Learning English while watching TV

[dieastra]

I guess this is a question mostly for the non native speakers in here but everyone is welcome to join in of course. Basically, I learnt all my English starting about 15 years ago by watching TV and reading fanfictions in original language. In Germany everything on TV is dubbed so there isn't that much exposure to the language like in other

Comments

[thekumquat]

For a decade or so you could tell who in the UK was a Buffy fan, as they picked up the Valley Girl speak and lots of phrases that only came into common usage later. Though some phrases are still only used by JOssWhedon /SF fans - "shiny" meaning good, cool, or "five by five" for "OK, over and out".

My go-to German expression for annoyance when I don't want to swear is one I found in one of those magazines for learners of German which we had at school, "verflucht nochmal" - apparently it's the sort of thing a prissy elderly lady might say. The son of my German exchange familily taught me a lot of swear words but by the reactions of his poor mother, none that I would use in most situations (zB "du Arschloch, Mutti!")

Went to Germany last summer for the first time in a decade. Found I could chat very well after the first day, so the only time I was lost for words was when all the checkout staff in the supermarket disappeared, we waited for one to come back, and when one did, another woman zoomed round us to get there first. And I couldn't think of an insult in the right register to call her.

What's modern German for "Oi! You cheeky cow/git /dozy mare!" ?

[muckefuck]

NANS, but I would just have said, "Unverschämt!"

I also picked up "Verflucht nochmal!" but I couldn't say where. "Verflixt und zugenagelt!" is one I found in an outdated dictionary that I love but Germans just seem to find it weird in a very non-humourous way.

[thekumquat]

When we got to the till, I contented myself with mentioning to the clerk "Ich mag die Deutschen, immer so höflich..." and she replied deadpan "Naja, wir verstehen die Schlange."
[I like Germans, always so polite. Yes indeed, we understand queueing!]

Queue-barger blushed and scarpered - she'd overheard SIL and I speaking English so hadn't realised we speak any German!

[tsubasa_en11]

That's a nice one. (ᗒᗜᗕ)՛̵̖

[germankitty]

"Hey! Du blöde Kuh!" for "cheeky cow", even though "cheeky" is more precisely "frech".

"Git" doesn't have a precise translation; off the cuff, I'd say "Armleuchter" (NO idea how/when/why "candelabrum" entered the picture, btw), which is fairly mild as far as name-calling goes. however, I have a strong male connotation with the word; wouldn't easily apply it to a woman.

As for "dozy mare", I'm unfamiliar with the expression and don't think German has a close equivalent. Possibly "dummes Schaf" or "dumme Gans" (stupid sheep/goose); both cast aspersions on a person's intelligence. :P "Zicke" (slang for "Ziege"/goat) would also work, although the usage has shifted more to typically teenage girls' behavior in recent years.

Everything else I can come up with is either too harsh for the situation you describe, or too vulgar.

[thekumquat]

It's strange how insults get gendered - git/bastard are pretty much male versions of mare/cow/bitch (British English, some increase in harshness in the order), but there's not many insults that would be used for either sex.

Actually the phrase I wanted would be "Oi, don't barge in, there's a queue here". LEO gives 'vordraengeln' for pushing into a queue, but not quite sure how to phrase it.

[germankitty]

You'd ask (or tell, depending on how pissed you are at the time) the person "Bitte nicht drängeln" or "Hören Sie auf zu drängeln!/Würden Sie sich bitte nicht vordrängeln?" (Obviously, anything with "bitte" makes at least a stab at nominal politeness. :P Combine it with a pissy tone and the right Look, however ... *whistles innocently*)

More colloquially, I'd say "Hey, hinten anstellen, wir stehen alle Schlange." (very loosely, "Hey, go to the back of the queue like we all did!")

"in einer Schlange stehen" or simply "Schlange stehen" = queue up/stand in a queue.

[muckefuck]

This reminds me of another phrase I learned directly from a pop song: "Stellen Sie gefälligst hinten an!"

[germankitty]

Yep, that's it exactly -- "Stellen Sie sich -- or -- Stehen Sie gefälligst hinten an!".

[dieastra]

Let me guess: "Ba-Ba-Banküberfall"?

The evil is always and everywhere!

[muckefuck]

Du kennst dich gut mit den Klassikern aus, gel?

Aber die germankitty hat doch recht. Ich hab mir gestern Abend den Song wieder angehört und er singt ja "Stellen Sie sich gefälligst hinten an".

Auch von EAV gelernt:

"Küss die Hand!"
"Ist er nicht siaß?"
"Das Dumme ist nur..."

Und vom Max Raabe:

"Kein Schwein ruft mich an!"

Re: The evil is always and everywhere!

[dieastra]

Sound of my childhood! I've always loved this one and this line in particular, so it was no hard work to figure it out.
Them being from Austria instead of West Germany made it more easy for their music to reach behind the Iron Curtain.

I love the Max Raabe song as well! We often quote it at work while waiting for a call. I've also been to a concert of his once.

[bastette_joyce]

"Bastard" is usually said to men, but it's based on an insult to a woman's sexuality, namely his mother's. It means the same as "son of a bitch," a reference to his mother being promiscuous or having sex (and children) out of wedlock.

[dieastra]

For a decade or so you could tell who in the UK was a Buffy fan

I like that. It's like a secret language! When in fandom, you can talk in quotes all the time and only insiders will understand and answer accordingly. Sometimes someone just needs to do a quip, and everyone laughs. I love that.

"du Arschloch, Mutti!"

LOL no that's not something I'd ever say to my mother. We like to say "Du bist doof!" teasingly to each other in our family. When a situation is not really tense and the other is able to laugh with you about it.

I'm not good in such situations either. I am just standing there, speechless and gaping at the chupze.

[thekumquat]

I got many, many long monologues about Mutti's woes with her son. "Es tut mir leid, der Kristian ist ein bisschen Hooligan" was the first bit I understood, but she rarely stopped talking so it didn't really matter I couldn't get many sentences out! He had quite the list of arrests and I think a few convictions for drunk and disorderly type stuff. And found his little 15 year old sister very annoying, which I could relate to!

[beer_good_foamy]

There's something very satisfying about that explosive "Arschloch!", nicht wahr? :) At least to us GSL speakers who don't have a good equivalent in our own language...