4 ms·

To provide a more literal response to your comment: there's no exact word for stain (as in: on clothing) in German. You can say Fleck, but it means spot in a mo

To provide a more literal response to your comment: there's no exact word for stain (as in: on clothing) in German. You can say Fleck, but it means spot in a more broad sense. Also, a date, in the relationship sense, has been imported. Verabredung is closeish, but more like an appointment. Likewise from German there's not a direct translation for Backpfeifengesicht, a 'face that is asking to be slapped', more literally 'face slap face'. Is there a more Englishy way to say Zeitgeist that captures the same meaning? You could replace it with "spirit of the time", but it feels a bit too general and clumsy. Is there a succinct English equivalent to Schadenfreude that isn't too long or clumsy?

criddell 7y ago
The stain example is super interesting to me. Would a German person that spills red wine not acknowledge a resulting stain? I don't know about Backpfeifengesicht, but both zeitgeist and schadenfreude are English words now.
- ppseafield 7y ago
  Of course they would acknowledge a stain. I meant that the word Fleck encompasses both stains and intentional spots including blind spots, spots on a map or drawing, spots in an animal's fur pattern, and stains on one's shirt. [0] Just because you don't have an exact word for something, doesn't mean you can't recognize it or try to express it - but that distinction must come from context around the word. Conversely in English stain has to be distinguished in cotext from the words for shirt stains, wood stains (Holzbeize) and stained glass (Buntglas). Perhaps a better word to demonstrate it is Gemütlichkeit. [1] Zeitgeist and Schadenfreude are exactly words imported into English because no words in English came close to capturing these words' meanings. You'd have to say "pleasure derived from another's misfortune" every time. [0] https://www.dict.cc/deutsch-englisch/Fleck.html https://www.dict.cc/deutsch-englisch/Fleck.html [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gem%C3%BCtlichkeit#Similar_words_in_other_languages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gem%C3%BCtlichkeit#Similar_wor...

criddell 7y ago

The stain example is super interesting to me. Would a German person that spills red wine not acknowledge a resulting stain? I don't know about Backpfeifengesicht, but both zeitgeist and schadenfreude are English words now.

ppseafield 7y ago
Of course they would acknowledge a stain. I meant that the word Fleck encompasses both stains and intentional spots including blind spots, spots on a map or drawing, spots in an animal's fur pattern, and stains on one's shirt. [0] Just because you don't have an exact word for something, doesn't mean you can't recognize it or try to express it - but that distinction must come from context around the word. Conversely in English stain has to be distinguished in cotext from the words for shirt stains, wood stains (Holzbeize) and stained glass (Buntglas). Perhaps a better word to demonstrate it is Gemütlichkeit. [1] Zeitgeist and Schadenfreude are exactly words imported into English because no words in English came close to capturing these words' meanings. You'd have to say "pleasure derived from another's misfortune" every time. [0] https://www.dict.cc/deutsch-englisch/Fleck.html https://www.dict.cc/deutsch-englisch/Fleck.html [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gem%C3%BCtlichkeit#Similar_words_in_other_languages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gem%C3%BCtlichkeit#Similar_wor...