downgeload
v.— «My favorite new set of German words has to do with technology. Who knew that “e-mail” was an inseparable verb, evidenced by the past tense of the verb, “ge-emailed?” But be sure to separate the verb “download,” so when it’s done, you can tell me it’s “downgeloaded.”» —“A Denglish primer” by Elizabeth Book Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Germany) May 21, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a word-pecker is “a person who trifles or plays with, or quibbles over, words.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Word-Peckers” I always love it when I’m looking through the dictionary and...
In English, we may express regret colloquially with the rhyming phrase Shoulda, woulda, coulda! German speakers also use a rhyming phrase to suggest the same idea: Hätte, hätte, Fahrradkette!, which translates literally as “If only, if only, bicycle...