Just got a text from my kid "What is awesome in German?" Numerous smart-ass answers leaped to mind, including "idiomatic", "Anne- Sophie Mutter", "Katerina Witt", etc. But I thought perhaps he meant "what German idiom means the same as the US idiom 'awesome'?" Anyone know? Jeorg? -- www.wescottdesign.com
What is awesome in German?
Started by ●November 21, 2009
Reply by ●November 21, 20092009-11-21
Tim Wescott wrote:> Just got a text from my kid "What is awesome in German?" > > Numerous smart-ass answers leaped to mind, including "idiomatic", "Anne- > Sophie Mutter", "Katerina Witt", etc. > > But I thought perhaps he meant "what German idiom means the same as the > US idiom 'awesome'?" > > Anyone know? Jeorg?http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/ Apparently "Hammer!" is the most appropriate translation, followed by "(echt|super|affen-) geil. (Warning: "geil" in German also means "horny") Richard Rasker -- http://www.linetec.nl
Reply by ●November 21, 20092009-11-21
"Tim Wescott" <tim@seemywebsite.com> schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:VfudnRLBqfijppXWnZ2dnUVZ_oOdnZ2d@web-ster.com...> Just got a text from my kid "What is awesome in German?" > > Numerous smart-ass answers leaped to mind, including "idiomatic", "Anne- > Sophie Mutter", "Katerina Witt", etc. > > But I thought perhaps he meant "what German idiom means the same as the > US idiom 'awesome'?" > > Anyone know? Jeorg? > > -- > www.wescottdesign.comHello Tim, I looked in a dictionary in the Internet and was surprised that the meaning of "awesome" in the US is very different from the meaning in England. awesome in the US: fantastisch, gro�artig. stark, toll awesome in England: ehrf�rchtig, schrecklich www.leo.org http://dict.leo.org/ende?lp=ende&lang=de&searchLoc=0&cmpType=relaxed§Hdr=on&spellToler=on&chinese=both&pinyin=diacritic&search=awesome&relink=on Best regards, Helmut Germany
Reply by ●November 21, 20092009-11-21
Tim Wescott wrote:> Just got a text from my kid "What is awesome in German?" > > Numerous smart-ass answers leaped to mind, including "idiomatic", "Anne- > Sophie Mutter", "Katerina Witt", etc. > > But I thought perhaps he meant "what German idiom means the same as the > US idiom 'awesome'?" > > Anyone know? Jeorg? >ehrf�rchtig Maybe..
Reply by ●November 21, 20092009-11-21
"Helmut Sennewald" <helmutsennewald@t-online.de> wrote in message news:he9f72$917$01$1@news.t-online.com...> "Tim Wescott" <tim@seemywebsite.com> schrieb im Newsbeitrag > news:VfudnRLBqfijppXWnZ2dnUVZ_oOdnZ2d@web-ster.com... >> Just got a text from my kid "What is awesome in German?" >> >> Numerous smart-ass answers leaped to mind, including "idiomatic", "Anne- >> Sophie Mutter", "Katerina Witt", etc. >> >> But I thought perhaps he meant "what German idiom means the same as the >> US idiom 'awesome'?" >> >> Anyone know? Jeorg? >> >> -- >> www.wescottdesign.com > > > Hello Tim, > > I looked in a dictionary in the Internet and was surprised that the > meaning of "awesome" in the US is very different from the meaning in > England. > > > awesome in the US: fantastisch, gro�artig. stark, toll > > awesome in England: ehrf�rchtig, schrecklich > > www.leo.org > > http://dict.leo.org/ende?lp=ende&lang=de&searchLoc=0&cmpType=relaxed§Hdr=on&spellToler=on&chinese=both&pinyin=diacritic&search=awesome&relink=on > > > > Best regards, > Helmut > GermanyIn the UK nowadays the expression 'awesome' is recognised by (some) adults as an imported, fashionable, over-used way of saying 'good'. The original meaning has probably been de-valued by the new wave. Chris
Reply by ●November 21, 20092009-11-21
Jamie wrote:> Tim Wescott wrote: >> Just got a text from my kid "What is awesome in German?" >> >> Numerous smart-ass answers leaped to mind, including "idiomatic", "Anne- >> Sophie Mutter", "Katerina Witt", etc.But then the question would be "What is awesome in Germany?", not German?> ehrf�rchtigThis is not very often used. In general it depends on the context. Anne-Sophie Mutter, Bach, Max Planck, Albert Einstein etc. is "gro�artig" and "fantastisch", Katerina Witt is "toll" (maybe "gro�artig", too, if you like figure skating) and the Cologne Cathedral can be "ehrfurchtgebietend". -- Frank Buss, fb@frank-buss.de http://www.frank-buss.de, http://www.it4-systems.de
Reply by ●November 21, 20092009-11-21
On Nov 21, 2:31=C2=A0pm, "Helmut Sennewald" <helmutsennew...@t-online.de> wrote:> "Tim Wescott" <t...@seemywebsite.com> schrieb im Newsbeitragnews:VfudnRLB=qfijppXWnZ2dnUVZ_oOdnZ2d@web-ster.com...> > > Just got a text from my kid "What is awesome in German?" > > > Numerous smart-ass answers leaped to mind, including "idiomatic", "Anne=-> > Sophie Mutter", "Katerina Witt", etc. > > > But I thought perhaps he meant "what German idiom means the same as the > > US idiom 'awesome'?" > > > Anyone know? =C2=A0Jeorg? > > > -- > >www.wescottdesign.com > > Hello Tim, > > I looked in a dictionary in the Internet and was surprised that the > meaning of "awesome" in the US is very different from the meaning in > England. > > awesome in the US: fantastisch, gro=C3=9Fartig. stark, toll > > awesome in England: ehrf=C3=BCrchtig, schrecklich > > www.leo.org > > http://dict.leo.org/ende?lp=3Dende=E2=8C=A9=3Dde&searchLoc=3D0&cmpType=3D=relaxed&...> > Best regards, > Helmut > GermanyMethinks that the German expression "spitze" probably conveys the idea that the word "awesome" does in North America, at the colloquial level. Translated "spitze" means "point", eg. "die Spitze am Pfeil" means "the point on the arrow". Colloquially both words, "spitze" in German and "awesome" in North America are used to describe the pinnacle of admiration. Wolfgang
Reply by ●November 21, 20092009-11-21
On Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:31:44 +0100, Helmut Sennewald wrote:> "Tim Wescott" <tim@seemywebsite.com> schrieb im Newsbeitrag > news:VfudnRLBqfijppXWnZ2dnUVZ_oOdnZ2d@web-ster.com... >> Just got a text from my kid "What is awesome in German?" >> >> Numerous smart-ass answers leaped to mind, including "idiomatic", >> "Anne- Sophie Mutter", "Katerina Witt", etc. >> >> But I thought perhaps he meant "what German idiom means the same as the >> US idiom 'awesome'?" >> >> Anyone know? Jeorg? >> >> -- >> www.wescottdesign.com > > > Hello Tim, > > I looked in a dictionary in the Internet and was surprised that the > meaning of "awesome" in the US is very different from the meaning in > England. > > > awesome in the US: fantastisch, großartig. stark, toll > > awesome in England: ehrfürchtig, schrecklich > > www.leo.org > > http://dict.leo.org/ende?lp=ende&lang=de&searchLoc=0&cmpType=relaxed§Hdr=on&spellToler=on&chinese=both&pinyin=diacritic&search=awesome&relink=on>Thanks Helmut. The denotation of "Awesome" has retained it's original meaning, but really correct usage is fairly idiomatic -- hence, I needed someone more bilingual than me to help out. -- www.wescottdesign.com
Reply by ●November 21, 20092009-11-21
> But I thought perhaps he meant "what German idiom means the same as the > US idiom 'awesome'?"Geil.. Supergeil
Reply by ●November 21, 20092009-11-21
On Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:43:22 -0000, "christofire" <christofire@btinternet.com> wrote:> >"Helmut Sennewald" <helmutsennewald@t-online.de> wrote in message >news:he9f72$917$01$1@news.t-online.com... >> "Tim Wescott" <tim@seemywebsite.com> schrieb im Newsbeitrag >> news:VfudnRLBqfijppXWnZ2dnUVZ_oOdnZ2d@web-ster.com... >>> Just got a text from my kid "What is awesome in German?" >>> >>> Numerous smart-ass answers leaped to mind, including "idiomatic", "Anne- >>> Sophie Mutter", "Katerina Witt", etc. >>> >>> But I thought perhaps he meant "what German idiom means the same as the >>> US idiom 'awesome'?" >>> >>> Anyone know? Jeorg? >>> >>> -- >>> www.wescottdesign.com >> >> >> Hello Tim, >> >> I looked in a dictionary in the Internet and was surprised that the >> meaning of "awesome" in the US is very different from the meaning in >> England. >> >> >> awesome in the US: fantastisch, gro�artig. stark, toll >> >> awesome in England: ehrf�rchtig, schrecklich >> >> www.leo.org >> >> http://dict.leo.org/ende?lp=ende&lang=de&searchLoc=0&cmpType=relaxed§Hdr=on&spellToler=on&chinese=both&pinyin=diacritic&search=awesome&relink=on >> >> >> >> Best regards, >> Helmut >> Germany > > >In the UK nowadays the expression 'awesome' is recognised by (some) adults >as an imported, fashionable, over-used way of saying 'good'. The original >meaning has probably been de-valued by the new wave. > >Chris >Brits say "brilliant" to mean "good", whereas we USers use it to mean "extremely intelligent or creative." Someone called one of my actions "brilliant", and I took it to be a great compliment, when it was actually a very mild one. I think. John
