GERMAN WORDS WHICH HAVE CROSSED INTO ENGLISH

The holiday season is beginning, a time of "Gemuetlichkeit", a happy, warm and peaceful time, even though it has probably followed days of chaos and planning.

"Gemuetlich" and "Kindergarten" are equally at home in English and German, and there are many other words which have traveled from Germany to international worlds of business, science, technology, history and culture, and have been so well absorbed into English their origins, and sometimes the original meaning, are long forgotten

And you will find some of them here:

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art178775.asp


While the "Word of the Week" is a HONIGKUCHENPFERD.

Christmas Markets are beginning to open all over Germany this week, and that means there will be Leberkuchen, gingerbread, for sale, in all shapes and sizes, including the very popular rocking horse shaped variety known as a "Honigkuchenpferd", Honey Cake Horse, which are always frosted with a wide and happy smile.

So if someone asks why it is that you are smiling like a Honigkuchenpferd, you don't have to tell them, unless of course you really want to.



There is much more to read and discover on the German Culture site, which also has a forum, so if there is anything you would like to see or if you have any questions or comments then please feel free to get in touch, either in the forum http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=247 or via email.


Francine McKenna-Klein,
German Culture Editor

http://germanculture.bellaonline.com




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