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My favourite German word
- not_your_vase 1y agoYou are wrong. Faultier FTW.
- juujian 1y agoWaschbär is another great one.
- valenterry 1y agoUmfahren - because it's one of the few German words that changes meaning based on pronounciation - and in a very important way.
- 1718627440 1y agoOne is a shortening of darum herumfahren.
- valenterry 1y ago"darum" also sounds like a shortened form. Probably from "da herum"?
- 1718627440 1y agoMaybe, but could also be a merger of "da" and "um".
- xnx 1y agoBackpfeifengesicht
- ffsm8 1y agoBaumkuchen! (Tree-cake)
- andyferris 1y agoI always liked "genau", for some reason.
- Dracophoenix 1y agoGesamtkunstwerk
- whilenot-dev 1y agoAs a native german, the french Œuvre feels a bit nicer on the tongue.
- 1718627440 1y agoOpus is also common when talking about music.
- MomsAVoxell 1y agoBanause!
- jameskilton 1y ago> That is like asking how we can make our cities better for cars, or our workplaces better for the furniture (emphasis mine) I love this analogy and am going to use it. This is a fantastic article. In the end, everything is still, and will always be, about people. We ignore and forget that at our peril. Thanks!
- yoz-y 1y agoSo if an object is “standing against” you could we say it is “objecting” you?
- fsckboy 1y agoin the middle ages, a matter before a court was called a "thing"
- ahartmetz 1y agoAnd a Germanic tribe's parliament-like assembly was called the Thing. In modern German, "Sache" is one of the words used for a matter before a court. Its meaning overlaps, but is not the same, as "Ding" ("thing").
- bryanlarsen 1y agoThe first half of the essay: > It happened astonishingly fast; within about five years a knowledge skill that I had completely taken for granted as a basic requisite in an undergraduate was diminished beyond recognition. Then the second half > A good way of writing documentation for human beings today will still be a good way to do it in a few years’ time. Don't these contradict each other? Documentation that worked well for us who grew up pre-Internet is not working well for "web natives".
- dmvdoug 1y agoNo, because the first one isn’t talking about writing documentation. It’s talking about knowledge discovery as a learned skill that eroded when web searching replaced how knowledge used to be sought. They actually say: even in the new-fangled domain of web searching, which you would think web natives would be better at, it’s actually people who had learned the skills and techniques of knowledge discovery pre-web who were better at finding what they were looking for. Now, why they think that is the case is a bit harder to grok, having to do with their object-oriented (sorry, sorry) view of understanding/knowledge. Contrast that with the second quote. Good documentation could be in a dusty book in the library or in a SPA. What makes the documentation good isn’t, however, related to people’s ability to navigate information spaces.
- bryanlarsen 1y ago> What makes the documentation good isn’t, however, related to people’s ability to navigate information spaces. Then what's the point? If nobody can use the documentation properly, then the term "good documentation" is meaningless.
- card_zero 1y agoI think the article is saying that good documentation is objective, and is not defined by ease of use. You will ingest this difficult documentation and you will like it, because it is good for you. You might reasonably ask "in what way". > this is how documentation is, because this arrangement is part of its integrity, and this is how you must learn to use it and work with it. The word "integrity" comes up six times. Something about integrity.
- llopium 1y agoThat’s great, but gegenstand just means object, and that definition of object is part of English, e.g. “The object of having this talk is to learn about how we can do better.” You don’t hear that said much anymore, but in the 20th century it was said fairly regularly.
- TacticalCoder 1y agoSame in french: "Quel est l'objet de ta visite ?" literally would be "What is the object of you visiting?" or basically "Why are you here?". It's still somehow used.
- card_zero 1y agoObject has "against" in it, that's the ob- part. The other part is "throw". The German comes from the Latin. (Why did they go for -stand instead of a word for throw?)
- jjtheblunt 1y agoWhat do you mean the German comes from the Latin?
- card_zero 1y agoFor instance here: https://www.dwds.de/wb/etymwb/Gegenstand https://www.dwds.de/wb/etymwb/Gegenstand Gegenstand is in the middle of the page: "lat. obiectum", it says - "translation of Latin obiectum into philosopher-speak".
- schoen 1y agoGerman has often taken terminology from Latin by translation: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:German_terms_calqued_from_Latin https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:German_terms_calqued... A nice example (of many!) is überleben, calqued from supervivere (literally, to over-live).
- FearNotDaniel 1y ago
- LouisSayers 1y agoFremdschämen is a good one. My favourite though: Eierschalensollbruchstellenverursacher. It's one of those things that you never knew you needed.
- Dilettante_ 1y ago>Eierschalensollbruchstellenverursacher That's not actually what they're called, it's an overly descriptive contrived way to get a long word, like "Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän". Imagine someone in english saying "Ink-to-paper-writing-implement" instead of "pen". You'd call it an "Eieröffner"(Egg opener) or "Eierköpfer"(Egg beheader).
- LouisSayers 1y agoNope, it's actually called that. You can go on Amazon an order a Eierschalensollbruchstellenverursacher. The reason I know about this is from eating at the breakfast table in Germany.
- andyferris 1y agoI have been interpretting the new "we need to write documentation for LLMs!!!" trend to REALLY mean "oh damn, we don't have ANY concise and navigable documentation at all..." (combined with the fact you can't just ignore this fact like when onboarding a human over weeks or months - LLMs have no capability to create long-term memories _except_ to create documentation artifacts to look up later). In the end I'm hopeful about this because it means there will be more concise and navigable documentation for me to refer to (though I might be slightly offended to be reading the AGENTS.md instead of the README.md, lol)
- starkparker 1y agoYeah, I had a PM raise this concern to me and I pointed out that almost all of the advice for "publishing for LLMs" (using descriptive link text, including context and prerequisites for steps, testing and validating code examples, publishing single-page docs formats, generating consistent structure for documentation types using semantic HTML) was already in our documentation standards for people as an audience, and in several cases enforced by tools like Vale, DocDetective, and in-house CI integrations. Adding an AGENTS.md was as easy as running our single-page static HTML output through Pandoc with a separate context header section stapled to the frontmatter.
- smitty1e 1y agoDas Ungeheuer--ogre, monster.
- leecommamichael 1y agoI loved this article. My fiancée recently remarked that she'd been doing more writing on paper because it made her more productive. She theorized that she takes an editor's mindset in the face of WYSIWYG renditions of her spelling mistakes. The same goes for her design work. The industry tools make it too easy to recognize "wrong" as it's happening. That sounds like a singing endorsement of these tools, but our experience working with lower-tech tools has informed a different conclusion. You're not being "helped" to see "wrong" in what you do, you're being cut off. Your generative, creative mode is being inhibited.
- Doxin 1y agoI've definitely found I'm way faster sketching with pencil than I am digitally. When doing digital sketches ctrl-z is right there. doing it with pencil means getting an eraser involved and it'll never quite get everything. I find myself redrawing the same like like 12 times when doing digital, but only once with a pencil. So there's definitely something about "worse" tools being better sometimes, just because sometimes the wrong things get made easy.
- nicbou 1y agoI also found that the mere UX of a notebook makes me rework my sketches again and again, because I constantly flip through them. This made me learn faster than with unlimited layers and an undo button.
- Doxin 1y agoFor me having a proper sketchbook only makes it harder to practice. I want every page to be nice. I've found using a block of paper works a lot better. If I really dislike a sketch I can just throw that sheet out, instead of feeling like I've ruined my sketchbook. I rarely actually do throw out a sheet, but having the option seems to make it sting less if I do a bad sketch. I guess the fact that I've purposefully aimed for a style where I don't rework things influences that. If left to my own devices I will rework a single detail basically forever. Instead I'm forcing myself to use confident sweeping lines. I keep eraser use to a minimum. I ink with a dip pen directly overtop the sketch. With the dip pen especially any touch to the paper is permanent. I color with alcohol markers, again so I don't get stuck trying to get things perfect. No take-backsies seems to be what works for me. Otherwise I just get stuck polishing turds all day.
- jhoechtl 1y agoAufstand, Unterstand, Verstand, Umstand. In german we have some of those -stand words.
- usr1106 1y agoAbstand, Widerstand, Vorstand, Mittelstand, probably the list can be continued. Some seem to have an obvious explanation, for other it feels long-sought and more obscure. I would not over-interpret words.
- FlyingSnake 1y agoVerstanden!
- WalterBright 1y agoWiederstand - resistor https://generalatomic.com/teil1/index.html https://generalatomic.com/teil1/index.html
- WA 1y ago*Widerstand Wider = gegen (against) Wieder = noch einmal (again) Kinda important to get the spelling right in context of "Gegenstand"
- WalterBright 1y agoThanks for the correction
- usr1106 1y agoWiderstand can be the resistor (an object) or resistance, protest, opposition (not an object).
- n4r9 1y agoIn English I guess we have understand and withstand. And used to have words like counterstand and overstand. While thinking about this I had a curious thought that maybe the word "against" derives not just from "agegn" but from a two word phrase "agegn standan". Google is not helpful. Claude AI suggests that the "st" ending actually developed later, likely through analogy with other prepositions ending in "-st" like "amongst" and "whilst."
- WalterBright 1y agoAch, du lieber zeit!
- masswerk 1y agoBTW, this also kind of works in English: we notice objects around us, because they object to our intentions, just for their inert nature. It's their resistance (German: Widerstand), which brings them to our attention. (Objects are pretty much passive-aggressive. ;-) )
- ta20240528 1y agoReinheitsgebot Just makes me happy.
- pflenker 1y agoI find it mildly amusing that the article makes the following point regarding "Gegenstand": > Objects aren’t just inert stuff – they do something. ...while many words in Germany are just "stuff" (Zeug). A plane is a Fly-Stuff (Flugzeug). A lighter is a Fire-Stuff (Feuerzeug). A vehicle is a Drive-Stuff (Fahrzeug). A toy is a Play-Stuff (Spielzeug). And the list goes on!
- exiguus 1y agoI think the difference is, that Zeug can be used as suffix (and you put a verb in front of it), like in Spielzeug (Stuff to play with) and it also has the meaning of Instrument or Tool like in Fahrzeug or Flugzeug.
- ahartmetz 1y agoThere is also the old-fashioned word Zeugmeister, the person responsible for the equipment (stuff). I think it's most commonly used in professional football clubs?
- 1718627440 1y agoZeug is better translated to gear. The famous gearhouse (Zeughaus) is for armament.
- niemandhier 1y agoGegenstand would probably be better translated as “a stand around”. A “stand against” would be a Widerstand, which also exists. Update: Interestingly the etymology is really “ stand against”, you always leans something here.
- metalman 1y agoThis is exceptionaly informationaly dense, a classic demonstration of culture, philosophy and language comming together in a susinct, plain , knowable way. Go German!
- dweyn 1y agobut stay there!
- exiguus 1y agoThe article left me with one question: If LLMs use human-written documentation or words, like books and articles, as training data right now (which is obviously the best quality you can get), what will LLMs use in the future? When will we reach the point of no return, where training data is data produced by LLMs (which is obviously of lesser quality)?
- kindkang2024 1y agoRecycled thoughts—just like we humans do. Most of our thoughts are recycled, not entirely new.
- panzi 1y agoI expected a different word: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_P3uwRiimo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_P3uwRiimo Also starts with G.
- gerdesj 1y agoI remember the first time I saw Gewerbegebiet on a street sign whilst out cycling in West Germany with the fam. and thinking: "that's a proper word". It took me a while to learn how to pronounce it. It's not really harder than "industrial estate" but it looked very exotic to me back then. I should also note that "Ausfahrt" is the largest town/city in Germany - its everywhere according to the autobahn signs!
- cocodill 1y agoIf you have traveled so much in Germany, you may have also met the most famous and widespread street “Einbahnstraße” many times, and probably many times in the same city.
- gerdesj 1y agoI lived on a couple of one way streets in West Germany. One was horse shoe shaped (it connected twice to the same main road) and was wide enough for two way traffic. Thinking back, there was no discernible reason for EBS. Traffic was minimal. Paderborn, I think.
- usr1106 1y agoTake a boat trip in the Swedish archipelego and notice that many islands are called "Kabel". Or when in Finland "Kaapeli".
- jocoda 1y agoüberfragt literally "over asked" ich bin überfragt => no clue on how to answer this
- chistev 1y agoSchadenfreude
- weinzierl 1y agoMy favourite German word and the one I miss most in other languages is the ubiquitous "doch". I love that it can stand alone. To the best of my knowledge there is no word in English with the same function that can be used as a standalone answer. When used in a sentence it usually stands in the middle and nicely sandwiches the criticism. "Ich hab's Dir doch gesagt!" You can put it in front if you want to get straight to the point: "Doch, ich hab's Dir gesagt!" It is never at the end like in the English equivalent: "I told you so!" The appended "so" feels much like kicking someone when they're already down. Obvious real world usage example for standalone "Doch!": https://youtube.com/watch?v=WJlZLG9UXSY&pp=ygUMbmVpbiBkb2NoIG9o https://youtube.com/watch?v=WJlZLG9UXSY&pp=ygUMbmVpbiBkb2NoI...
- lukan 1y agoYeah, obviously I thought about that clip, once you mentioned "doch", but how is it actually in the french original? Is there a french "doch"?
- weinzierl 1y agoI am curious as well but have no idea. I have the french DVD somewhere but nothing I could watch it with. EDIT: A quick search says "Non? Si! Oh!" and indeed "si" seems to be pretty much equivalent to "doch".
- baobun 1y agoFor the standalone: Bon No etymologic connection but seems to serve similar function
- Snoozus 1y agoIsn't it almost the same in English? Object is also a verb that means take a stand against.
- jizzypants 1y ago[dead]
- kindkang2024 1y agoI only knew a few words—Wille and Vorstellung—from The World as Will and Representation by the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. Wille cannot connect directly to another; it can only be connected through Vorstellung. Some may excel at connecting the Wille behind the Vorstellung, while others do not. But LLMs excel at this; they can grasp the Wille behind almost any text, which is essentially a form of Vorstellung.
- justonceokay 1y agoAre LLMs not all vorstellung and no wille? The LLM has no drive towards survival or continuity, no more than a building or a poem.
- kindkang2024 1y agoHard to say for sure. My personal understanding is that Vorstellung always contains some embedded Wille, as the creator inevitably infuses it. So even if the creator body dies, the creator's Wille could still persist in some form, perhaps lasts for a very long time—like the Wille embedded in the Bible. [The LLM learns all the Wille from humans’ textual Vorstellung.] > The LLM has no drive towards survival or continuity... This may be true for an AI Model(LLM) in isolation. But once it's embedded within a real body—say, a robot that can walk, talk, act, and encounter conditions of survival or failure (e.g., like our body)—then the boundary begins to blur. "Tremble and sin not: examine your own heart upon your bed, and be still." In many deep nights, I find the mind working exactly like an LLM—one Wille unfolding into words, and then another, each emerging in sequence, shaped into thoughts.
- justonceokay 1y agoYou (Schopenhauer?) give me a lot to think about
- kindkang2024 1y agoI've always found his Wille fascinating, ever since college. Perhaps his Wille has found a way into my mind, competing with all the others and survived. (Wille as Recycled Thoughts) However, I diverge from his pessimistic view: that the Wille is a blind impulse condemning life to a tragedy. I believe all wills originate from love—whether for the ego or for the world (other egos). This doesn't create a cycle of suffering, but could be a drive towards peace and happiness. In that sense, I feel that Wille has mutated and evolved a bit. P.S. If you're interested in Schopenhauer, check out this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-djIdl8WO4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-djIdl8WO4 SCHOPENHAUER Explained: The World as Will and Representation (ALL PARTS) by Weltgeist—he really did a great job of representing that Wille.
- Bluestein 1y agoAbsolutely magnificent read - also, yet another testament as to the immense worth of languages (and multi culturalism even) as an approach to things, widening our range. Language shapes thought. Thought shapes action. Action shapes reality.-
- throw_m239339 1y ago"Einstürzende Neubauten"
- radiowave 1y agoBrings to mind the phrase, "the innate animosity of inanimate objects". (Can't remember now where I chanced upon this.)
- jalapenos 1y agoAhem... backpfeifengesicht
- cindyllm 1y ago[dead]