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Blech also means sheet metal. So a metal (beverage) can is a Blechdose (a Dose is a can). Colloquially one could also say "Red kein Blech" which literally trans
by atoav 4y ago
Blech also means sheet metal. So a metal (beverage) can is a Blechdose (a Dose is a can). Colloquially one could also say "Red kein Blech" which literally translates to "Say no sheet metal" and means "Stop saying nonsense" or something among those things.
If a sound is blechern we are speaking of a tinny sound. It can also be used as a verb: blechen stands for paying, typically used for when someone has to pay too much or for bad reasons (e.g. when they gave you a ticket for parking in the wrong spot).
- pavlov 4y ago> Blech also means sheet metal I believe the English word “blacksmith” preserves this shared etymology.
- kwhitefoot 4y agoAlso Blikkenslager, someone who works with sheet metal (Norwegian, Bokmål).
- linguistics__ 4y agoThe "black-" in blacksmith, just means black [1], most likely in reference to the iron they worked. As far as I can tell, "Blech" doesn't have a cognate in English. If it did, it would probably by "blek" or "blik". 1: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blacksmith#English https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blacksmith#English
- layer8 4y agoBlech has the same etymological roots as English blink, roots whose meaning is “to shine”. Blick (both English and German) is also related, as are blank and bleak, and, indeed, also black (which comes more from a “to burn/blaze” variant of “to shine”).
- samatman 4y agoThis sent me down a rabbit hole, and I'm back to share what I found: The English word which shares ancestry with Blech is 'blink'. You're welcome. Edit: Der Blechenmachine ist nicht für gefingerpoken!
- atoav 4y agoHaha thanks, a very interesting connection.