“You little snickelfritz!” An Indiana man says his mother used to call him that when she meant “You little rascal!” Although the term’s meaning has changed over time, its original meaning was a bit naughty. This is part...
Beware of false friends, those words that don’t translate the way you’d expect. For example, the word “gift” in German means “poison,” and the Spanish word “tuna” means “the fruit of the prickly...
Mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah… MmmmmWAH! Martha shares the German verb that means to plant one last kiss in a series of them. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “One Last Kiss” So, Grant, I’m reading this book...
The English word ouch is not universal. Michelle from Dallas, Texas, wondered whether people in all languages say it when they stub a toe, and the answer is no. Every language has its own short, vowel-heavy interjection. German speakers say autsch...
Hitler weather n.— Note: Discussed in American Speech vol. 21, no. 1 (Feb., 1946), pp. 76-77, and vol. 22, no. 1 (Feb., 1947), pp. 74-75. «Amid the brilliant sunshine which Germans call “Hitler weather”—they used to call it...
screenseller n.— «Yes24, an online bookstore, said the original novel on which the film “The Reader” is based, published in 1995 by German author Bernhard Schlink, saw an average of 19 copies sold monthly since the book was first...