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On the unexpected joys of Denglisch, Berlinglish and global Englisch

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Re: On the unexpected joys of Denglisch, Berlinglish and global Englisch

#141

Post by kergonath »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #98
BuyMyBitcoins wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>”I capitalize too many things because German capitalizes all nouns and English only capitalizes proper nouns.” I’ve gotten into a particularly bad habit of capitalizing nouns haphazardly and I don't speak any German. I think it’s from programming becuase it happens very often in my Code Comments.

On Twitter, phrases for hashtags should use capitalization of all words for reasons of accessibility. Screen readers can parse it that way and can't if you don't and it's easier for human eyes too, so it helps visually-impaired people who aren't yet actually blind.

> On Twitter, phrases for hashtags should use capitalization of all words for reasons of accessibility

Ah, the classic #susanalbumparty

Re: On the unexpected joys of Denglisch, Berlinglish and global Englisch

#142

Post by [deleted] »

lasfter wrote: post #74
vanderZwan wrote: post #69

> The other day my friend S., an American Berliner, said that he had noticed his English-language social circle starting to use the word « spontaneously » wrong. When Germans say they’ll organise a social event spontan, they mean they’ll work out the details at short notice. To socialise spontaneously, in English, means something rather different. But S. and I and our Neukölln friends have started using it in the sen…

Without any prior forethought. Immediately, on a whim. E.g., "We were in Vegas and saw an Elvis chapel, so we spontaneously decided to get married!" They were in Vegas without any plans of marriage, saw a venue, and decided immediately to marry.

[deleted]

Re: On the unexpected joys of Denglisch, Berlinglish and global Englisch

#143

Post by hnbad »

aix1 wrote: post #114
pjmlp wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you travel to NRW, you will get the special forces police units using those kinds of guns on train stations, specially in days where critical football matches are taking place.

> If you travel to NRW North Rhine-Westphalia? (Don't live in Germany, took me a while.)

Yes. The official/technical abbreviation is apparently NW because German Bundesland abbreviations are two letters, but colloquially (and even formally on most occasions) everyone calls it NRW.

Incidentally when GP said the police "use" the guns at train stations, what they meant was "carry". The German "einsetzen" is more ambiguous about whether something is part of the loadout or actively used (I guess "deploy" is the closest equivalent). I'm fairly certain the guns aren't actually loaded (they're just too big to holster) but at times the Bundespolizei (the federal police responsible for train stations and ports of travel) will indeed carry H&K machine pistols.

Re: On the unexpected joys of Denglisch, Berlinglish and global Englisch

#144

Post by DoreenMichele »

kergonath wrote: post #141
DoreenMichele wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On Twitter, phrases for hashtags should use capitalization of all words for reasons of accessibility. Screen readers can parse it that way and can't if you don't and it's easier for human eyes too, so it helps visually-impaired people who aren't yet actually blind.

> On Twitter, phrases for hashtags should use capitalization of all words for reasons of accessibility Ah, the classic #susanalbumparty

0_o

Re: On the unexpected joys of Denglisch, Berlinglish and global Englisch

#145

Post by derriz »

nologic01 wrote: post #92

Global English is both a blessing and a curse. Never before could so many people communicate across linguistic divides (even if imperfectly). But the price is that never before was the rich collective cultural heritage under such threat. The two facets are deeply related. Like any lingua franca before, global English was invented to facilitate trade (economic exchange). The fact that it is English and not Basque or S…

This is perhaps nitpicking but I wish non-native English speakers would not use the term “Anglo-Saxon” to describe anglophone or (better) English speaking countries. The term refers to the original north Germanic invaders of England and so has tribal (racial) connotations and is typically used in English to distinguish people on that basis. Many/most Americans (e.g. black or Native American) so not consider themselves “Anglo-Saxon” nor would most Irish people nor many non-white Australians, for example. Heck - lots of British passport holders would not identify as Anglo-Saxon. If you don’t identify as Anglo-Saxon in an English speaking country, it’s jarring to hear your native home country being referred to as “Anglo-Saxon”. Just use “English speaking” which has no racial overtones and is both easier to understand and more precise.

Re: On the unexpected joys of Denglisch, Berlinglish and global Englisch

#146

Post by kergonath »

seszett wrote: post #140
looperhacks wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The worst thing is someone trying to put it in past tense: For "herunterladen" it's easy: "herunter-ge-laden". For "download", the obvious choice is "downloaded", but instead some people prefer the weird hodge-podge of "down-ge-loaded"

I wouldn't call it weird, I think it's common in most languages to use local conjugation rules even for foreign words. In French, even though "télécharger/téléchargé" is most common and "download" is not really used, I would definitely say "je l'ai downloadé" (and I would expect Quebecers to say mostly that). I have observed a tendency to avoid any conjugation ("je l'ai download") in younger tech workers but I don't…

> In French, even though "télécharger/téléchargé" is most common and "download" is not really used, I would definitely say "je l'ai downloadé"

I think the OP’s problem comes from “down” being used like a standard German prefix, which does sound really awkward. Foreign verbs in French are (almost?) always used like first-group regular verbs, the only alteration is the suffix. It feels less out of place.

Re: On the unexpected joys of Denglisch, Berlinglish and global Englisch

#147

Post by hnbad »

worklaptopacct wrote: post #19
G3rn0ti wrote: post #9

As a native Urberliner I am both flattered and confused by the fact so many young Americans choose to live in my home town. I always wondered what makes it so attractive to you. I mean, winters are miserable, the city is ugly compared to many others in Germany, the people are rather not friendly to each other, the German language is difficult to learn, our history is troublesome, German immigration laws still difficu…

As a new Berliner who immigrated here I can answer some of those: - Berlin has a reputation for its artsy party scene and lax enforcement of drug laws. People come here in their 20s to let themselves loose. - German universities are good quality and free for all (excluding the Semesterpauschale, but for my American or British friends this 300€ is basically nothing in comparison - especially when you count in the publ…

You're not kidding about lax enforcement of drug laws. In Kreuzberg I'd often see people obviously offering to sell drugs to passers-by as police cars would drive down the road practically next to them.

On the other hand the police does occasionally decide to make a show out of its enforcement. I think it's more appropriate to call it "selective" than lax, at least by German standards.

Re: On the unexpected joys of Denglisch, Berlinglish and global Englisch

#148

Post by avh02 »

b800h wrote: post #13

We have a number of Indian-language radio stations in the UK, which are good to listen to because the music is often great. Part of the fun is spotting the odd anglicism creep in: "that's not cricket!"

i remember something similar in Dubai, while riding in a taxi hearing the driver listening to the commentary on a cricket game:

very fast/excitedly: "OUT OF THIS FIELD!!"

I think code switching is often a really cool/cute thing but also cringey sometimes.

Re: On the unexpected joys of Denglisch, Berlinglish and global Englisch

#149

Post by type0 »

boffinAudio wrote: post #66
G3rn0ti wrote: post #9

As a native Urberliner I am both flattered and confused by the fact so many young Americans choose to live in my home town. I always wondered what makes it so attractive to you. I mean, winters are miserable, the city is ugly compared to many others in Germany, the people are rather not friendly to each other, the German language is difficult to learn, our history is troublesome, German immigration laws still difficu…

Bowie. It all goes back to Bowie. He's really the one who made Berlin so attractive to young Westerners. We think Berlin is a lovely city, with lots of tolerant people and a diverse set of cultures providing a rich and interesting outlook. Of course, the reality is, Berlin is as much of a shit-hole as any other major European city, but the fantasy of meeting an intelligent, inspired, enlightened 'newly free' young Ge…

Do you find Berliners friendlier than Viennese?

Re: On the unexpected joys of Denglisch, Berlinglish and global Englisch

#150

Post by type0 »

derriz wrote: post #145
nologic01 wrote: post #92

Global English is both a blessing and a curse. Never before could so many people communicate across linguistic divides (even if imperfectly). But the price is that never before was the rich collective cultural heritage under such threat. The two facets are deeply related. Like any lingua franca before, global English was invented to facilitate trade (economic exchange). The fact that it is English and not Basque or S…

This is perhaps nitpicking but I wish non-native English speakers would not use the term “Anglo-Saxon” to describe anglophone or (better) English speaking countries. The term refers to the original north Germanic invaders of England and so has tribal (racial) connotations and is typically used in English to distinguish people on that basis. Many/most Americans (e.g. black or Native American) so not consider themselve…

> Just use “English speaking” which has no racial overtones

A lot of countries are English speaking. It's not racial, it's cultural overtones, but I agree that it sounds segregating to other.

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