German Secrets (eBook)

Achtung to Zeitgeist

Paul Smith, Ken Taylor (Autoren)

eBook Download: PDF

2009 | 1. Auflage
89 Seiten
LG Publishing (Verlag)
978-3-8391-9229-0 (ISBN)

Infos

Living and working in Germany has been pleasurable and rewarding. We’ve met a great many interesting and friendly people. We’ve learnt a lot from them. And this is our “British” way of repaying this friendship and hospitality.



“German Secrets” is not intended as an academic dissection of Germany and the Germans, there are enough of those. On the contrary, this book is meant to be an affectionate and fun kaleidoscope of some of our impressions, and also an opportunity for Germans to talk about Germans.



The book is divided into two sections:



Part 1: Various impressions, presented alphabetically and in no order of importance. Dip in anywhere !



Part 2: A summary of “The Real Truth about The Germans”, an online survey carried out on One-Word-A-Day ( www.owad.de ), a free English vocabulary learning service. The survey addresses the question: “Do the Germans see themselves as others see them?” and provides some interesting answers. An old and rather tired joke starts with the question “Where would we be without a sense of humour?” the answer is “Somewhere in Germany !” We have a problem with this stereotype - we‘ve had more fun in Germany than in many other countries. This book is the result of our 30 year joint venture with thousands of Germans - friends, colleagues, and business partners.

Inhalt

List of Contents 6
Introduction 9
Achtung! 11
Angst 12
Beate Uhse 12
Beer 14
Bosses 15
BreakfastRolls 16
Bureaucracy 17
Cars 17
Cheers! 19
Christmas Markets 20
Clubs 21
Der - Die - Das 22
Dinner for One 24
Directness 25
Dogs 25
Doktor 26
Du and Sie 27
Facial Hair 28
Family 29
Food 30
Football 32
Funny English 33
Geography 35
Goethe 37
Handshaking 37
Health 38
History 39
Humour 41
Hunting 42
Instant German 44
Inventions 49
Italy 50
Mittelstand 51
Mobile Phones 51
Money 52
Music 53
Names 53
Nudity 54
Oktoberfest 54
Ostalgie 56
Perfection 56
Punctuality 57
Religion 57
Rubbish 58
Rules 59
Sauerkraut 59
Schiller 60
Skiing 61
SmallTalk 61
Stammtisch 62
Television 62
Tipping 63
Toilet Attendants 64
Toilets 65
Tourism 65
Trains 66
Wagner 67
Wine 69
Work and Pleasure 69
World War II 70
Xmas 71
Zeitgeist 72
Birkenstocks, Beer and Bratwurst 76
Time is of the essence 76
Teutonic perfection and efficiency 77
All work and no play 78
Brutally honest 78
Germany’s past 79
The arrogant German 79
Humourless in Berlin 79
Prussian bureaucracy 80
Sprechen Sie Englisch? 80
Business,Romance,andNationality 81
Business Advice 81
Pragmatic love 82
Vive la France! 83
Rule Britannia! 84
La Dolce Vita! 84
Statistics 85
The Authors 87
Acknowledgements 88

Textauszug

Achtung ! (p. 10)

Thanks to Hollywood films, comic strips, and the Rock Band U2, the German word “Achtung !” is now firmly embedded in the English language. And what a useful, life-saving word it can be. So much more concise and precise than its English cousins “Watch out !”, “Be careful !” or “Pay heed, kind Sir !” If a light-flashing Porsche is bearing down on you at 240 kph, you don‘t want to mess around with unnecessary syllables. Of course, we do use the word “attention” but never in the context of giving a warning or caution.

The following wordplay joke, originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4, has even been known to raise a smile in Germany. Tell it carefully: A German farmer walks across a field, slips over in the mud, and falls face down into a cow pat. Rising to his feet, the only thing he can say is “Ach ! Dung !”

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.1.2009
• Sprache: deutsch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Gesundheit / Leben / Psychologie
• ISBN-10: 3-8391-9229-3 / 3839192293
• ISBN-13: 978-3-8391-9229-0 / 9783839192290