German Things The American Mind Can’t Understand

[@PassportTwo]

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[@H3llSkull]

Got some bad news, this video was once again not visible for me in my subscriptions, despite having subcrived and bell activated to all... according to youtbe all is " ok" but i think yt hates your channel for some reason...

[@michaelgrabner8977]

According to the game "Monkey in the middle/Schweinchen in der Mitte" In Austria that Game is called "Hösche" pronounced with a long vowel ö ("Hösche" is also a football training unit by the way) = which is an "Old High-German/Old Middle High German term" for "Hohn + Spott" = "Mockery+Ridicule"...it seems we Austrians have a more meta level approach for naming that game... we don´t feel the need to call the one in the middle additionally "Monkey or Piggy" because alone the fact "he/she is in the middle" is mockery+ridicule enough for us.

[@TheSylfaein]

Americans: ✌(Two) Germans: 👆(Two) ☺

[@martin1042]

In German you'd cross your fingers if you're making a promise you're not planning to keep.

[@schiffelers3944]

Am I wrong to put on the addition; behind your back/out of sight. I don't think this is just a thing in Germany, daumen drucken in Dutch is duimen or druk je de duim, there are different was to do that physically. But we also cross fingers as in the example, but then we also say vingers gekruist and it is with both hand, not just one or behind you back. But the hands brought up infront of you. Why I think the adding on is important for distinction.

[@SuperNovaRider]

Germans probably use/came up with the idiom "comparing apples and pears" because despite both being of the family of Rosaceae plants, they are actually different plants. They are closer related than apples and oranges.

[@Kassilphe]

also probably because they are more available. Oranges don't naturally grow in Germany so no need to compare them to apples. They are "modern/foreign" fruit that didn't appear regularly on the german table and shelves in the older times (talking about the Middle Ages or sometime around that). Whereas pears have been growing in Germany probably as long as apples do.

[@fini8874]

@Kassilphe Middle ages? You just need to go around 100 years back 😂😂

[@lpcaiser]

There are at least two linguistic reasons why Germans would call it "cola": "Cola" is perfectly latinate in structure, which is greatly compatible with natural German pronunciation patterns (as if it was spelt "Kola"), whereas "Coke" contains an awkward English diphthong. And morphologically, "Coca Cola" functions like a compound noun where the final element is the base expressing what a thing is ("a cola") and the first element is a modifier describing what subcategory it is ("a coca kind of cola", so to say). This interpretation has since been cemented by the fact that lots of other (e.g. store-brand) colas became available in German. It's honestly a greater puzzle why US Americans have come to call it "coke".

[@chrisf.685]

Nice, but wrong explanation. Google Kola nut/Kolanuss....

[@lpcaiser]

The kola nut obviously motivates why "Cola" is part of the product name to begin with, yes. But that doesn't answer the question why one would abbreviate the full name "Coca Cola" to either "Coca" (or a version thereof) or "Cola" instead of the respective other.

[@janaargus5964]

"Coke" bezeichnet das Produkt "Coca-Cola". Cola bezeichnet alle anderen koffeinhaltigen Getränke (Afri-Cola, Sinco-Cola, Fritz-Kola, River-Cola, usw.). Einschließlich Coca-Cola.

[@Andreas_42]

In the southern parts of Italy you order "Una Coka, per favore." in a restaurant.

[@chcucivtxzclccucifudohzfu6766]

@@janaargus5964Genau. Wenn man eine Coca-Cola will, macht der Name Coke Sinn als Abkürzung. In deutschen Restaurants/Bars ist es meist jedoch so, dass es nur eine Marke Kola gibt, nicht unbedingt Coca-Cola. Also bestellt man eine Kola, da das alle Produkte umfasst, auch die der anderen Marken

[@martinstoelting2707]

Moin! Der Grund, warum wir "Cola" sagen, ist meiner Meinung nach die Gewöhnung daran, wie deutsche Komposita (zusammengesetzte Nomen) funktionieren. Sie bestehen normalerweise aus einem Grundwort (z. B. "Wasser") und einem Bestimmungswort, das das Grundwort genauer bestimmt (z. B. "Leitung"). So wird aus dem Wasser das Leitung(s)wasser. Normalerweise steht das Grundwort (der Oberbegriff) an der zweiten, bzw. letzten Stelle (hinten). BriefKASTEN, LeseBRILLE, NahVerkehrsTICKET usw. Wenn wir jetzt also nicht genauer spezifizieren, sondern den ungenauen Oberbegriff suchen, dann denken wir automatisch an das Ende eines zusammengesetzten Wortes. Intuitiv klingt Coca-COLA für Deutschsprachige nach einem Kompositum aus dem Grundwort "Cola" und dem Bestimmungswort "Coca" (oder "Pepsi" oder "Afri", "River" etc.). Wenn uns die Marke aber egal ist, dann bleiben wir beim Oberbegriff und antworten auf die Frage: "Was willst du trinken?" mit: "Eine Cola" (= Marke egal).

[@HalfEye79]

Vor allem gibt es auch wirklich Afri Cola und River Cola. Ich habe auch schon Pepsi Cola gehört, aber das ist nicht offiziell.

[@AnnaPleyer]

Hmm, klingt logisch. Allerdings bin ich sicherlich nicht für Einzige, die mit "ner Cola" immer nur Coca-Cola meint. Cola war und ist für mich ausschließlich Coca-Cola 🤔 Ich habe nie drüber nachgedacht. Aber Coke ist ein nicht sehr harmonisches Wort und wird vermutlich auch deshalb nicht so häufig genutzt, oder?

[@Mann_mit_Kaffee]

@@HalfEye79 Pepsi-Cola hieß immer Pepsi-Cola. Es wurde nur irgendwann gestrichen!

[@55garren]

In Sweden its Apple to pears and holding tumbs, crossing fingers is when you lie 😂

[@MarcLeonbacher-lb2oe]

It might be common influence.

[@JED-v8q]

Exactly as in Germany.

[@frozenmadness]

Holding thumbs is common in Europe I think, at least it's the same in Finland an Poland.

[@hakuna..matata]

- In my opinion it's weird to call Cola "coke" because it's the same word as for a drug. - "Cloud 7" makes much more sense than "cloud 9" because 7 means perfection/paradise. - Comparing apples with pears makes more sense because they're more alike than apples and oranges.

[@red.aries1444]

It makes even more sense in a country with no wild orange trees. The idiom of comparing apples with pears is so old in German, that many people wouldn't have seen a real orange in their life. So it wouldn't make sense to use oranges for this comparison, because this word didn't crossed their mind. The south of the USA has a whole industry of growing oranges, but this industry is not much older than 150 years. I don't think that the idiom "comparing apples with oranges" has evolved in Great Britain. It would be interesting when this has changed. Using "coke" as the short form for cocaine came much later than using the brand name as a generic term.

[@TheEmetic]

The way I understand it, "Cola" is the brand-neutral way of referring to the type of beverage. When you order "Cola" at a restaurant you usually get Coca Cola, but there's also Pepsi Cola, Afri-Cola, fritz-kola, Sinalco Cola, just to name a few. For me, "Monkey in the middle" is "Esel in der Mitte" or translated: "Donkey in the middle".

[@schindze4238]

Natürlich "Esel in der Mitte!" 🙂

[@mcwurscht]

Dummer Hans!

[@hans-jurgenkind9445]

Club Cola nicht zu vergessen.

[@fairphoneuser9009]

​@@hans-jurgenkind9445Ist das das Cola von Club Mate? Falls ja: *BESTES!*

[@joergn.1800]

True, Cola is the kind of drink. And a Coke is Coca Cola. My favorite Cola is Vita Cola. It isnt so sweet and has a small sipp of Lemon. Also good are Fritz Cola and Afri Cola.

[@Emulleator]

we use cola because that is the type of drink it is regardless of manufacturer. its flavor comes from the cola plant. calling other kinds of soda "coke" when they are neither made by coca cola nor the same type of flavor seems way more weird

[@sakkra83]

In my childhood we referred to Rock Paper Scissors as "Sching, Schang, Schong"..... Oh and we also used the term Schweinchen in der Mitte, but there was another version, where the arms and hands were not allowed, as a soccer exercise.

[@IndependentHeathen]

Als ich ein Kind in England war. Wir haben das Spiel „Piggy in the middle“ genannt. Habt ein gutes neues Jahr.

[@karinland8533]

Bei uns hieß das Spiel Schnick, Schnack, Schnuck

[@malte8990]

Yep, "Sching, Schang, Schong" is also more in use here than "Schnick, Schnack, Schnuck". But "Schere, Stein, Papier" is also often heard. Both were missing from the survey it seems

[@thomaspaysen-delleske6394]

I´ve learned from my grandparents about the apple/pears thing. It´has to do with born babies. Whenever a son got born the father planted an appletree and for a daughter a new pear tree got into the garden. So when you compare apples and pears you´re comparing boys and girls 😉

[@WhitedeathSN]

I have a theory about the "Cola/Coke paradox" for you. In Germany me tend to generalize products often by their common denominator. So Pepsi Cola and Coca-Cola and Vita Cola have one thing in common and that is simply the Cola-Part. Therefore the Germans adapted this term. Also we would never call Sprite a Coke ^^

[@NKA23]

We say "Äpfel mit Birnen vergleichen" instead of "compare apples to oranges", because the saying means something slightly different to the English saying...very slightly though. Apples and pears are somewhat similiar, especially when we're talking about those a bit sour and hard pears. The saying means "superficially it might seem to be a valid comparisson, but it's really not when you look closer to it", while the US saying means "comparing two completely different things, that have only one thing in common" (being fruits...), so you might as well say "compare apples to water melons" or something.

[@labelmail]

Apples and pears both grow here - oranges not, that comparison is much older than the availability of oranges to Germans

[@susanneS371]

And have you ever seen an orange tree in Germany? Languages work normally with elements you have around.

[@polyanthajones8168]

@@labelmail But we say "apples and Oranges" in the UK, too. And the Hills of East Anglia are not exactly famous for their oranges. I guess the oranges thing has more to do with the fact that oranges are in fact apples. Apfel-sine in German (which is related to sinaasappel in Dutch or Pomme de Chine in French and actually means China-Apple). Apple was kind of a generic term for round fruits. Hence Apfelsine and Paradiesapfel (tomato) or even Erdapfel/pomme de Terre for potato. So it is not unlikely to mix up apples and China-apples and start making comparisons.

[@labelmail]

@@polyanthajones8168 yes well, but all these apple comparisons (be it Apfel-sine , Pomme de Chine, Paradiesapfel, Erdapfel/pomme de Terre) came looooooooooooong after the pear. And please keep in mind Germany did not have something like the British empire from which all kind of things were taken. If I remember rightly there are even Pineapples growing in some secluded spots of the UK. So with Germany being at the time a more backwater area by comparison it is more consistent to make a comparison with things widely known and understood

[@polyanthajones8168]

@@labelmail Sorry, I just checked the apple /pear thing for sources. According to Küpper (Wörterbuch der deutschen Umgangssprache) which is a scientifically approved encyclopedia, the apples and pears comparison in Germany is in fact super modern and dates back to a political speech of as late as 1965.

[@orezlulu]

I grew up in Bavaria and the ball game you mentioned at the end is called "Tratzball" there. "Tratzen" is bavarian and means "jemanden ärgern/nerven". Simply because trying to get the ball and failing is very annoying.

[@godkillmeplease]

ich komm aus mittelfranken und wir sagen "Affen trätzen" 😂

[@fariesz6786]

aaah, right! indeed, i remember that term now

[@gi0nbecell]

Exactly what I was about to comment. Tratzball. Ah, memories…

[@melaniewolf5855]

Fellow Bavarian here: Tratzball and Schnick, schnack, schnuck 😊 And my Podcast recommodation is: "Stern True Crime" - from the German Stern Magazine, or the XY podcast with Rudi Cerne

[@EsterHorbach-it9tb]

I' m no linguist, but the German derivative for cloud no. 9, "Wolke 7" might come from it's biblical use, where it often stands for spiritual perfection. Cloud equals heaven equals perfection.

[@ThePixel1983]

Also, Cats in Germany have 7 lives, not 9. No idea if this is related, but I see a pattern.

[@lisasimpson3762]

So it should be Snow White and the 9 dwarves in English 😂

[@real_Nessa]

South of Baden-Württemberg: 1.Schere, Stein, Papier or Schnick, Schnack, Schnuck. 2. We didn't have a name for "Monkey in the middle" in my childhood (90ies).And we didn't want to play that because it's the same game when someone is bullying you by throwing your stuff around.

[@Flamms]

There is also a difference on the numbers. In English when you speak about "Billions" in German you say "Milliarden" like in French "Milliards". "Billionen" in German means 1000 Billions in English.

[@PassportTwo]

Very true! That was initially hard to learn 😅

[@keit99]

Funnily enough english used to have Milliards as well. But at some point America dropped it and the other english speaking Nations followed 😂

[@christianosminroden7878]

@@keit99The KZbin channel Numberphile has made a very recommendable video about that, if you’re interested.

[@christianosminroden7878]

Brief explanation: The „old“ way, as it is still being used in Germany and France, is corresponding to the prefix: Million = 10⁶*¹ Bi-llion = 10⁶*² Tri-llion = 10⁶*³ Quadri-llion = 10⁶*⁴ and so on, with every „x-iard“ being 1000 times „x-ion“ to „fill the gaps“. The „new English system“ leaves out the „-iard“ steps and instead raises the prefix on a 10³ basis, which is just as practical in principle but always „1 step off“ regarding the meaning of the Latin prefix.

[@lhpl]

​@@keit99as many other things, this is a complicated and problematic concept. I believe it is a frequent cause of errors in translation. Reading WP on the subject "long and short scales" is a good place to start.

[@thomasromer9359]

Nice as always! Extra points for using "asterism"!

[@thierryf67]

i'm french, and the drinking (usually sugared) are named "sodas" (coke, pepsy, fanta, etc...). I name "cola" the sodas of the same type : Coca-Cola, Pepsi-cola, others regional cola type brands, but not fanta, orangina, etc... sodas.

[@o0LordMuffin0o]

As far as I know Cola is actually the name of the plant (Kola nut) the drink is made from. Cola does not just refer to Coca-Cola but every drink made from the Cola plant like Pepsi, Dr. Pepper etc.

[@perrosol-ns4cc8ot4t]

That's how I learned it too.

[@qobide]

Technically Dr. Pepper is not a cola. But nobody cares. :)

[@fabianstiefel1586]

​@@qobidepeople were just too lazy to invent a new category of drinks just for dr. pepper as nobody drinks it anyway, so they just call it cola out of indiference and nobody cares 😅

[@Aine197]

The explanation for ‚pressing thumbs‘ that I heard was that it is quite difficult to do any work while you do it, which forces you to think about the person you are doing it for all the time.

[@roderichemnetrand6423]

I didn't know the back-mythology of the wagon. I always thought the name just refers to the shape while the true name of the larger asterism, Großer Bär, has a back-mythology about one of Zeus' mistresses being transformed into a bear and then put on the sky.

[@Claudia-B.1987]

Most of the names came out of greek mythology, maybe even all of them.

[@polyanthajones8168]

My sister in law who studied marketing says that Coca Cola tried to rebrand into Coke in the 90s but the German consumers got so confused, thinking it was a different product and demanding their old cola back, that the company re-rebranded it back into Coca Cola. It now says "Coke" in one side of the can or the crate only. About the ball game: When I was a kid in the UK, we called it monkey in the middle, but we called it "Tratzball" in Germany (from "jemanden trotzen"- to tease somebody).

[@alcapone9550]

Coca Cola is called Cola because the coca was removed 😂

[@Anna-senpai]

Ich drücke dir Daumen mit deinem Kanal!

[@PassportTwo]

Dankeschön 🤞🏻 😊

[@Biodelic]

The use of Cola in Germany derives from the original primary flavor ingredient in all Cola beverages (there used to be a wide variety in Europe), the Kola nut, seeds of the plants from the Cola genus.

[@Rick2010100]

The apple-pear expression is hundreds of years old and citrus fruits were not common in Germany back then because it was too cold for them in winter. Indeed the shown thump was in ancient rome the symbohl for a knife, even today if you move you fist with a if you put your thumb towards the throat, it means cutting the throat. The direction of the thump had no meaning in the ancient colloseum, thump out mens no mercy, fist without thumb means mercy. Hence the greeting (in some circles and during Corona times) of fist against fist.

[@twinmama42]

Other examples of small differences in language between English and German: It's raining cats and dogs - es regnet junge Hunde (it's raining young dogs) To beat someone black and blue - jemanden grün und blau schlagen (to beat someone green and blue) A black eye - ein blaues Auge (a blue eye) Catching two birds with one stone - zwei Fliegen mit einer Klappe schlagen (hitting to flies with one swatter) RQOTW: 3 recommendations 1. for cultural differences (and commonalities) "Understanding Trainstation" by Feli and Josh. Sadly, they recently discontinued the podcast, but they have a lot of videos to keep you entertained (and educated) for weeks. 2. for the curious mind: "Decoding the Unknown" 3. for people interested in true crime: "The Casual Criminalist"

[@farnregen]

we say (in my family) "Es schüttet wie aus Eimern"

[@michaelschuckart2217]

"Crossing fingers" (secretly of course) in german means "I don't intend to keep my promise".

[@PassportTwo]

Same in English actually! 😅 It has both the meaning for luck and not keeping a promise depending on context

[@galdersrontgorrth]

cola is an umbrella term used to refer to all cola brands, like coca cola or pepsi cola etc. - not just coca cola specifically.

[@crazymelon02]

to be fair coca cola is so dominant in the market that is is basically a synonym. but yea If you want to be precice cola is just the Gattungsbegriff for this kind of soda flawour

[@m.n.7426]

My favourite podcast is "Gut zu Vögeln" a fantastic and passionate podcast about birds, what joy observing them can bring and what they tell us about how much we are failing at fulfilling our obligations towards nature. PS. I always thought the "game" piggy in the middle is about making one person feel bad and excluded, so I never wondered about the name. Especially since the "game" would spontaneously start when something was taken away from an overweight child and thrown over their head so they couldn´t reach it. It was then often accompanied by the exclamation "piggy in the middle".

[@judithschwarz8954]

For the second children’s game: in our region this game is also called „Affen tretzen“ which could be translated as „tease the monkey“ or something along those lines

[@Magnuswelchernussmag]

10:28 I know the the game as:"dummer Junge" eng.:"stupid boy"

[@Tom-Lahaye]

The Big Dipper is known as the Great Bear in the UK, and translations into the respective languages across many other countries. The Great Bear is translated from its Latin name, Ursa Major, which is the official astronomic name.

[@PassportTwo]

The Big Dipper is an asterism that is a small part of the constellation called the Big Bear. And as far as I know is the same name in the U.S. and in Germany 🤔

[@chrissiesbuchcocktail]

In Germany "The Great Bear" is also common. I grew up with both - bear and wagon.

[@Tom-Lahaye]

@@PassportTwo It's indeed the 7 brightest starts which are visible all the time which look like a dipper, in the Netherlands we often call this part the Saucepan.

[@fariesz6786]

in the UK the term for the asterism is the Plough: _What would you do, ♪_ _Make a stone of your heart? ♪_ _Would you set things right, ♪_ _When you tear ’em apart? ♪_ _Would sleep at night, ♪_ _With the Plough and the stars alight? ♪_ - Easter by Marillion

[@whoff59]

In Germany I think the name Great Wagon is used for the 7 brightest stars and Great Bear is used for the star constellation as a whole which is much bigger.

[@dragonflamelynx]

In my region we called the kids' game monley in the middle "Suppe", in english "soup". The one in the middle was the one "in der Suppe", "in the soup". It's interesting to hear so many different names for this game.

[@niggobetzler5601]

I am German and I've been to Mexico last year visiting Mexicans ... I barely speak Spanish since I just started from rock bottom in 2023. That causes a very funny situation when I was asked at an Imbiss what drink i liked to have. I asked 'tiene cola?' 😂 those of you that don't speak Spanish: I asked him formally addressed if he had an ass 😂 my host were dying on the inside but had kept me going for entertainment and I asked to be left alone even when I struggle so I learn ... That kinda paid off and simultaneously it fired back at me 😅

[@AdZS848]

Spanish is my mother tongue and I always feel weird asking for a cola.

[@niggobetzler5601]

@@AdZS848 , intenta a imaginar como me he sentido en el momento en que me han ense~nado que acabe de decir :D

[@AdZS848]

@@niggobetzler5601 🤗 pienso que tienes un buen sentido de humor.

[@Patricia-kl8yw]

Schere, Stein, Papier is what I know "Rock, paper, Scissors" as. And I also know the other games as "Schweinchen in der Mitte". I think there might have been another name for it, but I don't remember it.

[@chrisf.685]

The brand name "Coca Cola" originally referred to the ingredients: Coca leaves and the Kola nut which contains caffeine. Since the "Coca" isn´t in the brown sugar water anymore due to drug legislation, using the term "Cola" as an umbrella term could be seen as the actual legitimate term for this beverage as what unites ALL "colas" is the ingredient caffeine stemming from the Kola nut....as well as a very distinctive flavour people associate with "Cola". Nobody would call an energy drink "Cola" in Germany despite these drinks being even more caffeinated than Colas.

[@luca_round1106]

I actually know the game "Schweinchen in der Mitte" as "Dummer Junge" (Dumb boy)

[@yekaterinahawkins-vf7lf]

Absolutely love this video. I’m a German living long term in USA.

[@PassportTwo]

Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it 😊

[@kirachan007]

my podcast recommendation is, of course, my own podcast, "Tentakel Debakel."German language, and it deals with everything steampunk and a bit weird. Lots of sewing and how to dress appropriately. We've been on a one-year hiatus now, but we plan on getting back as soon as possible. And until then there are about 30 shows to choose from. Another one, I really love is "cautionary tales". English language, where you can learn about how companies organisations and people horribly messed up. Absolutely well researched, and the English is such that you don't have to be a native speaker to understand everything.

[@InaraDance]

Thanks, great video. We also say „Ich nehme dich auf den Arm“ (I’m taking you on the arm) instead of “I’m pulling your leg”. There are so many of these funny little differences between German and English. To answer your questions, I think Schweinchen in der Mitte comes from the phrase “armes Schwein” which means something like “poor bastard” or “poor devil” because it kinda sucks for the person in the middle. You can also say “Schweinerei” for something that’s bad. I have three podcast recommendations. The first is “Escape this Podcast”, they make audio escape rooms and play through them with various guests. I like it because it’s funny, interesting and has riddles that I can try to figure out if I want to. The second recommendation is “Aurelius Whitlock’s Murder Museum”, they create interactive murder mysteries and run them for each other. They are always super creative, interesting and really well written. And they have cool meta stories. And the third recommendation is “Lateral” with Tom Scott because it’s so much fun and tickles my brain and he has great guests. Have fun listening and have a great weekend!

[@PassportTwo]

Thanks for the great recommendations 😃

[@m.h.6470]

The term Cola is a branch of drinks, not just Coca-Cola, but also Afri-Cola, Fritz Cola, Freeway Cola, etc. It literally just refers to a caffeine laden sparkly drink.

[@chrisf.685]

Nah,a can of "Monster Tropical punch" gets called Cola by no one. It´s the Kola nut and its distinctive taste that´s the origin of the colloquial name.

[@TomKruhs]

And Cola is always black.

[@m.h.6470]

I took my definition directly from Wikipedia...

[@AdZS848]

About the Big Dipper, it's got different names in many countries. In French and Spanish, it's variations of the Latin Ursa Minor. Regarding the ball game: Brits also call it "piggy in the middle. Podcast recommendation: "You're dead to me" interesting and hilarious.

[@KaiHenningsen]

You can balance out the Coke - Cola thing with the Pommes - Fries thing.

[@sinjaja5836]

aka Fritten (im Norden).😆

[@EsterHorbach-it9tb]

Recommended podcads ? 1. A guy and a golden (funny clips about life with a golden retriever 2. Clutterbug (about, surprise, decluttering), 3. Jeenie.weenie (funny episodes of a flight assistant), 3.liamcarps (a British living in Germany; his mimics are hilarious), kumaar family (intercultural life of a US american woman and her Malaysian husband, interesting and entertaining). That' s my personal list, well, a few and just a random order. Greetings from Germany.😅

[@tobias8488]

Cola isn't a mystery. In German: Guten Tag Herr Mayer In USA: Hello Michael Coke is the first name and Cola the family name 😉

[@MarcLeonbacher-lb2oe]

😂

[@Adventuring_Korok]

I grew up in Austria, and while there are a lot of similarities between the two countries, we do call a lot of the things listed differently. We do also say Cola, but if you order a Cola, you aren't guaranteed to get a Cola Cola, but it could also be other brands. Here in Austria, you will never hear anyone say "schnik schnak schnuk" but rather Schere Stein Papier, like you said in the video. And no one says monkey or piggy on the middle, but instead, we say "affenreitzen," which roughly translates to annoy the monkey. Another game we here call differently than Americans is tag, which here is thumb wars which we call "daumenquetscherei" or "1,2,3,daumenquetscherei" which translates to "thumb squeezing"

[@sabilein91]

Also Austrian here (from the Viennese suburbs) and we did call it “schnick, schnack, schnuck” and Esel in der Mitte (“donkey in the middle”).

[@charis6311]

This was fun! As for your random question, I recommend Quarks Science cops - they look into the scientific background of mostly health oriented claims (like Erdstrahlen, Homöopathie, Bach-therapy, Wünschelruten and so on.).

[@PassportTwo]

Glad you enjoyed and thanks for the podcast recommendation 😃

[@hawkamania5014]

to make it easier for you, i write in english, schweinchen in der mitte will be played normally with a football (soccerball for americans ;) ) and is often played in footballtraining for warmups. the children play it often the same.

[@PassportTwo]

Du darfst immer auf deutsch schreiben 😊

[@jkosch]

Too me the game is either called "Stein, Schere Papier", "Schnick, Schnack, Schnuck" or "Ching, Chang, Chong". It also is "Schweinchen in der Mitte. My biggest podcast recommendation is "the Common descent podcast", a paleontology podcast by two science communicators with Paleontology backgrounds with a news segment and a a topic of the episode segment. If I might put in another recommendation it is "Saga Thing", a pod cast about the Family Sagas of Iceland by two professors in the field of medieval studies who examine and evaluate (in fun categories like best nicknames, best bloodshed, which of the characters should be exiled etc., with the eventual goal of putting up all "champions" found in the sagas up against one another) all Family Sagas (a specific genre of sagas) one after the other.

[@stefan1024]

"Cola" is just for variants of those mostly caffinated, brown drinks like coke, Pepsi, Dr. Peppers or River Cola though, a broader German term for sweet sodas/pops that includes stuff like Fanta, Sprite or Ginger Ale would be "Limonade" (lemonade), a bit old fashioned, "Brause" (fizz) or, more offical, "Soft Drink".

[@marcogeurts9881]

@Passport Two the dutch translation of Rick, Paper, Scissors is Steen,Papier,Schaar

[@GoleoGohlix]

I’m from a region in the south of Germany called Baden. 💛❤️💛 The game “monkey in the middle” is called “Soße” in my area. When you are in the middle you’re in the sauce. I think a lot of people in Germany are calling it “Schweinchen” because we play it with an association football ⚽️ on the ground. So you’re running after the ball like a pig 🐷 down with its snout on the ground. There is no reason to jump. In Spanish football the game is called rondo. A lot of coaches refer to it that way or just call it “Eckle” (southern German) or “Eckchen” (northern German) which both is a diminutive from the word corner. Often coaches refer to the game as “5 vs. 2”, “7 vs. 3” or “4 vs. 1”. It’s a good game for warm up in practice and in many teams it’s the first thing players do with the ball when they’re arriving on the pitch or at the field as an American would like to say. I think “Soße” or Swiss/Austrian German “Sosse” is the short form of "Schweinchen in der Soße", "pig in the sauce". You can make it more complicated by rules like two ball contacts only. Or one/two: if the first player had two touches on the ball the next player is only allowed to touch the ball once. 20 team contacts make the men in the middle stay a double round and they need two contacts inside to come out again. Often - even on teams like FC Bayern the players inside got ear snappers from the outside players, as punishment if the outside team players were able to get those 20 passes.

[@grapestheoriginal]

Funny thing about the Big Dipper. As a child I remember thinking it looked more like a wagon to me. As to the child's game, I never heard it called anything other than Keep Away. I have lived in different states in the US. In Minnesota they called it soda pop or just pop. In Chicago they called it Pop or Sodie. In CA they always used to say Coca Cola, but years later it became just Coke. People order cola at a restaurant to get a Cola as opposed to any other pop. Since there are no name brand colas, if you specifically want Coke, you order Coke or Coca Cola. Some restaurants and fast food places only have Pepsi products, so when you order Coke, you have to substitute. When I was in the south, I heard some people say Cokecola, as if it were all one word. I cant remember if that was in Texas, N/S Carolina, or Florida. The US is very diverse and things vary from state to state. So if you've never been to a state, you never know what they might say differently.

[@BetaTestingUrGf]

In danish cola is the black kinda sodavand (soda water), coke is for the namebrand (Coca-Cola). You'd also hear sportsvand (sports water, [7up, sprite og *faxe kondi* ]) and appelsinvand (orange water [fanta ect.]) We say sten ✊ saks ✌️ papir ✋, and the ball game i just called gris (pig)

[@klausbrinck2137]

9:15 "Coke" sounds like the adjective of a drink named "Cola", specifically named after the tiny amount of cocaine that Coca(ine)-Cola contained at its beginnings. The general name is "Cola" and the prefix/adjective/predicate is "Coca", or whatever the name of the specific Cola-Brand is, like, for example, Pepsi-Cola...

[@sylviaschmitz5816]

I would generally call the brown sugary carbonated beverage cola, no matter the brand. But if I want not just any old cola but Coca Cola I call it by its proper name. If a restaurant sells several types of cola you need to specify which you want. If they sell only one type you can just order a cola.

[@schiffelers3944]

In Dutch/Netherlands it's also comparing apples to pears. Which makes more sense; you could compare these two while both are distinctly different, while the orage is vastly different. You could compare an orange with a lemon or a lime, that would make sense. I'm not sure if it is only English speakers that make the orage apple comparison, so far; DE & NL (Germanic languages don't)

[@christianosminroden7878]

My cousin used to work as a key account manager for Coca-Cola Germany. His whole demeanour about this at the time felt kind of odd to me - it was like the company had given out an order to „force-feed“ the name „Coke“ for the drink itself, in contrast to all other „cola“ brands as well as „Coca-Cola“ as the name of the company as such and, of course, the other sodas of their own like Sprite Fanta. That thought of mine also matched the overall naming in commercials etc.pp., so I‘m inclined be believe that this was actually the case.

[@schiffelers3944]

the big/great dipper/wagon is a "bear" in Dutch, but since we don't see a bear but a steelpan, pan with a handle, we use that amongst commoners as grote en kleine beer are the "official" names used. I like the wagon from the Germans, also with the history of the wheel and cart and humanity going back to some of the most early inventions humans made that changed and shaped the course of human lives.

[@McGhinch]

My recommendation is German, of course: Urban Pop -- Peter Urban is talking in an interview style about pop music history.

[@Sarariman23]

To me the difference between "Coke" and "Cola" is: If I order a "Coke" I mean Coca-Cola and no other brand. If I order "Cola" it could be "Afri Cola", "Fritz Cola", "Club Cola", "Mio Mate Cola" and so on.

[@markushorschig6358]

Best podcasts are "Conflicted" in ENG and "Was tun, Herr General?" in GER. Cola is the type of drink, coke is the brand, like Pepsi (Cola).

[@PassportTwo]

Looking for more German podcast recommendations so I really appreciate that one but I’ll check out the English one as well 😃

[@cristianc.6302]

In Romania: 1. We do exactly the same gesture as germans do, but the saying is different, we say: "I keep my fists (closed) for you" 2. We say: "Thought to thought with joy" 3. With this we are with the americans, we also have the 9th cloud :) 4. We also call it The big Wagon, as germans do 5. We also call it Cola, not Coke 6. Rock paper scissors was not a common game in Romania in my childhood, at least not were I lived. I think today the kids call it by its english name rather than by its romanian translation. And as far as the Mokey in the middle game is concerned, we "played" this game only as a prank when we would "steal" something from another kid and then two or more of us would pass the thing from one to the other while the owner desperately would try to recover it.

[@zaldarion]

Coka Cola: my best shot is, since there is no coke in cola anymore, to me it makes more sense to name the ingredient that is still used and the basic of this drink: cola. also since cola is in all of the brands it does not specify which you prefer, it's just "cola" to order, and coka cola is a specific brand. but... just a thought, dunno if it's right or wrong

[@alexandermarkhart1582]

So in my childhood it was "Schere, Stein, Papier" und "Schweinchen in der Mitte", I have absolutely no clue why it is a piggy, and honestly never wondered why... For the Podcast "Geschichten aus der Geschichte" is my favorite Podcast. It's basically funny/special people throughout history

[@pixelbartus]

There is more "same but different" in the drink section. Do you know if you Order a "Soda" in a german restaurant, they bring you sparkling water? What you call soda would be referred to as "Limo" (short for Limonade, even if it has nothing to do with limes or lemons) or we would use the english term "soft drink".

[@picobello99]

In the Netherlands we turn our thumbs for good luck. Crossing fingers means you're telling a lie. When you're very happy you're either on a pink cloud or in seventh heaven. The Big Dipper is called "Kleine Beer" (little bear) in Dutch. Coke is already short for cocaine. It's best to avoid any confusion there 😂

[@HolgerJakobs]

The game is also called Sching, Schang, Schong, not only Schnick, Schnack, Scnuck. Sometimes there are more possible items than just scissors, stone and paper, but I forgot them.

[@thecalif2914]

They even had a jingle "Coca-Cola ist Coke" in the advertising a couple years ago, Well, this didn't work as expected, "Cola" stayed for the most. A friend of mine even referred to Coca-Cola as "Coka" which could be a common Berlin idiom.

[@BrokenSkyline_]

To that "rock, paper, siccors" topic - I even say "Stein, Schere, Papier" and even heared other series so I don't really think there is a set order, it probably depends on the region. Also to "monkey in the middle" - in my region I only know it under the name "Pflaume" which just translates to 'plum' so probably depends on the region aswell. but nevertheless great video👍

[@emilwandel]

Schere, Stein, Papier ist die übliche Reihenfolge in Deutschland

[@allansnape416]

In England we see the “plough” for the dipper or wagon

[@laurenzpeacock3234]

In East Germany the ball game wirh someone in the middle is called "Pflaume". The one in the middle trying to catch the ball is the Pflaume as this word can be a lighthearted swearword

[@Baccatube79]

In German compound nouns, the second part is defined by the first. So logically, in Coca-Cola, the first part is a defining the actual part, i.e. Cola.

[@kirachan007]

about the Coca-Cola thing, I remember I had a friend back in primary school in whose family it was common to say "Coca" instead of "Cola". I remember that it massively weirded me out. It does even more as an adult when I now know that this is actually the name of the plant that delivered the original drug that went into the original drinks.

[@YSaturn]

The pressing thumbs comes, as far as I know from the case, that the thumbs are considered the "magic finger". The thumb is special and can catch/hold ghosts/spirits. From the same reason, christians put their hands together, when praying as with that gesture they "catch" the holy spirit. So when you press someone the thumbs, you are actually catching and holding evil spirits, who could harm the others activity. Its similar with for example saying "toi toi toi", this is the sound you make when spitting out, which scares evil spirits and the devil away, so he cant harm the other one in his activity.

[@abendsonnewarriorcats9474]

The first childrens game is called "Sching Schang Schong" where Im from (Northern Germany)

[@sner777]

I think the word Cola now refers to a separate type of drink such as water, beer or energy drink, not directly the Coca-Cola brand. When my wife says please bring me Coke from the supermarket, I know she always means 2-3 cans of Red Bull Coke Ps: she usually drinks water and needs something else. Otherwise she would address the brand directly like Pepsi..., Sinalco..., Fritz or Coca Cola...!

[@HyperQbeMusic]

I agree. I don't know how it is in the US (or parts of it), but in Germany, it is "Coca-Cola", "Pepsi Cola" and so on. This leads to the classification of similar beverages as"cola". And since almost every supermarket chain has its own "brand" of cheap beverages, looking for "cola" always gets you that dark brown drink, while "Coke" or "Coca-Cola" will lead to that specificbrand.

[@chrisf.685]

@@HyperQbeMusic It´s the distinctive taste of one of the main ingredients for Cola, the Kola nut, that defines the colloquial name.

[@halvarf]

It's complicated. :-) Cola has traditionally been seen as the generic term for the brown coffeinated beverage in Germany. We have Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, Afri-Cola, Fritz-Cola, River Cola, Cola Zero, Cola Light etc. But it's all just the brown coffeinated beverage. Sprite or Fanta are not seen as Cola. We used to have a more generic term for all sweet carbonated drinks, which was "Brause", but it has fallen out of use. "Limonade" or "Limo" is still being used in that sense, but almost never for Cola. Sprite and Fanta and a lot of local fruity carbonated drinks are all considered "Limonade". It's not the same as Lemonade, which doesn't really exist in Germany. Energy drinks like Red Bull are also seen as their own category, as are "Schorlen" (which are based on fruit juices and carbonated water).

[@Avocado_Ananas]

To “rock, paper, scissors” I either say “Schere, Stein, Papier” or “Schnick, Schnack, Schnuck”. I don’t know why I use to names, I just do for some reason.

[@worldhello1234]

@7:57 Yes, sugar is like coke. Both are white powders and both make you addicted.

[@JohnDoe-us5rq]

That's an easy one, but it's super specific: late night Linux. It's Linux, it's tech, but I love the hosts. It's like beer and banter, but with a open source/Linux set.

[@justinbayer4326]

For the last game there is also the term "Affentretzen"

[@MinecraftPony155]

I grew in the region where standard german orginates from and learned "Sching Schang Schong" for rock paper scissors (not sure if that's how you spell it) But I believe that's the standard way of saying it because almost no one would say "Schnick Schnack Schnuck" here.

[@obenohnebohne]

My idea of why Germans focus on the last part of the brand is because German compound words are build in a certain way. The final part of the word is the main word and the words before it describe the last (main) word better. Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola (Pepsi), Mezzo-Cola, Vita-Cola. Another example is Tisch (table). It can be a Küchentisch (kitchen table), Bürotisch (office table), Gartentisch (garden table). The most common Cola in Germany is Coca-Cola, that’s why we shorten it to Cola. If you want another brand of Cola, you have to be more specific (at least if there’s multiple brands available). But that is just my two cents.

[@fariesz6786]

there's also a process called "re-analysing" going on: when a wordform or compound is no longer transparent to speakers (in this case bc it was borrowed, but can have other reasons) they will re-interpret how it was formed - that's also how we got «Echse» from «Ei-Dechse» re-analysed as «Eid-Echse» or English "a newt" from "an ewt." there _are_ other types of compounds, namely those where none of the parts constitutes a more generic term for what the compound describes: a «Großmaul» is not a «Maul» and a «Marderhund» is neither a «Marder» nor a «Hund» but something resembling both somewhat. those are called _exocentric,_ and are exactly what "Coca-Cola" originally is: neither "Coca" nor "Cola" but a drink containing both plants. it seems to be more natural for people to assume that a compound must be _endocentric,_ i.e. that one part of the compound is a more generic term for the thing in question. and yes, in German that is almost always the last part of a compound. those are my nerdy two cents and was too many words to say: i think you're right xD

[@PilotFlo]

The tip of the Big Dipper does not point north. The Little Dipper's tip is polaris. However the two stars opposite of the Big Dipper point to Polaris.

[@PassportTwo]

The tip of the Big Dipper points to Polaris, which like you said, is the end of the „handle“ of the Little Dipper. Polaris is the North Star, thus, the tip of the Big Dipper points north. science.nasa.gov/solar-system/skywatching/what-is-the-north-star-and-how-do-you-find-it/

[@PilotFlo]

@@PassportTwo ah, so English is not my first language and I saw the handle as the tip. Just didn't anyone to get lost. But I do as the guy in orthopedic shoes and stand corrected

[@DS-qo5sh]

And in Germany we don't say, like a drop in a bucket. Instead we say, wie ein Tropfen auf dem heißen Stein. Wich means: like a drop on a hot stone.

[@KorkytheKat-h3c]

In the UK we call the Big Dipper the Plough constellation.

[@MaskedBishop]

Thanks! I've played the game "Big Dipper" on PS4 and honestly didn't know what the term was referring to. (And the ad I saw here uses the same music as you, so I hope it can be purchased somewhere and wasn't copied from you.)

[@Baerenpapa007]

I know 'monkey in the middle' as 'Affentretzen' which literaly translates to 'monkey teasing'

[@xemirahobbyless]

In Bavaria, we call that ball game "Tratzball" which means "tease ball"

[@chrisssssssi5598]

Not only the clouds have different numbers, but cats also have less lives. In Germany they only have 7 lives instead of 9.

[@PassportTwo]

Honestly hadn’t heard that one yet 😂 Thanks for sharing!

[@COPKALA]

BTW in Italian 'rock paper scissor' is called 'morra cinese'

[@bastifantasti82]

In Germany, Coca-Cola stands for the brand, Cola for the beverage containing cola nuts, i.e. also for all other brands. I think Coke is referring to the fact that Coca-Cola once contained cocaine.

[@MarcLeonbacher-lb2oe]

In fact, the English Wikipedia uses the term "cola" as umbrella for this type of soft drink being dark.

[@pasixty6510]

Talking about imperial measurements… In German we say „Filmmaterial“. In English it’s „footage“. That sounds a bit like imperial, or what does that term come from?

[@birgerhansen1532]

Great video. Great content :)

[@PassportTwo]

Thanks! 😊 Glad you enjoyed

[@RobertMurphy-sx8lc]

German "Daumen drücken". English "Cross fingers". In South Africa we say "Hold thumbs" - pretty close to the German expression.

[@mariof2921]

English Wikipedia also calls the soft drink (with no brand specification) "cola"

[@PassportTwo]

Must have been edited by a German 😉

[@mariof2921]

Obviously. Btw in Italian it's una "coca"

[@Ravenprincess]

actually, we call the game you called "monkey in the middle" something else here in Germany - we call it "Hund schnapp die Wurst" 😂