I Accidentally Ordered Beer, Confused my German Coworker, And Made Germans laugh at a Bday Party 🎂

Join in italki's language challenge here: go.italki.com/... and use my code LILA: buy $10, get $5 off. The language challenge is from October 1st until November 19th :)
In this video I will tell about 5 recent stories of how I used the wrong German words which led to some funny moments. #americaningermany

[@valentinmoeller]

Best example: umfahren. It can mean to drive around or to drive over. It’s its own opposite. :p

[@SlaiiZ]

Well both have a different pronunciation

[@I_am_Raziel]

Best example

[@moingenaumoin3468]

Ehm das heißt nicht umfahren das heißt herumfahren :D

[@I_am_Raziel]

@@moingenaumoin3468 herumfahren ist sinngemäß wie (gesprochen) umfaahren; drüberfahren ist dasselbe wie (gesprochen) ummfahren. Von daher stimmt es schon. Beides wird identisch geschrieben.

[@batluckies]

@@moingenaumoin3468 "herumfahren" steht für sich gewöhnlicherweise sogar eher für "in der Gegend herumfahren". Das was du meinst ist "drumherum fahren".

[@FadiHamoud1980]

Du stinkst gut!😆 You made me laugh out loud at 3 am. I'm afraid I woke up my neighbors 😅 It's like saying: you stink well in English. Very funny. I love your videos. You're my favorite American living in Germany, very cute.

[@christiankastorf1427]

You can say that ironically then if someone has put on an after shave lotion or parfume. But make sure that this person can take that joke.

[@simsch97]

The name "Maulwurf" comes from the old high german word "Moltewurf". "Molte" means Erde (soil) and "wurf" is a form of werfen so to throw something. A Maulwurf is a soil thrower if you translate it word to word and the hill is called Maulwurfshügel in german.

[@eyeofthasky]

same for old english, molde-weorpe .. and even if this eroded to mole, the "molde"-part exists more recognizable still today: mold. not in the sense -of a hollow form for filling a material in- -- and not in the sense -of the stuff on rotten fruit- -- but in the sense of _loose soil, rich in humus and fit for planting._

[@Al69BfR]

@@eyeofthasky Old english and old german dialects are very close. I once saw a video where I as a native German speaker could guess the meaning of old english words and sentences better than native English speakers. It makes sense when I think about where then Saxon part in Anglo-Saxon comes from. 😉 Today we have three states that we call Saxony. But the Saxon dialect is even difficult for Germans to understand. That‘s why there are often subtitles in TV when they are speaking. Same with Frisian, Bavarian and some other unintelligible dialects. 😉

[@MichaTicho]

Interesting: "mold" is also the Old Norse (Viking) word for soil.

[@peterkroger7112]

"Alsterwasser" in Hamburg (and around it) is what the rest of Germany calls "Radler". It's basically beer mixed with lemonsoda at a 1:1 ratio.

[@JS-ui5ew]

Except for the Ruhrgebiet - we call Radler beer mixed with seven up/sprite like lemonades and call Alster beer mixed with "orange" based lemonades, e.g. Fanta or similar

[@marcelwin6941]

The British know this as a "shanty"

[@omma911]

What's a Kreefelder then?

[@peterkroger7112]

@@omma911 Cola with beer. But that is also sometimes called "Elbwasser" in Hamburg.

[@TingleTom]

So that's why I don't know Alsterwasser even though I'm german.

[@fixxl]

You have to be quite careful if you hear some composite with "Wasser". "Alsterwasser" as already pointed out by many is beer mixed with lemon soda but there are also terms like "Kirschwasser" (cherry water) and "Zwetschgenwasser" (plum water), which refer to hard liquor made from cherries and plums, respectively.

[@RustyDust101]

I just googled the origin of Roter Faden, and was astonished. I had always associated it with Ariadne's Thread from Greek mythology. But lo and behold, I learned something new today. The red thread was a thread woven into ropes and lanyard twine on English navy ships. These ropes and threads had been stolen too often. So any rope with this red thread woven into it was officially property of the English navy, with severe fines for the theft. The construction was such that this red thread could not be removed completely without unwinding the whole rope, which would obviously destroy the stolen property. How this got incorporated into the German language is beyond me. But yes, this is similar to a guiding line, a core principle, or like you said, the central theme of something. It is an inherent part of the whole that can't be separated from the whole. I assume it was 'fuffzig' what your boyfriend's brother said. That is derived from old military speech where it was imperative that 'fünf' (5) and 'fünfzig' (50) are not confused in orders. So they were pronounced a bit differently. The same goes for the official 'zwei' (2) and 'drei' (3) difference. In harsh weather on board a ship some parts of a word may be covered by noise, and then the similar sounding part could give confused measurements in orders. So in military speech it is often spoken as 'zwo' instead of 'zwei', to clearly differentiate it in verbal form from 'drei'.

[@davidschaftenaar6530]

I wouldn't be surprised if the expression Roter Faden was an import from Dutch. In Dutch we have the expression "Rode Draad" that also literally translates to "Red Thread" in English and means exactly what it does in German (English meaning equivalents: The "Main Plot" or "The Gist" of something). Why do I think it originates with Dutch rather than German? ... Well... Let's face it, neighbor: We Dutch are and always have been, a maritime nation... And an _unscrupulous_ one too up until recently; If either of us was swiping the ropes off of docked English ships it was probably us rather than you guys haha.

[@peterkroger7112]

"Fuffzig" is no military term for "fünftig". It's related to the low German word fir 50: Föfftig.

[@Rob-bt7io]

for explanation: you'll often will hear the term in the frase: "den (roten) Faden verlieren", to loose the red thread, which means to miss or to loose the main theme or topic in the flow of words.

[@thomasprehn9179]

Very nice video. 🙂 Etikett = tag or label Etikette = etiquette Etikett and Etikette are pronounced in different ways in German.

[@nomirrors3552]

Oh cool. Thanks for explaining that.

[@gerdschmidt8505]

Außerdem: das Etikett, aber die Etikette

[@celinerippl6466]

And the article is different. It is: "das Etikett" = tag or label "die Etikette" = etiquette 😊

[@b4yma]

If you pronounce "Etikette" then you speak every Letter in a "slow" way, even the e at the end.

[@anashiedler6926]

The beer mistake has nothing to do with your german skills, thats just a regional name. Even i as a native (austrian-)german speaker would have made the same mistake, because in my region this "alsterwasser" would have been called "Radler". I might have been a bit skeptical though, because i don't think the water from the alster would be clean enough to drink...

[@christiankastorf1427]

That is why "Radler" got that name in the north. People joked about the unclean water supplies of Germany's second largest city in the early 1900s. An outbreak of cholera had killed thousands in Hamburg in the late 1890s. Hamburg's waterworks had taken their water straight from the river and due to a hot, dry summer the water level of the Elbe had been lower than usual. As a result the tide had washed the outlet of the sewers further down the river into the intakes of the waterworks upstream. As a result people drank their own piss and shit.

[@philiph6456]

@@christiankastorf1427 And hence you have the Hamburger WasserTraeger who during the Cholera outbreak,when told to Hurry Hurry with the water (Hummel, Hummel) would lift the coat tails of his coat, show his NachtArsch and yell "Mors Mors! (mY A--.My A--) im Platt.....and that became a way to greet HamburgerVolk.....

[@ChicaTiquita]

I worked in the gastronomy in the past and every time someone ordered a Radler we actually had to correct them that we only sell Alster. In the Ruhrgebiet (I know its not considered that everywhere in Germany) Alster(wasser) is considered to be beer with orange soda and Radler is beer with lemon soda. But in the North Alster is just a synonym for Radler :)

[@danielschaefers]

The story goes back to the fact that a large group of cyclists wanted to reward themselves with a beer at their destination (a café in the forest or something). And because there wasn't enough, the waiter put down the beer with lemonade. And since the north does not want such a southern need on the menu, it is called there "Alsterwasser".

[@jeff-8511]

Here in Austria we call it Radler.

[@stefansucher9992]

Instead of riechen you can also use duften. (from Duft = fragrance)

[@wora1111]

Duften also implies a "good" thing where stinken has a negative connotation. So these two are each other's opposite

[@Sunny-ik2jj]

gut riechen = duften, schlecht riechen = stinken

[@Anson_AKB]

@@wora1111 a skunk in german is a _Stinktier_ :-)

[@chorabari]

@@Sunny-ik2jj In der Schweiz riechen = schmecken :-D

[@kenkur27]

@@Anson_AKB Many animal names in German are of such a descriptive nature.

[@chrisbysize]

7:26 "Duften" would be a good passive verb, since "riechen" smelling is an active verb conducted by the noticing person.

[@haukenot3345]

"Duften" already means "to smell good", though. It's a very lyrical word, so it may not fit every situation. At least where I live (in the Northwest of Germany), "duften" is mainly used for flowers, perfumes, or food. When talking to a person, it's quite a strong word and may seem a bit over the top. "Du riechst gut" is a lot more common than "Du duftest". And there isn't a lot of confusion either, because when you want to compliment someone on their sense of smell, you wouldn't say "Du riechst gut", sondern "Du kannst gut riechen".

[@simsch97]

In german you say "In deiner Präsentation hattest du einen guten roten Faden." if someone did a presentation and he/she structured it very well so it was very easy for you to understand it. It refers to having a red thread that shows you the way through a maze.

[@aphextwin5712]

Some of these expressions are used a lot using a particular phrasing. The term ‘roter Faden’ is often used in ‘zieht sich wie ein roter Faden durch xyz’. Related to this is ‘den Faden verloren haben’, which can in some contexts be translated as ‘having lost your train of thought’, though its meaning is a bit wider.

[@TheAxel65]

When I stayed in Paris for a year, my first experiments with the french language sometimes also took a hilarious turn. Once I wanted to ask my neighbor if he could borrow me a broom, french _balai_ But actually I asked for a _baleine_ - when he bursted into laughing he explained, that I've been asking for a *whale* - french _la baleine_ 😂

[@ErklaerMirDieWelt]

You experienced a traditional German day of eating it seems :D Bread, meat and cheese for breakfast and dinner and a warm lunch followed by coffee and cake in between have been pretty much the norm for a very long time. Nowadays, as work schedules become more flexible, some families prefer to have a warm dinner instead, but the older generation will mostly still do it this way.

[@xela6349]

Well yeah, that's the difference between supper and dinner in English. Supper basically means cold "Abendessen" and dinner is warm in contrast.

[@toecutter3100]

My share to complete confusion with "Zahlwörtern": When you live somewhere in northern germany and come to a construction site, you sometimes hear someone shouting "Fofftein!". Another word with two meanings: The word is Plattdeutsch and means "fünfzehn" or "15". But for workers in the north it means "Pause" which is a break. So, if you hear this, drop your hammer and get a sandwich.

[@Andreas_42]

Ah, the 15 minutes break.

[@oLynxXo]

In English you can say "take five" which is similar, it also means to take a short break.

[@heikojakob6491]

Alsterwasser is a northern german thing. The naming for this stuff in southern Germany will confuse you even more. The beer-lemonadd mix is called Radler in southern Germany and Austria.

[@jeff-8511]

Ich habe auch nicht gewusst, was Alsterwasser ist. Hier in Österreich sagen wir Radler. Hier sagen wir DER Radler, aber anscheinend sagt man in Süddeutschland auch DAS Radler, stimmt’s ?

[@ErklaerMirDieWelt]

Der rote Faden (the red thread) is an idiom coined by the famous poet and writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (he's basically our version of Shakespeare and influenced the German language quite a bit). He explained in one of his novels that the English navy used to work a red thread into all of their ropes to identify them and prevent theft. Goethe used this picture to describe a central theme of a character's diary and thus the idiom was born. He was probably inspired by Greek mythology. There, Theseus is brought to the island of Minos to be sacrificed in the labyrinth of the Minotaur, a very dangerous beast, half man, half bull. Ariadne, the princess that guards the labyrinth (and also the Minotaur's half sister on the human side), falls in love with Theseus and gives him a thread to find his way back to her through the labyrinth. A thread also symbolizes fate in Greek mythology as the the three Moirai who determine the fate of every human each handle the thread of life: Clotho spins it, Lachesis measures it and Atropos cuts it off at the end of life.

[@cleancoder3838]

Price = Preis (€, $) Prize = Preis (für das Erreichen des 1., 2. 3. Platzes bei einem Wettbewerb (competition))

[@YukiTheOkami]

Prize /reward xD

[@karinland8533]

Ein Synonym ist Gewinn= Preis

[@DeathByStupidity9]

And don't forget about the Bavarian "Du sau preis!", referring to any non-Bavarian as a Prussian... Weird how that ancient conflict stuck around...

[@cleancoder3838]

Etikett ist nicht das selbe wie Etikette. dt. das Etikett = engl. tag, label dt. die Etikette = engl. etikette / etiquette (behavior, manner)

[@Jaridien]

So ist es. im englischen wird aber ein "e" stimmlos, deswegen ist es wohl für englischsprachige wohl schwierig, diesen Unterschied zu sehen.

[@FabFunty]

...und Niveau ist keine Creme 😉

[@Slithermotion]

Wenn du mir als Schweizer "die Etikette" sagst ist das für mich immer noch eine Beschriftung z.B. eines Produkts. Wahrscheinlich weil wir viel französischen Einfluss haben und daher das französische direkt übersetzt benutzen... Aber wenn du uns etwas von Etikette sagst denken wir nicht an Benimmregeln. Jetzt weiss ich warum in manchen deutschen Foren das Wort Nettikette zustande kam. Die Etikette würde man hier in der Schweiz einfach als "die Umgangsform" bezeichnen.

[@windjager2177]

@@Slithermotion i mean. Macht Sinn. In der Schweiz wird(zumindenst ausserhalb der Schule.) ja kein Deutsch gesprochen also eh. (ISTG It makes me so mad for no reason st all when people call it swiss german cause- like- yeah both languages root off of Old German but istg it's so different. It's just not Officially seen as own language cause it "hAs nO oFfIcAl wAy tO wRiTe iT". Like bro-- oops gonna shut up now cya

[@Vampirzaehnchen]

Ist Etikette nicht der Plural von Etikett? *rollt schnell wieder weg *

[@jeffwest5244]

Nilpferd sounds funny to you because you seem to be hearing (saying) "nilp ferd'. But, actually, it's a compound of Nil (Nile) and Pferd (horse), which is almost the exact equivalent of the Greek origin of hippopotamus (river horse).

[@jeff-8511]

Oder man sagt auch: Flusspferd

[@AK-cp8rq]

Und auch wenn der Nil nur mit einem kurzen "i" geschrieben wird, wird es fast wie mit "ie" gesprochen.

[@pyrointeam]

Yes Alsterwasser is a limited to Hamburg it is Hamburg's Beer "Astra" mixed with lemonade in the rest of Germany we call it Radler. It goes Back to a story where a Biergarten (Outside Restaurant for drinking and enjoying the view/sun) had not enough Beer when a huge group of Radler/Radfahrer (Bicycle-Riders) arrived, so the asked them if its ok if they mix it with lemonade and they all agreed an enjoyed it so much, they came back and it became a thing.

[@KimDammers]

My German wife and I had a German radio. On the back was a switch labeled "Summer." I figured that it meant that you switched it on in the summer to get better reception (actually, I had vacationed in a part of the US where reception varied by season). I think it was about a year or two into switching it on and off for summer, that I was told by my wife that "Summer" meant "buzzer." (I think this might have come up when the "Wecker" didn't go off and she asked me why I had turned it off.

[@winstonsmith819]

Typically, in Germany, you get your favorite cake on your birthday, usually with candles and/or text on top. However, many types of cakes are not flat or solid enough for this. Or perhaps the candle-to-cake ratio would be too candle-heavy.

[@TheFeldhamster]

Idk if it's the same in all of Germany, but here in Austria, the whole candle thing is more for the kids. You don't usually have candles on a birthday cake as an adult. Maybe if it's a significant birthday, like, say, 30 or something, but not on a normal birthday.

[@attam.9428]

@@TheFeldhamster Where I live in northern Germany it's uncommon for adults as well.

[@MessiahHasReturned]

Because english language is so odd that you can barely determine what someone means and you will end up in total chaos if you try to play around with meanings. But German language is so precise that you can indeed play around with the meaning of words just for fun and that's what germans like to do often, especially the more smart germans.

[@KimDammers]

Maybe English is odd, but Wortspiele gibt es jede Menge auf Englisch.

[@mausilugner6637]

2 Germans in a Bar in London: - 2 Martinis, please. - Dry? - NEIN! ZWEI!

[@schneeschieber100]

Ich nehme sechs!...😜

[@peterdoe2617]

Prima! Helmut Kohl im englisch-sprachigen Ausland: Hat sich die Antwort auf "Guten Tag" auf die Rückseite seiner Krawatte geschrieben. Verwechselt aber morgens die Krawatten. Wird begrüßt. Schaut nach auf der Krawatte und antwortet: "Trevira !"

[@KimDammers]

@@schneeschieber100

[@schneeschieber100]

@@KimDammers Alle guten Dinge sind dry!

[@Claudia-vu6vb]

"Du stinkst gut!" 🤣 that's hilarious. Just say "Du riechst gut!" 😊

[@frauantjeshayday-farmen9517]

Roter Faden. That's an acient greek folktale of Ariadne. Once there was a huge palace in Mykonos, named Knossos. It was the famous labyrinth. Theseus was supposed to kill a monster, partly human, partly a wild bull. But for this, he had to find the monster in the labyrinth and later to find out again. Ariadne spontanously fell in love with him and helped him: She gave him a red thread: so when he went in, the thread would follow him. And after he killed the monster, he just had to follow the thread to find out again. - That's the folktale. But der rote Faden is still that, what helps you to get through. In an exhibition it might be a common theme, in marketing it might be a logo, in a presentation it is the matter you are talking about. Den roten Faden verlieren means you start talking about something else. If you completely lost den roten Faden, and are always changing the matter you are talking about (happens with smalltalk, chatting, gossiping), dann kommst du vom Hundertsten zum Tausendsten or du kommst vom Hütchen aufs Stöckchen (extreme contrary to roter Faden)

[@frauantjeshayday-farmen9517]

o, and to those who are wondering how a greek folktale became german common knowledge: in former times you had to learn Latin and and ancient greek before you were allowed to study at a university. Seems the kids loved the lessons with these old folktales. And there even was a time when greek and roman culture was admired and imitated. This time we call Klassizismus - every big town still has some buildings from this time. During this time Gustav Schwab wrote a book with the most important greek and roman tales: Gustav Schwab: Sagen des klassischen Altertums. It was not as widely spread as the fairytales of Brethren Grimm, but Gustav Schwab is still being sold today, so it is sort of standard, too. So a person knowing latin and greek might have given this book to a child so that the child might be interested in higher education.

[@Cary_Shultz]

Schoenen Guten Morgen! Ha! Ha! I am a tad bit older than you.....54 years young now....but I lived in Germany [after I graduated from University (LMU - Go, Lions!) back in 1989] for several years. Loved loved loved it there. I was in the Frankfurt area....which was gorgeous, but the language was a VERY different dialect. Found your channel quite by chance. I had lots and lots of similar experiences with respect to "language barrier". Anyway, this particular post made me smile and took me back to when I was a much younger man. Good luck with the certificate pursuit and enjoy the heck out of Hamburg! I always enjoyed my time up in Bremen and Hamburg! PS: ordering a beer in Germany can be a challenge, even when you speak German very well. Order a regional beer in the wrong region! LOL See what happens!

[@MsNikonD300]

Ich komme zwar aus Süddeutschland, wohne aber seit ca. 10 Jahren im Norden. Ich habe auch hier sehr oft Maulwurfkuchen gefunden 😊... Ich denke, es ist eine ziemlich gängige Küchensorte... Spannend war die Geschichte mit dem Alster Wasser - hier, ein Stück westlicher als Hamburg, sagt man nur Alster. Und im Süden Deutschlands wissen die meisten nur, was du meinst, wenn du Radler sagst 😊... Viel Erfolg beim Lernen und beim Erreichen deines angestrebten Sprach- Niveaus 🍀!

[@swensandor]

Alsterwasser is a mixture of beer and lemonade. It is called that name only in the north of Germany, especially in Hamburg. In the rest of Germany we call it a "Radler" (biker), what means exactly a beer mixed up with either lemon- or orange lemonade.

[@raik4987]

A Skunk wants to flirt? ))) positiv , genial ))) it is an ingenious, honest opinion and perfect for the language of poets and thinkers

[@gwendolinenorsk4317]

„Alsterwasser“ is a word used especially in Hamburg (and the close area around). In the south of Germany you call ithat kind of beer mix a „Radler“. And you can order a Alsterwasser/Radler with Limonade that’s sweet (süßes Radler) and also with just with fizzy water (saures Radler). You can try to remember it by „süßer Sprudel“ (sweet soda Pop) and „saurer Sprudel“ (neutral sparkling/fizzy water)

[@ThereIsOnly1ArcNinja]

Nice video and I wish you the strength to meat your goal! Don't be too harsh to yourself when some unusual words and phrases seem to set you back. This is the reason, why we try to avoid to repeat the same word in German over and over again. This gives more context and makes things like "Preis" much easier to understand. We commonly ask "Was macht das?" or "Wieviel macht das?" - "How much is that?". Very common among strangers is also "Wieviel schulde ich Ihnen?" - "How much do I owe you?". When you want to ask for the price of a thing or a service, the most common phrase is "Was kostet das?", which simply means "What does this/that cost?". A little background to some of the other mentioned words: "Roter Faden" - the red thread can be a guideline for an action, a product roadmap or in the most usual way it is the central narrative of a story. It's derived from the old Greek/Minoan story of the Minotaur, where a red thread from Ariadne help to save the day. "Maulwurf" [ˈmaʊ̯lˌvʊʁf] - a so called old world mole - is the modern version of old German pronunciations like muwerf (with a long u - throw a pile of dirt), mullwerf (soil thrower) and possibly mulwerf (with the first syllable pronounced like oo in wood - a being throwing things with its mouth). The last one is the common explanation for this word for in the last 500 years. To be precise, it has so many like sounding versions in Old High German, that nobody can be sure about its origin anymore. Some etymologists even suspect Greek roots here. I wonder how many more Hellenic loan words we find when we dig deep enough. "Alsterwasser" - also commonly known as"Radler" - had me laughing hard, as this is something that gets most visitors. Its a mildly alcoholic refreshing beverage that is seen more like a form of soft drink and not beer - except when it comes to taxes, as the beer tax has to be paid for both components, beer and lemonade. The refreshing aspect is responsible for the name "Radler" - bicycle rider - as it has been commonly served to bicyclers at rest stops for over 100 years. "Alsterwasser" most likely comes from the color of the drink, which is being compared to the historically somewhat brackish water of the old river Alster. It's quite natural that you've only heard "Wasser" (water) and disregarded the first part. Word compositions are a secret art of native German speakers and we can drive ourselves nuts with this. "Pandemiebekämpfungsmaßnahmen" is a word like this. It has become a common phrase over the past (almost) two years for governmental pandemic control measures. Although we do not use such monsters in day-to-day conversations, we are quite familiar with it, as it is "Behördensprache" - High German official correspondence language. See, we can even make shorter terms this way 🤗 Our friends in Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and other German speaking regions have their own "monster terms", which makes it even harder for non-natives to understand us. Don't get me started with German dialects, which is even stranger than a U.S. mid-western farmer talking to a Scottish shepherd, where you usually don't understand a single thing they mumble. A Russian fellow once told me "Thank god, we don't have this in Russia. We speak the same basic language from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok - and that is hard enough!"

[@sayeichhornchen1972]

7:10 - A better way for saying "du riekst gut" is: "Du riechst gut." ^^ You could also say: "Du duftest gut", "Ich mag deinen Geruch.", "Hast du einen neuen Duft? - Gefällt mir." oder "Du stinkst heute weniger schlimm als sonst."

[@ErklaerMirDieWelt]

das Etikett und die Etikette are actually related. Das Etikett (label) is borrowed from Old French "estiquier" which got it from Flemish steeken (see German stecken and sticken as well as English to stick and to stitch) in a time where labels would be stitched onto clothing. Pretty soon, die Etikette developped from there in a figurative meaning: A label is a societal norm, certain labels give you a certain status, you have to have a certain label to fit into certain groups etc. So Etikette came to mean societal rules and restraints.

[@EngelinZivilBO]

Just imagine you speak fering (Frisk, Friesisch) Platt, German and English... I'm the laughingstock on every party :D :D

[@thomasp.5057]

"Alsterwasser" is a term which is used more in Northern Germany while the south uses "Radler". At some places the mean a mixture of beer an lemon lemonade ("Sprite"), and at other places they use orange lemonade ("Fanta") for mixing. I live in western germany and here we use both. In our region there is also a drink named "Krefelder" which is a mixture of beer (Pils or Alt) and coke (or malt beer).

[@am17frans]

As for how the brother talk: When at University I used to help transcribe interviews, and even is someone spoke perfect Swedish, it was easy to see if they were non-native speakers. This due to how much closer to the written language they spoke, native speakers had a lot more noses (like um and ahs), as well as shortening and combining of words. I would assume it is the same in german.

[@kustanhardelus6919]

can you say "du riechst gut" in german? lets ask somone famous, Rammstein, what do you think? DU RIEEEECHST SO GUUUUUT 😂

[@silentkiel]

yes

From this video I've learned that we germans often measure our time until something has to be finished or something ends. "Wir haben fünf Minuten mehr" means, that the time slot has ended and surprisingly the event/the thing can last longer than scheduled.

[@xcoder1122]

Alsterwasser is only used in Hamburg and surroundings but even in Bavaria we know this term. As for smell, here it's the other way around: to smell can be both in German, riechen and stinken, so one word in English, two in German, but riechen is neutral while stinken is always implying a bad smell.

[@TackerTacker]

Du stinkst gut 🤣 That's brilliant, I love it.

[@peremeesz]

Actually there are 'das Etikett' and 'die Etikette' in German and they mean different things: das Etikett means label, tag; die Etikette means etiquette. Obviously, all of these words are borrowings from the French 'étiquette' which does have both meanings.

[@ErklaerMirDieWelt]

der Wurf is the noun to the verb werfen (to throw). It can mean a litter because we think of an animal giving birth as it throwing out babies (don't ask me why). It can also just mean "a throw" in baseball for example. Pertaining to the mole, it throws out dirt from underground with his mouth (Maul), so we call it mouth-throw (Maulwurf). German is very visual with it's compound nouns, especially when it comes to animal names.

[@alexandrak8441]

So - Alsterwasser in the northern parts of Germany (called Radler in the southern parts) is originally half beer and half a specific lemonade. Now there are many variations out there but that was the original one. If I remember correctly it was made for the people peddle biking on a Saturday or Sunday, having craving for beer but also had to peddle home again.

[@whiskeysk]

talking about ordering wasser, many years ago I ordered "leistungswasser" instead of "leitungswasser" in a restaurant in Vienna (to a significant amusement of the waitress...)

[@loripe1276]

Roter Faden= something is well structured and harmonious and its a widely used term which you can say in many situations. for example you use it when it comes to a presentation and you think its well structured and good to understand as a Listener.

[@101kurtj]

I've done the same thing with riechen and stinken. My dad and I actually have an English joke (before any of the misunderstanding in German) where we say something is a "good stink" or "you stink good" when we have a new cologne/shampoo/bodywash.

[@petrameyer1121]

The wurf in Maulwurf comes from the verb werfen (to throw). Basically it describes an animal that throws (shoves) earth with its mouth (face). :) The cake looks like a molehill.

[@wora1111]

I am not certain, but "Wurf" could be an older German term for the results of something being "geworfen" which a mole hill is.And there still is the substantive of "Wurf" which is the the process of throwing/Werfen.

[@Dueruemtarget]

The „Maul“-part of Maulwurf don‘t have any connection with Maul (face). Maul has developed from old high german „mu“ and later middle high german „Mul“, which means „Haufen, lockere Erde“. If you think about it, it make sense because a „Maulwurf“ throws soil.

[@-heilaender921]

Du hast leider noch nie einen Maulwurf bei der Arbeit gesehen. ;-)

[@Dueruemtarget]

@@-heilaender921 Ich wollte lediglich drauf hinweisen, dass die Namensgebung Maulwurf nichts mit seinem Maul zu tun hat. Ich behaupte nicht, dass jetzt alles stimmt, was ich sage. ;-)

[@balticdubai950]

Hahahaha, ein Maulwurf der die Erde mit dem Maul rauswirft, das ist cool....🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@michaelniesler7102]

Nilpferd is just the name for hippos from the river Nil. Hippos are Flusspferde, so it would literally be river-horses ;) Cool video, keep up the good work and greetings from Aachen Germany

[@Nifuruc]

The /e/ at the end of the word "Etikette" is a so called "Schwa" and is pronounced neutral, but it is pronounced and not silent. Many english native speakers struggle with this sound because it doesn't exist in English (at least not at the end of words). So "die Etikette" is pronounced [etiˈkɛtə] and "das Etikett" is pronounced [etiˈkɛt].

[@SandroSvragulia]

On the contrary, the schwa sound is the most common vowel sound in English. It is mostly used in unstressed syllables. It is used at the end of words in British English, but I think it's not in American English. For example, the word "doctor" in British English is pronounced as [ˈdɒktə] (using schwa at the end) and [ˈdɑːktər] in American English.

[@Nifuruc]

@@SandroSvragulia Yes, you're correct. What I meant was the realization of the letter /e/ in word final position. So the /e/ in "cute", "mate" or "game" is never pronounced. I should have clarified that - so thank you.

[@michelaushamburg6766]

Birthdaycakes for kids often have candles on it, with the number of candles corresponding to the age of the child. But at age 40+ it is hard to squeeze that number of candles on a single cake. So sometimes it is reduced to one candle in the centre of the cake and a number-tag.

[@Collinder]

Alsterwasser=Alster (used more in the northern parts of Germany)=Radler (used more in the middle southern areas of Germany), as you mentioned it is a mix of beer and Lemonade (like Sprite) or any lemon based lemonade. Roughly it is Mixed 50/50, but in the end you mix it the way you like.

[@yxnsoong735]

By the way, Alsterwasser or Radler is called a Shandy in the UK. It's a 50/50 mix of beer and lemonade

[@climbscience4813]

Alsterwasser=beer with lemonade. In northern Germany it's Alsterwasser, in southern Germany, it's also called "Radler". I heard the English term shandy for this. ;-)

[@manakamar]

Your boyfriend's brother said probably "fuffzig" and the g pronounced as ch. In Plattdeutsch that is fofftich or föfftich (depends on the area, in mine it's fofftich). I don't know for sure, but I guess, that's a mixture of Platt and Hochdeutsch. Some Platt- expressions are still in use in Northern Germany. Fofftein(fünfzehn, fifteen) for example has also the meaning of "work is done for today"; "Mach mal fofftein!" means :"Time for a break/Have a break!" or "That's enough for today.", "Feierabend!"

[@geekplatzchen7213]

You said you heared something about Wasser and got beer, I instantly laughed and knew it was Alsterwasser. :)

[@geekplatzchen7213]

I'm not from Hamburg, but I've been there.

[@Herzschreiber]

haha same here.

[@wtsalive8210]

Für Bier/Limonaden-Mischgetränk gibt es regional verschiedene Bezeichnungen. Es gibt auch zwei verschiedene Rezepturen: Bier mit Zitronenlimonade oder Bier mit Orangenlimonade. Der bekannteste Ausdruck ist Radler. Aber Alsterwasser(Norddeutschland), Potsdamer, Stange(Berlin/Brandenburg), Pansché(Grenzgebiet zu Frankreich) Stinken benutzt man eigentlich, wenn etwas oder jemand einen sehr starken meist unangenehmen Geruch hat. Deshalb: „Du stinkst gut“ ist nicht die richtige Wortwahl…aber ich sagte es auch mal zu meiner Partnerin, was nicht gut ankam. Stachelschweine sind Nagetiere, also reine Vegetarier. Igel ernähren sich hauptsächlich von Insekten und Würmern

[@surenot9491]

Es gibt auch noch Krefelder bzw. Schmutziges, mit Cola gemischt. Das war bei uns früher populär aber hab’s selber 10 Jahre nicht mehr getrunken.

[@aphextwin5712]

Die Deutschschweiz benutzt auch Panaché oder ‘eingedeutscht’ Panasch.

[@mathildewesendonck7225]

„Alsterwasser“ or just „Alster“ is not only used in Hamburg, but in the whole North of Germany. In the South its called „Radler“. By the way, do you know the „Weisswurstkanal“ (white sausage channel)? That’s the river Main (some also say it’s the Fulda), that’s supposed to divide the northern from the southern part of Germany. Because white boiled Bavarian sausages are not popular in the North. Or rather the northern side of the Main 😅

[@marcusb8765]

I guess Alster starts way further north than the Main, they don't say it in Kassel ... although some might know it

[@javeyderr4033]

When you stated that alsterwasser is beer and lemonade, that's also called a shandy here in the US. But, you can get a shandy with any soft fruit drink in it. Things like a rasberry shandy or an orange shandy.

[@gwahli9620]

Be aware though, that Ger. "Limonade" = soda pop and is thus a false friend to "lemonade". "Alsterwasser/Radler" is made from 1/2 beer, 1/2 lemon soda so apart from the extra carbonation the result is probably very similar to the shandy.

[@marafeilbach974]

„Du riechst gut“ ist perfekt👍🏼😁

[@hooma1993]

lool I really enjoyed watching this Video so much I laughed and learnt. Vielen danke

[@Nikioko]

In North Germany it's "Alsterwasser" or simply "Alster", in the south it's "Radler". And in Cologne you have to be very cereful. If you order an "Alster" there, you get Kölsch with orange lemonade.

[@erwinerwinson5941]

Alsterwasser is Pils mixed with lemonade. Radler is Beer (Helles) mixed with lemonade Russ is Weissbier mixed with lemonade

[@Nikioko]

@@erwinerwinson5941 Maybe where you live. In most parts of Germany, Alster and Radler is exactly the same. And Pils is also beer, by the way.

[@Nysecks]

@@Nikioko Sorry, you're wrong. In the northern part of germany they use Pils beer for the Radler/Alstermix and in the south they use Helles beer. Pils is made with more hops than Helles. The procedure of brewing and the taste of the beers is different. But in case of Radler/Alster they are mixed with lemonade and in the end the taste depends on the question, how much from what? Afaik it should be a 50:50 mix, but I also know pubs where they offer a "driver-mix" with much more lemonade than beer.

[@Nikioko]

@@Nysecks No, I am not wrong. It is as I said: in most parts of Germany, Radler and Alster are exactly the same. Helles is used in Bavaria only, which is only part of the south. You should believe somebody who actually lives in Germany and has lived in different parts of Germany in his life.

[@Nysecks]

@@NikiokoOk, as a german who is willing to compromize. Maybe you will agree when I say: 1. Whereever you order a Radler or an Alster(wasser) in Germany you will get somekind of beer with lemonade. 2. There is an invisible border in Germany, sometimes referred as the "Weisswurst-Äquator", and this border follows roughly the river Main. South of the Main the people prefer Lager Beer and in the northern regions Pils Beer is prefered. 3. Helles is a Lager Beer. 4. There are differences in the process of brewing Lager and Pils, which also result in a different taste. The Lager beer is less bitter than Pils. The reason for that for Lager is less hops used and as said the differences in the brewing. 5. When you use different beers, for example "Paulaner Helles" and "Jever Pilsener" and the same kind of lemonade, they will differ more in their taste as "Paulaner Helles" and "Augustiner". Augustiner and Paulaner are both members of the "Lager Beer" family and taste more similar compared to the "Pils" family. 6. If you from Hamburg and the Alster/Radler beermix taste to strong and bitter for you, you could try it with a lager beer instead of pils beer. There are reasons why Lager beer often is called "Frauenbier" (ladies beer) in the northern parts of Germany. And the reason is the lack of bitternes. Can we agree? Cheers! 🍻

[@PalmyraSchwarz]

I find the pitfalls you have described, which the German language offers, very entertaining. Please keep it up.

[@meganoob12]

The drink is known as: Alsterwasser Alster Radler It's beer mixed with lemonade or Sprite Oh and regarding the numbers, there is another common anomaly you might encounter at some point. There are alternative words for the number 2 and all numbers in the 50 range. zwei is sometimes referred to as "zwo" fünfzig as "fuffzig" You can even combine them to "Zwo-und-fuffzig" I think these stem from the military to make sure understandings won't happen. especially Zwei and Drei sound very similar and in a life and death situation, this difference could be important. So in the military you will learn to count as "Eins, Zwo, Drei"

[@Iscaria666]

Well Alsterwasser may be more specific to Hamburg. Like every corner of Germany has its own name for it. Here at my place we say "Diesel" or "Dreckiges" (in dialect more like Dreck'ches). Or Radler for example. It also depends which lemonade you use.

[@christiankastorf1427]

That "red thread" is of British origin. The amount of rope that got stolen at royal dockyards by sailors who sold it to fishermen or "organized" it for relatives of theirs who were seafaring people alarmed the admirality. They gave out the order that a red thread was to be spun into any length of rope or cable that was issued for the navy. So you could follow that "red thread" easily.

[@HiFromHamburg]

thank you for the explanation and history lesson. makes sense now ^.^

[@Groffili]

I have no idea about this british idiom, but in this case, the "red thread" is derived from the old greek legend of Theseus and the Minotaur. Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos, gave Theseus a ball of red thread, to mark his way through the labyrinth. After killing the beast, he could follow the thread back to the entrance. Thus "red thread" (or thread of Ariadne - Ariadnefaden) is some guide you follow.

[@arion1020]

The tern "roter Faden" (red thread) goes back the greek myth of the Minotaurus. In the myth the hero, who beats the Minotauros normally can not get out of the labyrinth, whrer this being lives. He only can do this, because he binds a red thread around his wrist, he is given by princess Ariadne of Creek. Therefore this thing is also calls Ariadne thread (Ariadne-Faden).

[@michelaushamburg6766]

I have read, that the read thread was woven into any rope of the British navy. So the British navy could prove, that such a rope was their property.

[@arion1020]

@@michelaushamburg6766 That might be true, but it is not the reason for the germen frase "roter Faden".

[@monikadeinbeck4760]

Alsterwasser is typical for Hamburg or northern Germany. In other parts of Germany the same thing is called 'Radler'.

[@susanford2388]

When I lived in Greece, I was having coffee with two friends who had been living in Greece a couple of years before me so their Greek was far better & one orders coffee black with milk, so I ordered ena Ness skatta meh gala, sketto is plain & skatta is shit. I should have said ena Ness sketto meh gala. They looked astonished & in an instant I realized my mistake & the gracious waitress said no problem & smiled reassuringly.

[@HannoBehrens]

Moin! Alsterwasser ist ein 50:50 oder ähnliches Gemisch aus Bier und Limonade, also üblicherweise Zitronenlimonade, "Sprite" in Deutschland. In Süddeutschland gibt es etwas ähliches, da nennt es sich Radler, im Rheinland bekommt man, wenn man Alster bestellt ein Gemisch aus Orangenlimonade und Bier, wenn man in Hamburg dieses Gemisch haben will, bestellt man Billewasser, manchmal auch Alsterwasser Orange, aber das ist die Bezeichnung für Touristen, die die richtige Hamburger Bezeichnung dafür nicht kennen, also Quiddje. de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiddje Du bist also ein Quiddje hier, Mädchen. Aber sobald du anfängst, das ST so zu sprechen wie es geschrieben wird und wie es in Hamburg üblich ist, also mi SpiTZen ZTein zu sprechen, kannst du über den Makel des hier nicht geboren seins locker hinweg kommen. Ich selbst bin jetzt zwar in siebter Generation Hamburger, aber meine Mutter ist zugezogen, damit bin ich für Vollblut-Hamburger ebenfalls ein Quiddje. Das Verstehen von Plattdütsch ist wichtig, „Hör mal 'n beten to“ im NDR 1 am Sonntag Morgen gehört damit ab jetzt für dich Quiddje zum Pflichtprogramm. www.ndr.de/wellenord/podcast3096.html Ansonsten solltest Du in der Geburtsstadt der Morsesprache (Friedrich Clemens Gerke, hat die erste Telegrafiestrecke Deutschlands von Hamburg nach Cuxhaven aufgebaut) vielleicht einen Morsekurs belegen, hier läuft der letzte und einzige Kurs in Deutschland, um sich noch zum Telegrafen ausbilden zu lassen.

[@uliwehner]

common thread is likely the best translation for Roter Faden (red thread).

[@Waschlack]

I find it really strange how our whole minds can change languages. For me it started with formulating thoughts in English and one time I accidentally answered in English when this guy in the train wanted to check my ticket. Caught both of us by surprise but at the time I was immersed in an English documentation and I guess my mind forgot to switch back

[@jd-zr3vk]

My wife and I, Americans, were with a group of bicyclist in Germany. We rode from the hotel to the riverside to ride out of town on the trail. An older German woman yelled at us about something. We had 2 German guides who did not know why she was yelling at us. We were on the public trail.

[@hartmutfeige548]

Wait until you find the dish "Falscher Hase" (wrong Bunny) on the menu of a restaurant ;)

[@jflaplaylistchannelunoffic3951]

7:16 "Du riechst so gut" is also the name of a song by Rammstein.

[@haraberu]

Another word like Preis is "diskret". Secrets are "discreet" while mathematics are "discrete" but in German there is no difference in spelling between the two.

[@YuliAndriani]

Hi Lila! I just discovered your channel 🤩 I’m from Indonesia and live in Hamburg too 😊

[@ray-sattler]

In Bavaria, everyone that is from outside of Bavaria is reffered to as a preiß (Preuße=prussian). It's like a mild insult^^Alsterwasser = Radler. Its both beer and lemonade. Called different in different parts of germany.

[@DelTauX]

Mole. the word mouth (Maul) refers to the pointed snout and the word throw (wurf, werfen) is derived from the verb throwing. throw something on a heap (very small hill). MAUL-WURF

[@exploremyself9718]

Alsterwater is just beer and sprite. 50% 50%. That is how we do it on a party. But maybe some factories have other ways, because sometimes the taste of sprite is dominant and also the alcohol is high, if you buy it in a bottle.

[@MichaTicho]

Bavarians have the expression "falscher Fuffziger", which leaves out that N and means a "dishonest person", literally a "counterfeit 50-Pfennig coin". On another topic: one day, my German co-workers and I were playing around and tried to find the most ridiculous-sounding German word - at least to English ears. The winner was "Reizwäsche", meaning "lingerie" but literally "stimulus-laundry", but my own candidate was "Warzenhof", meaning "areola" but literally "wart court"! How romantic!

[@bschuchi71]

I learned English in school, but the real stuff I learned from television/radio/talking to native English-speakers. So just check out a season/movie you already know in english and them watch it in german again. Though the translation isn't done always absolutly word by word, you will learn quick and listen to the fluent and mostly more complex sentences than you speak in school to get a good instinct for it. And: Most movies are translated to "Hochdeutsch", which is the "Oxford English" of germany, so you`ll get a dialect free translation. Don't let yourself down by trying to catch up all phrases, there are way too much to know them all. Nice to know: "Plattdeutsch" is in fact one of the last spoken languages which is closest to the indogerman language, which is a pre-historic language. ;)

[@karowolkenschaufler7659]

native german speaker here. I have to wade in on "etikett". "die Etikette (female)" with a spoken e in the end is the good manners. "das Etikett (neutral)" is the tag. and a beer lemonade mix has different names depending on the region. generally that's "radler". in hessia (where I grew up) when you mix beer with cola that is a "dreggische" wich means "a drity one" (in the hessian dialect spoken specificly around frankfurt) because it just looks a bit like muddy water. and in berlin it is traditional to mix beer with sirup (berliner weiße). I don't even drink a lot of beer.. but growing up in germany you can propably not not know that.

[@matthewrandom4523]

Alsterwasser is the word used in the Northern Bundesländer. Beer + lemonade is also known as Radler in the South (but anybody around Germany understands this term) and finally as Panasch or Panaché in the Southwest area at the French-German boarder where I live :-)

[@Mocking_Muppets]

Erm... Do you know the difference between border and boarder? 😂😂😂

[@matthewrandom4523]

@@Mocking_Muppets Oops, my fault! I meant border, of course :-I

[@cedricberger4323]

Alsterwasser, Alster (shortform) or also Radler, is a mix of lemonade and beer, and it's known across the whole country. Also beware of someone ordering Diesel in a bar/restaurant, thus is a mix of cola and beer.

[@Nikioko]

price = cost, prize = reward. In German, you have the old word "Prise" which was the reward for capturing an enemy ship.

[@12tanuha21]

Prise also mean a small amount of a powdery or fine-grained substance [that someone can grasp between two or three fingers] Eine Prise Salz = a pinch salt

[@MsAaannaaa]

alsterwasser is pilsner beer mixed with lemon soda. :) they call it different names in differnt regions of germany. sometimes it's also orange soda. maulwurfkuchen translated literally means "mole cake" but you're absolutely correct, it refers to a molehill. so technically it should be called molehill cake. :)

[@Mr.Jaxxxx]

Oooooohhhh ich hatte mit meiner damaligen Freundin aus California fast einen Mega Streit am Telefon! Wir hatten über Essenszubereitung gesprochen und sie fragte mich wie ich das zubereiten würde und mit welchen Zutaten und irgendwann kamen wir zum Öl! Und ich sagte ihr das ich Rapsöl verwenden würde! 🤯🤯🙈🙈🙈🙈 die Beschreibung von Rapsöl führte fast zum Eklat 🤣🤣🤣🤣 ich schickte ihr dann irgendwann ein Photo der Flasche 🙈🤣

[@SonniXD]

As a child I got Maulwurf Kuchen or Erdbeertorte as a birthday cake but other friends mostly had some chocolate cake for their birthday and my mom got Sachertorte when she was young 🤔

[@alexradojkovic9671]

As you figured out.... your boyfriend's brother was just speaking in a normal relaxed abridged way. I also found it funny that you spent time in little old Oldenburg... I spent nearly 3 years there as a teenager before returning home to Sydney in the 60s. 😄

[@ErklaerMirDieWelt]

Alsterwasser is indeed only used in northern Germany. In the South we call the same drink Radler.

[@erictaylor5462]

When I was 16 my family went to visit friends in the Netherlands. They had 3 kids, the oldest was about my age and just before we got there he had broken his arm playing "football". He had to go to the medical clinic for something related to his arm and while we were there a nurse asked me a question. I assumed she asked me if I needed help, so I replied "Na" (no) but when she walked up to me I started to panic. My friend said she had actually asked "have you been helped" (I had only picked up the "helped" word) Later I accidently ordered ice cream in water. It is hard to be in a country when you don't speak the language.

[@ErklaerMirDieWelt]

Fuffzig is a very common way to say Fünfzig and you will hear it all over Germany. Same goes for 2: In standard German it's zwei, but you will often hear it pronounced zwo to prevent confusion with drei in spoken German.

[@Datenschutz_Datenschutz]

you should try the pie that named "Bienenstich"

[@ad.ke.7224]

Mole is a shortening of moldwarp - which means the the same as Maulwurf.

[@karstengraef4157]

die Etikette = the etiquette; das Etikett = the price tag - two different words in German as well; auch im Deutschen zwei verschiedene Wörter

[@christiankastorf1427]

"My dog has no nose." "Oh, and how does it smell?" "Terribly" ( groan, groan, groan). That cracker joke works in German as well with "riechen", which has the two meanings of noticing a smell with your nose and emitting smells yourself. You may say that you notice the smell of an overheated electric installation because the hot rubber or plastic insulation has a distinctive smell that alarms you. "Das überhitzte Kabel riecht." "Ich rieche das überhitzte Kabel."Its English Germanic relative is "to reek".

[@MyOliver64]

Alsterwasser is really very specific to Hamburg and even I (as a native German) would not have known what it was exactly and would probably ordered it as special Hamburg water (if I would drink water). So you really don't need to worry about that. Because it is precisely from mistakes that one learns best.

[@johannesadamec8670]

The difference between "Ich bin heiß." and "Mir ist heiß." 🤣