While I was teaching somebody today we were talking about the German and English words for jobs and it made me realise again how literal lots of German words are.
Have a look at some of them:
- dentist – Zahnarzt (tooth doctor)
- gynaecologist – Frauenarzt (women’s doctor)
- paediatrician – Kinderarzt (children’s doctor)
- vet – Tierarzt (animal doctor)
- ophthalmologist – Augenarzt (eye doctor)
- watching TV – fernsehen (to see far)
- vest – Unterhemd (under shirt)
- saucer – Untertasse ( under cup)
- pants – Unterhose (under trousers)
- affair – Seitensprung (a jump to the side)
- hospital – Krankenhaus (house for ill people)
- gloves – Handschuhe (shoes for hands)
- iron – Bügeleisen (ironing iron)
- fridge – Kühlschrank (cooling cupbord)
There are loads more, but I can’t leave out my all-time favourite:
- diarrhoea – Durchfall …. well, it does fall through 😉
Can you think of any more?