sucking dick?
Aah no its german, sorry.
Etterra@discuss.online · 12 pts · 161d
And like most German things, they're saying it in the most terrifying way possible.
hOrni@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 160d
When You speak German to a polish person he will respond with "don't shoot".
python@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 161d
I disagree, because them still searching at least means they haven't found you yet.
ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml · 8 pts · 161d
inari@piefed.zip · 4 pts · 161d
Delicious warm cock? Sign me up!
xx3rawr@sh.itjust.works · 7 pts · 160d
We're suckin dick 🫵
TerdFerguson@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 160d
Who is the "we" here?!
altphoto@lemmy.today · 6 pts · 160d
I wanna be suchen big dich too but my wife is not really too much into it.
TerdFerguson@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 160d
don't you mean "dicke dich" :p
CIA_chatbot@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 160d
There is a “20 bucks is 20 bucks” joke in here somewhere
sem@piefed.blahaj.zone · 4 pts · 160d
Reminds me of Djengis Kahn - Moskau https://youtu.be/rFUloAg1iXk
BenLeMan@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 160d
Moskau, Moskau, hahahahaha!
For more musical goofiness involving Russia, check out Boney M. - Rasputin (also from Germany.)
chrizzly@feddit.org · 3 pts · 160d
To be fair that song is a Disco cult classic. That bassline goes hard.
sem@piefed.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 160d
thorhop@sopuli.xyz · 4 pts · 160d
The Germophiles came en masse to correct the translation. I guess they were "suchen dich", op.
QuinnyCoded@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 160d
I really lost track of what's going on in this thread anymore but I give you 1 gold sheckle for a hearty chuckle
dreamless_day@feddit.org · 1 pts · 160d
forestbeasts@pawb.social · 1 pts · 160d
This is on the level of Fahrt jokes and I'm here for it. :3
-- Frost
FelixCress@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 161d
Are you confusing H with K?
zerobot@lemmy.wtf · -2 pts · 161d
are you fun at parties?
FelixCress@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 161d
Yes. Your point is?
zerobot@lemmy.wtf · 3 pts · 161d
i thought you are being too pedantic is all
Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 160d
Not pedantic, just plain wrong.
This joke only works if you don't know anything about the German language...
zerobot@lemmy.wtf · 0 pts · 160d
FelixCress@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 160d
You do realise I am not German? It is still not funny.
zerobot@lemmy.wtf · 1 pts · 160d
its funny and you are german, accept it
zerobot@lemmy.wtf · 0 pts · 160d
TerdFerguson@lemmy.world · -1 pts · 160d
Dicke Titten - Rammstein
bridgeburner@lemmy.world · -7 pts · 160d
Why are Americans literally seemingly physically incapable of pronouncing words like "suchen" and "dich" in the proper way? Of course I am biased as a native german speaker, but I swear, those sounds aren't that complicated to make?
JackFrostNCola@aussie.zone · 7 pts · 160d
The problem isnt that they are complicated to say but that german and english use different letter and phonic pronounciation. So without any german lessons an english speaker wouldnt be aware of that.