Berlin FAQ Blog - German

Lost in transit? Or in translation?

nospam@example.com (Mount Penguin) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 19:52:44 +0100

Had a phone call from DHL at Frankfurt Airport earlier today regarding a packet addressed to Mrs. Penguin which had just arrived from the Far East. They were concerned about a possible mismatch between the contents declaration and the actual contents, because one of the items was "ein Notebook", which appeared to be missing (and even if it wasn't, the declared value was way too low).

There was a brief flurry of confusion before I was able to point out that in English, a notebook in its original meaning is a small, low-value item made from paper, and something one might expect to find in a shipment from a stationery company.

Germany, Land of Hungover Pussycats

nospam@example.com (Mount Penguin) — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 09:20:11 +0100

It's not often I have cause to smile in this sort of grotty Berlin staircase, but this grafitti tickles me every time I go past it. It originally said "Deutschland einig Vaterland" - "Germany, united Fatherland", which is a bit like "Rule Britannia" or "God Bless America", though it's actually from the old East German national anthem. Through strategic application of a single line to the "V" in "Vaterland" it now says "Deutschland einig Katerland", "Kater" meaning either "tomcat" (though it sounds to my ears much cuter than the English word) or "to be hungover" (as in "man habe ich einen schlimmen Kater").

Lost in Translation

nospam@example.com (Mount Penguin) — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 06:15:00 +0200

Espied outside the Federal Finance Ministry. Not having a personal staff, I was unable to participate in the wizardry conference.

Anyway, here's my cut-out-and-keep translation guide for the front desk staff down at the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus:

Dschurrmann	inglish
Personal	personnel
persönlich (Adj.)	personal
persönlich (Adv.)	personally

Useful German Phrase

nospam@example.com (Mount Penguin) — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 07:10:00 +0200

Here is one of those phrases which probably isn't be in any guidebook or language course, but is of immense value to know if you're navigating Berlin's transport system: Bitte beachten Sie den Fahrplanaushang.

Literally that means "Please take note of the posted timetable". In reality that means "our hi-tech electronic passenger information system is up the creek, so you'll just have to guess when the next tram is coming, like they did in the old days. Tough cookie." It's sort of Berlin's equivalent of London's "See front of train for destination".

In the U-Bahn it will probably say "Ansage beachten" - "listen to the announcement", which is a welcome opportunity to practice your aural comprehension skills on an announcement issuing forth from a crackly loudspeaker and usually timed to begin just before a train comes thundering in. (Although most times there won't be an announcement).