TV's toughest quiz got it wrong (but it doesn't matter)

[@eberon12]

Well, well, well. Correcting someone else's German and then mixing up the labels on the rows and columns of his table. ;-)

[@rewboss]

Oh good grief, you're right. Well, that's something I'll not live down.

[@misterflibble9799]

@@rewboss Those who live by pedantry, die by pedantry :)

[@jamesalles139]

@@rewboss are we having fun yet?

[@luigipiuattivo3316]

@@jamesalles139 well, I have (typical case of german "Schadenfreude")

[@dolg1703]

The whole table is kinda wrong, there is no present or past subjunctive in german. In German there are "Konjunktiv 1" and "Konjunktiv 2" which are used for different purposes. Konjunktiv 1 is used to repeat something someone else said for example: He said he did the dishes -> Er sagte, er habe abgewaschen. Konjunktiv 2 is used to express something thats impossible or wishes for example: He wants to fly -> Er würde gerne fliegen.

[@HansFranke]

New level reached: Criticizing others about failing to use correct German. You've proven quite worthy of your German citizenship.

[@holger_p]

Let's call it "unwanted advice", sounds a little more positive.

[@KaiHenningsen]

@@holger_p Not to me it doesn't.

[@Astro_Guy_1]

he truly embraced his germanness

[@seneca983]

@@holger_p We can't know whether the advice is wanted or unwanted unless the makers of that gameshow comment on it. I'd say "unsolicited advice" is more accurate.

[@BenKerman]

Ackchyually, it's even worse. The way they phrased it makes it sound like WW2 is still ongoing and Germany winning it is the expected outcome, like "When Germany has won WW2, [something will happen]"

[@nils2868]

I think "When Germany will have won the war" would be the better translation here 👀

[@lima4021]

Hab ich auch schon gemeint 😂

[@Hilde_mann]

@@nils2868 "As soon as Germany has won the war" would be even more elegant, in my very German, nitpicky opinion... 😁

[@lejoe2laglace]

@@nils2868 Ne, nach "when" kommt üblicherweise kein "will", blöde Tenses :-)

[@lejoe2laglace]

Or maybe "Every time Germany did win WW2" As in: Out of the 20something WWIIs, Germany won 6 times.

[@peterh.4583]

Being nitpicky I’d also translate making History as „Geschichte schreiben“. Never really heard Geschichte machen

[@RoToRa]

I agree. While watching I was also bothered about that. However it's the title of a book, and "Geschichte machen" is the actual title of the German edition.

[@peterh.4583]

@@RoToRa oh you’re right, if we consider them literal translations, forget I said something 😃

[@minski76]

The German title of said book is actually "Geschichte machen." And if you google "macht Geschichte", there are a few results. I guess it's a bit like "Sinn machen" - it may be wrong, but thanks to more and more people literally translating English into German, it's becoming a thing.

[@ollllj]

"making history" is a metaphor for a present tense technological breakthrough or expedition or discovery oe conquest that implies a paradigm shift, like flight.

[@arthur_p_dent]

@@ollllj yes, it is. And the correct German counterpart would be "Geschichte schreiben", which in English literally means "to write history". Actually, I am a little disturbed to hear that "Geschichte machen" is actually being used in Germany. Can't say I have ever heard that before. unlike "Sinn machen" for "to make sense", which is unfortunately quite commonplace

[@MyBroSux24]

Omg, thank you rewboss for raising awareness for the best British quiz show there is, a lot more should know of this cryptic puzzle show, especially here in Germany. Now I can sleep well knowing you're also a fan of OC :)

[@ninan9650]

As someone who really enjoy looking only connect, I couldn’t agree more. They are often -rightfully so- particular what is counted as right answer, they have the keep the standard also in their questions. And, of course, don‘t dare to criticize Victoria, she is doing for such a long time such an amazing job 😍

[@jonas1015119]

ironically if you just put "if germany had won ww2" into google translative it will give you the correct translation

[@justaname1837]

I don't think they used Google Translate. They probably had someone to translate this, but that person wasn't aware of the subjunctive mood in German.

[@lijuowl]

@@justaname1837 I think the point was, if they simply had used Google translate it would have been a better translation than that of the person working for the esteemed show.

[@justaname1837]

@@lijuowl, yeah, I know, it would've been a better translation, indeed.

[@samsowden]

lol, they knew too much german for their own good!

[@prismaticc_abyss]

Not that ironic, google translate is pretty good at most things, unless you put in full texts, languages its not comfortable with (any smaller language), long sentences with multiple subclauses or sentences with words with more than one meaning you should be good.

[@cattleyard]

Since we are nitpicking already, her pronouncing Vaterland as Waterland will keep me awake tonight. I understand it's unusual for a Non-German speaker that V can be pronounced F but still.

[@Hand-in-Shot_Productions]

I have noticed the same thing about her pronunciation of _Vaterland._ To me, it sounds like a German, or more ironically, a _Russian_ saying "Water land" or something. Even more ironic, since the V is pronounced exactly the same as the F in her native language's cognate, "fatherland"!

[@RBenjo21]

Indeed, our F1 commentators always struggle with “Vettel”.

[@TheGerkuman]

@@RBenjo21 one gets it right and the other gets it wrong on the UK sky commentary team and neither of them attempt to correct the other XD

[@ze_rubenator]

@@RBenjo21 To be fair, they're way off on _everyone_ who isn't English or Australian, not just Vettel.

She pronounced the V as a W, but she didn't pronounce "Vater" as "water", we have to give her that.

[@RayyMusik]

What always confuses me for a split second is the English pronunciation of „Vaterland“: „Waterland“. This sounds like „Wasserland“ in Low German (and Dutch, I guess).

[@mjinhamburg]

Funnily enough Only Connect is the only british TV we watch, since we came to live in Germany.

[@edenviews]

Your pointing out the correction is as amusing as watching the original and being bewildered by nearly every set of questions.

[@lonestarr1490]

I would never have guessed the correct answer to his first example clues. I mean WTF...

[@chupacavraz]

Only Connect is probably my favorite show, and I'm glad you cleared it up, because it sounded wrong to me too!

[@roberth.5938]

Andrew, you're great. You're the kind of person I would sit down with and talk for hours

[@Thunderwingisatakenalias]

You are an actual german if you complain about such small things :) Also: Quite sunny down by you in the south

[@EppelheimTV]

Congratulations rewboss, you have ascended one more level from "being allowed to vote in Germany" to "Alman"

[@user53416]

​@Marvolo1590 I'm 100% positive that was intentional...

[@Englandfan91]

You're quite right. They should have got the German right. As a German watching British TV I think they should make an effort. Stephen Fry tried to get his German right on QI.

[@beageler]

Well... I remember when he hilariously corrected Jo Brand in that we call boats "boat" not "Boot."

[@vrenak]

@@beageler Jo Brand that actually does speak German, maybe not fluently, but well enough to know such pronounciation.

[@gretahaase5509]

The 'Boot'-thing immediately came to my mind as well. I feel like a such a nerd... :D

[@ryanwidjaja4252]

I think that the writers of the quiz thought that the German word "hat" must be the correct translation for the English word "had" since the two words sound similar to one another. As for the subjunctive mood, English still actually have it, but it is rarely used. The subjunctive mood in English is mostly similar with the past tense (especially for the "past subjunctive" or "Konjunktiv II" in German language). In fact, since the English past subjunctive/Konjunktiv II and past indicative are so similar, my English teachers never bothered to teach the difference. They simply said that imaginary/unrealistic conditional sentences (like in this video) should be written in past tense. The only difference between past indicative and past subjunctive in English is in the verb "was/were". In the subjunctive mood, "were" is used for all subjects. Hence, we say "If I were you" instead of "If I was you". As for the "present subjunctive" (called "Konjunktiv I" in German), it seems to be more rarely used than the past subjunctive. The only example of present subjunctive being used in English is in the title of the British national anthem, "God Save the Queen". Notice how this song use the word "save" instead of "saves", since the verb is in the subjunctive mood. A literal translation of this song's title into German would be "Gott schütze die Königin" (the nominative form of the verb would be "schützt").

[@luigipiuattivo3316]

if i had to choose I would rather be able to do without second past form than the subjunctive mood. Nowadays conversations escalate too quickly because of different sense of "what is fact"...

[@seneca983]

"Notice how this song use the word "save" instead of "saves", since the verb is in the subjunctive mood." I always thought it was in imperative mood like the singer is asking for God to save the Queen. (EDIT: Like: "God, save the Queen")

[@ryanwidjaja4252]

@@seneca983 The subjunctive mood can also be interpreted with "may" plus bare infinitive with the subject in between these verbs, like "May God save the Queen".

[@riflemanm16a2]

Another much more common form of the present subjunctive in English is used after verbs that suggest how things should be. For examples, "The doctor recommended he be admitted", "I suggested he do his homework." Although like any nuanced grammar in English, most speakers mess it up and just use the indicative mood, which in some cases changes the meaning; for example, "I suggested he does his homework" would mean that the speaker actually thinks the other person already does his homework (habitually) and is offering that as an opinion about the person rather than recommending it to the person. One thing that does really grind my gears in English is when people use the simple past instead of the past perfect for past hypotheticals, like "Things I wish I knew when I was younger" (instead of "had known". "Knew" in this context means the person still doesn't know) or "If Germany didn't lose the war, we'd all be speaking German" (instead of "hadn't lost". "Didn't lose" means the Germany is still in the process of losing) or O.J.'s infamous book title "If I did it".

[@prox5510]

I'd love there to be a quiz show like Only Connect on German television. The concept is really great and I love the style of question they have. But it seems absolutely impossible to get any significant amount of the answers if you're not British. Even after they reveal the solution I don't get it half the time. I feel like if there was a German show, that would be quite fun to watch.

[@xaverlustig3581]

It won't happen, and that's probably a good thing. German television has been dumbing down for decades. Worse, when German tv copies a foreign format, they mimick the external form while missing the point of what's good about it. It's like cargo cult television.

[@xaverlustig3581]

PS year, Only Connect is as much about cultural knowledge as about intelligent associations. Gives you an excuse for not getting the connection too :)

[@MyBroSux24]

​@@xaverlustig3581 that the pointless adaption in germany has failed horribly is a armutszeugnis for german tv. on the other hand, the chase is doing incredibly well here. maybe we do need to try a brainy quiz. at least that's what i proposed at the ard zukunftsdialog

[@varana]

Yeah, some questions are very aggressively British - anything to do with cricket, or things like "first names of wives of BBC Radio 4 presenters". :D

[@carn9507]

Hey if it helps you feel better, this show is really difficult for many of us British people too. :P

[@ololh4xx]

finally someone who seems to understand my language to some extent! Danke für deine tolle Arbeit.

[@NedNew]

This reminds me of the Irish version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire where the contestant was asked what the initials BMW stood for. The contestant, as normal, was offered four options with the correct answer being presented as "Bavarian Motor Works" (in English) which he chose. This is wrong as it stands for "Bayerische Motoren Werke" and it's simply co-incidental that the English translation uses the same initials.

[@silphonym]

But it is the literall translation, so even if it didn't had the same initials it could've been appropriate to use it. I could say VW stands for people's car and that would still be correct.

[@NedNew]

@@silphonym Maybe at the local pub that might be acceptable but not in a quiz show where a million euros is at stake and millions of viewers are watching. Accuracy is exacting, or should be.

[@Rincy42]

Genau das ist mir auch aufgefallen, als ich diese Folge 'only connect' gesehen habe. Und ich muss grade sehr grinsen, dass du ein Video dazu gemacht hast. Danke für diesen schönen Moment.

[@stroke_of_luck]

that should be the minimum standard. they require the contestants meet that standard after all. And I wouldn't get this with 16 clues. This looks *HARD.* That she got it in three impresses me no end

[@MyBroSux24]

This quiz is hard. You'll sit through a lot of seasons and episodes where you just blank and get no points at all. But sometimes they just whip out some odd trivia field you know of and once in a blue moon even score two 5 pointers (correct guess at clue one)

[@fredhasopinions]

@@MyBroSux24 but it’s so satisfying to watch, even if you have no idea but just a vague feeling what the answer may have to do with it’s damn fun to find out afterwards. And they couldn’t have found a more charming host than Victoria.

[@kieranharwood7186]

One of the most valuable things is that there are teams of three. If you all tried this alone you might each only have a single question in the whole quiz that you can get points on, but when there's a pair or trio of you, you can bounce ideas off each other. One of you might know enough German to translate the name of Wolfenstein, then they say "new order" and another says "Oh, I know that game, it's the one where..." and then a third person might be "Wait, isn't that third clue the tv show where..." and between you, you get an answer where one or even two of you would be stumped...

[@Mishima505]

I noticed this mistake too and e-Mailed the producers to point it out. So far not had any reply.

[@ccityplanner1217]

4:56: You got the axes mixed up on your table.

[@TheMonstaMen]

I think they just used google translator for the sentence "if Germany has won ww2" because their translation is exactly what came up in google translator

[@TheEulerID]

In British English, it's alternative time-line, not alternate time-line. It's only in North American usage that alternate can used a synonym for alternative when used as an adjective.

[@omp199]

@Marvolo1590 I'm British, and I agree with Steve Jones. What better source for British English than a British person? :)

[@meikala2114]

Depends what timeline you're on

[@goldenheart3887]

Yaaaay Only Connect!

[@aixtom979]

Reminds me of Arnold J. Rimmer in another alternate timeline thingie in Red Dwarf: "Hey, I know that guy, he was the leader of the runners-up in WWII!"

[@ukraus]

Siehe auch "hätte, hätte, Fahrradkette"...

[@Drwurstable]

The man with the high standard

[@DrZaius3141]

It's funny to watch this because in the comment section of the KZbin-video of the episode of Countdown in question, one commenter pointed out how it should have (Grammar joke!) been "hätte" with me adding the bit about it being "2. WK".

[@MyBroSux24]

On my left: Andrew Bossom, an English Teacher and part-time KZbinr, who complained about the accuracy of this show in a six minute vlog.

[@TheLendo]

1:06 i would have genuinly answered: they all include exactly 2 A's. Seems like i'm overthinking stuff here. 2:54 I would say that is because if germans translate titles we tend to extend them a little. For example from Jaws you get: Der weiße Hai (The White Shark), from Home Alone you get: Kevin Allein Zuhaus (Kevin alone at home), or from Airplane! you get: Die unglaubliche Reise in einem verrückten Flugzeug (The unbelievable Journey in a crazy Airplane) (Seriously what happened here???)

[@MichaEl-rh1kv]

Actually they got four hints, not three. The fourth hint was to translate all that English titles of English or US fiction into German. So they got more points than they deserved!

[@boghag]

but ... they figured it out themselves to translate it ... (and they knew enough German to do it)

[@mark314158]

_Alternative_ timeline. At least get the English right ...

[@SiqueScarface]

"Das Hohe Schloss" has a special meaning in German. It's the seat of a family of the High Aristrocracy, of a reigning dynasty. So The Man in the High Castle can be rightfully translated to "Der Mann im Hohen Schloss".

[@theholk]

Well, particularly NOT, because that man is neither of those things, but LITERALLY lives in the mountains. You are basically giving a more apt reason why it should NOT be translated that way. (because while the point about Burg Schloss is generally valid, practically not every Schloss is just a palace in the open undefendable)

[@SiqueScarface]

@@theholk Here, we are deep in connotations, and as "hoch" literally means "high", Germans also understand "up in the mountains", which makes it an even more useful description. And to add to your confusion: Germans traditionally don't have that strict Burg/Schloss distinction, and there are lots of factual Schlösser, which are called Burg, like Schloss Nymphenburg, Schloss Moritzburg, Schloss Ludwigsburg etc.pp., while in Literature, many a Burg is called a Schloss. In German, Bram Stoker's Dracula lives in a Schloss, while it technically is a Burg, and in folk songs like the one about the Regensburg maelstrom, we sing about the "hohes Schloss", albeit Lady Kunigunde in the song surely comes from a Burg.

[@theholk]

@@SiqueScarface "And to add to your confusion": But that was literally the point I made. That the Burg Schloss distinction isn't stringent. It is "generally" there, for historic reasons, but practically has lots of exceptions. I only made the point that you argued "the term has a special meaning" -> can be rightfully translated. But the special meaning doesn't APPLY in the context, which would be an argument to AVOID the phrase, not to justify it. In translation you want to AVOID connotations that don't apply.

[@SiqueScarface]

@@theholk To the contrary: In this case, I would use "Hohes Schloss" as a translation for the "High Castle"; because it evokes all the right connotations.

[@theholk]

@@SiqueScarface But there IS no "high aristocracy or reigning dynasty" to be alluded to. Hence choosing a translation that carries the implication is playing into WRONG connotations? It's an author that is nicknamed that, who lives on an estate in the rocky mountains. No aristocracy, no dynasty. Not implied, not misconceived by any protagonist. It would be a faulty allusion. The SHOW switched that up a bit by playing into Hitler in his mountain castle also being obsessed with the film reels, but that is decidedly not part of the source in multiple ways. In the book it's JUST a nickname for a regular dude IN THE MOUNTAINS, who wrote a book about an alternative (third, btw) history, who inspires its readers to question the status quo as immutable.

[@nasekiller]

not only are the labels of the table wrong, but there is no distinction between konjunkitv präsens and präteritum but rather between Konjunktiv I and II. the first being used in indirect speech and the second in hypothetical scenarios.

[@Phloneme]

I'm not really sure I'd agree that English doesn't have the subjunctive mood. It _does_ exist, but takes virtually the same word-form as the simple past form of a verb.

[@michaelhawkins7389]

example?

[@lonestarr1490]

@@michaelhawkins7389 "I wish I had kissed her" is in subjunctive mood.

[@arthur_p_dent]

it is actually not entirely the same form. The form differs in the third person singular present with regular verbs and in other cases with irregular verbs. eg The prosecutor requests that the witness testify (not "testifies") before the court. or The court orders that the defendant be (not "is") present at the trial.

[@lonestarr1490]

@@arthur_p_dent Ah, thanks. I never quite got my head around why there's sometimes a "be" where I would expect an "is".

[@michaelbeiyt]

What really bugs me is the fascination with this alternate universe thing.

[@ollllj]

Science fiction is all about what-if scenarios. Most of them are futurism, but a lot of them are retro(grade), with strong sub-genres of steampunk/coalpunk/dieselpunk/cyberpunk/solarpunk. A lot of science fiction is just set-dressing of actual present decade issues.

[@HansFranke]

Oh, alternate history seems to be a quite common topic in anglophone scholarship - but only the English are deeply entrenched about both wars, even 100 years later.

[@montanus777]

well, how many games of an american killing nazis do you want to make, when weapons and technology are basically the same in every game? so, to spice things up you choose an alternate universe, where you can use the weapons and technology of the 60ies and still kill nazis. what _really_ bugs me, is that the sucessor game "wolfenstein: old blood" allegedly plays in paderborn ... in an alpine setting. i mean, who doesn't want to take a cable car crossing snow top mountains and misty canyons to got to ... f*ing paderborn? :P

[@EnbyFranziskaNagel]

@@montanus777 In such cases I think : How easy it would have been to pick a city from the alpine region if only they bothered to reaserch. Paderborn is directly below Bielefeld on my list of generic German cities.

[@montanus777]

@@EnbyFranziskaNagel the thing is, that the fictional castle wolfenstein of the series is based on the actual wewelsburg (the SS HQ). so, they probably just looked at a map for the nearest city. the real issue is the idea that whole germany in their mind looks like the alps, although germany in fact more or less ends, where the alps begin.

[@frankhooper7871]

I'm quite pleased to say that I spotted the "little" link in the example. It may be nitpicking to criticize Virginia's pronunciation, but it truly was quite abysmal.

[@MusikCassette]

what makes it worth is that "wenn" can not only if but also as soon as. If you assume, that sentence is grammatically correct it refers to a plan for the end of the war, that is apparently still going on.

I would criticize Victoria's pronunciation because I really hold her in high esteem, she's much better than mangle "Vaterland" that badly.

[@gretahaase5509]

Victoria actually mentions this 'mistake' in episode 21 of the 17th series. :D Btw: you can find all the episodes on KZbin and they are brilliant!

Why the quotes?

[@raythevagabond3724]

Not sure if we really should be that strict. I got my grey hair from reading german tv news ticker and news article. Their typos make me cringe; one of the reasons I stopped watching tv. But you can't avoid it; today I read about a fire in a bus depot in Stuttgart and stumbled about this sentence: "Der könnte jeden Moment wieder *anfanzen zu brennen". Well, I hope that those professionals at one point *bezin to learn german.

[@tiefensucht]

Thats called inclusion. People with writing disability deserve a place in our society ;-)

[@raythevagabond3724]

@@tiefensucht Ofcourse they should. I totally agree. Heck, with all the typos I make myself in comments ... :) I am just glad that those comments are not my profession (yet).

[@haeuptlingaberja4927]

And then there's the subjunctive in one of the most famous phrases in Yiddish, which is no subjunctive form at all but still manages to convey the absurdly obviously contrary to fact notion of Tevye being a rich man: "Ven ikh bin a Rotshild..."

[@ronik24]

I also don't fancy the "Wenn", "Falls" would be preferable.

[@jlljlj6991]

Why? “Wenn” sounds completely fine to me in that sentence (native speaker). “Falls” is a variant, but I'd say less frequently used. Could be regional, though.

[@piotrrashman6487]

@@jlljlj6991 "Falls" is more precise then "wenn" which could be used as a temporal conjunction as well as a conditional. While it's absolutely correct to use "wenn" in a conditional sentence and this is really splitting hairs, remember this quiz is extremly high-brow and their translation is quiet sloppy.

[@jlljlj6991]

@@piotrrashman6487 In the original sentence, yeah. I'd even say that together with indicative mood, the temporal reading is probably more common and this can be ambiguous (sag Bescheid, wenn du losgehst ~ tell me if/when you leave), which is solved by using “falls”. But in combination with the subjunctive mood, “wenn” is never understood in a temporal sense.

[@piotrrashman6487]

@@jlljlj6991 You are of course right and this is really technical now but it is all about ambiguity. When I taught German you get to sentence construction with conjunctions way before you really tell them about different moods (which btw are a nightmare to explain and to comprehend if you never even hear native speakers using them correctly, just look for "irrealis" mistakes in your local paper you'll be amazed). So I disencouraged them from using the more common "wenn" in favour of "sobald" and "falls" because this distinction between temporal and conditional will never fail you.

[@wohlhabendermanager]

Same. "Wenn ... gewonnen hat" surely means "as soon as they've won" and "wenn ... gewonnen hätte" sounds really colloquial. "Falls ... gewonnen hätte" sounds much better, imo.

[@REDN0AK]

Plusquamperfekt Funny Word. Horrible PTSD effect from school.

[@J.A.P.9]

according to the very last question, I presume it's "rewboss' channel". but I already have...😁

[@lewis72]

Valid criticism. It would only be like picking up Susie Dent or Stephen Fry if they had said "If I was a rich person..."

[@brucequinn]

Well done! Great choice and nicely executed. Thank you! Spannend- Ich sass auf der Kante meines Stuhls.

[@gazzaman28]

Never mind that, what we really want to know is this - who is the German equivalent of Michael Portillo and are there any TV quizmasters telling smutty jokes about them...?

[@Mishima505]

The closest I can think of is the presenter of Eisenbahnromantik.

[@hubertbreidenbach]

If I were to comment on this video, I would use the subjunctive mood.

[@mingcr9470]

interestingly enough, she actually mispronounced "hat" like the english word for what you put on your head and the "a" in that sounds similar to how the "ä" in "hätte" is pronouned. not all germans actually pronounce the "e" at the end, too, making what she said more correct than what was written on the screen

[@holger_p]

Dialects can't be applied on word level. If you are generous with rules, at least you have to apply it to the whole statement.

[@TheDrake1066]

So I am just a lowly Swiss and used to a silly mountain-dialect, still I would use "Falls" and not "Wenn" in the first word of the sentence, because Wenn to me indicates a sentiment of a more certain occurence (i.e. eventually it is going to happen) while falls is more in the realm of unexpected occurences.

[@sakkikoyumikishi]

4:04: In keeping with the style of the video, I'm gonna nitpick you here: Actually, "Wenn Deutschland WWII gewonnen hat" doesn't translate to "IF Germany has won WWII" but to "WHEN Germany has won WWII". So it not so much implies that there is a possibility it *might* win, as it implies that we are in a timeline before WWII has ended and Germany will, as a certainty, win it

[@borstenpinsel]

I never get why people don't ask native speakers when they do something like that. It's always like "oh I think my german/french/whatever is good enough" or " I have no clue and use Google but I don't care, I'm an intern an get paid minimum wage". And when they do ask native speakers, it seems context is often omitted. Many german dubs of TV shows are grammatically fine but in the context of the show, another translation would have made more sense. For example if the translator looked ahead a few sentences he would have realised a pun is coming and thus another translation would have been better. Sometimes it even feels like each individual sentence was translated by a different person. There is screenshot/copy of an IRC somewhere on the Internet and one guy asks for the English translation of "Einstellung". And he is offered 4 different ones. Which are all correct. But in different context. Like the correct "Einstellung" for some dials could be the setting(s) (also used in a computer context). But a person's "Einstellung" towards something is called attitude. "Einstellung" can also mean employment. And so on. When Michael Jackson died I watched the huge show they made where friends and family talked about him. And they often used "he would have" for some reason. This might be more an American phrasing but anyhow, they meant to say "he did". Example "when he was 10, he had this wooden toy and he would have taken it with him everywhere". Sadly the german translators didn't realise the phrasing and translated "would" as "he would have, if he could". "Konjunktiv". So now they said "Er würde sein Spielzeug überall mit hinnehmen" - "Er würde dies und jenes tun" and 80% of the German viewers must have thought "He would? If he was still alive or what on earth are they trying to say?" So this is what I still remember, 12 years later. The first german TV channel (ARD) absolutely messing up a translation by not recognising the colloquialism and then making the same mistake over and over again. (But I think it was live, so a different scenario than translating a single sentence in advance)

[@Basicguy1798]

so, I always kind of mess up the haette, waere and such and this example will live long in my memory as a learning and remembering yardstick/help

[@RadimentriX]

well, that was interesting to listen to. the sentence "Wenn Deutschland den 2. WK gewonnen hätte" went from "guy with an accent" to "who's the german speaking now?" :D

[@matsoleellenberg4824]

I don't think they didn't translate the title of man in the high castle to safe money. Most of the younger Germans (at least me, my friends and most of the people with wich i spoke about this) do think titles translated to German do sound silly most of the time. Something about foreign language names let them sound less made up and more believable. As another example there is John Snow vs John Schnee. Most younger people i know prefer Snow, because they think Schnee sounds made up and unrealistic. Older people on the other hand do prefer John Schnee, as far as I know. But that might be because of the translation in the books when they've read them as they came out.

[@JaniceHope]

@Mats Ole Ellenberg .... many younger people especially if they already had 8+ years of English in school which for some is as early as 8th grade prefer to watch the original version of popular shows. Whereas the older generation do not... and the younger gen that watch it in german want to talk with their peers about shows so the 'germanized' names only add confusion for them.

[@firster8]

Der Konjunktiv Präsens ist mit dem Indikativ Präteritum vertauscht.

[@HotelPapa100]

The wrong translation actually does not translate to English as "If Germany has won WW II" "When Germany has won WW II" is more like it. Without the subjunctive, "wenn' changes from it's conditional to its temporal meaning.

[@sirsulo9102]

'Wenn Deutschland den WW2 gewonnen hat' könnte auch implizieren das Deutschland noch eine Chance hat den zweiten Weltkrieg zu gewinnen.

[@louisbeerreviews8964]

Ww2 is over the war was end it in 1945

[@sirsulo9102]

@@louisbeerreviews8964 I am aware of that. But a sentence can have a meaning that is factually incorrect.

[@frankhainke7442]

Sehen die Leute dieser Fernsehshow denn diesen Beitrag? Ich fürchte sie tuen es nicht.

[@boghag]

Wenn ich hier rumschaue muss ich Dir leider widersprechen ;-)

[@Hurricane2k8]

There is an episode of "Only Connect" with Tom Scott as a participant. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mZCpkpKcqsifZ9E - Enjoy :)

[@yasminesteinbauer8565]

4:15 I'm sorry, what did you say? A birdie! Oh how cute! Look how adorable it is hopping and pecking around!🐦

[@omp199]

You are very observant. I had to watch three times before I could see what you were referring to.

[@donovandownes5064]

5:00 you sure you didn't mix up Past Indicative and Present Subjunctive?

[@rewboss]

I did. Muphry's Law in action: If you write anything criticizing editing or proofreading, there will be a fault of some kind in what you have written.

[@ThamiorSilberdrache]

The answer to your riddle on the endcard is: "Things I normally don't do". Ok, well, I just did one of them...

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

It's a lot of difficult semantics in german. "Burg" is a sort of castle closer to a fortress (Festung) while "Schloss" is closer to a palace (Palast). But both are translated as "castle" and aren't directly a fortress or palace. And the differences are quite fluid, there is no direct list of parts that separate one from the other. Similar with "Geist" in german and the translations "ghost" and "spirit" in english. (Or even "mind" in a more elegant way of speech. Consider things like "freigeist")

[@Nikioko]

The German title of The Man in the High Castle, Das Orakel vom Berge, translates to The Oracle from the Mountain. Which no native English speaker would connect to Philip K Dick's book.

[@NicolaiCzempin]

Which is fine, because none needs to ;-)

[@chri2453]

Fun fact: The host Vicky Coren is also a tough-as-nails poker player who has won major tournaments.

[@AnonYmous-jp3qd]

Nitpicks: 4:36 Technically, the subjunctive in English is required in two cases: 1. The past subjunctive is used in the if-clause of a conditional sentence. It is identical to the indicative past, except for the verb 'to be', which takes the form 'were' even in the singular (see example in video). This form is, as mentioned, often replaced by the indicative past (or sometimes would-constructions, though that is often regarded as incorrect) because it's identical to it 99% of the time. 2. The present subjuctive is used, when the idea being expressed is something you wish to be true, and is not necessarily the actual state of affairs. Most of the time it is used in subordinate clauses, whence the name. It's always identical to the infinitive. Example: It's important that he buy apples. (=I want him to buy apples because it's important.) vs It's important that he buys apples. (=The fact that he is buying apples is important.). This form is actually quite common, though in colloquial speech the indicative construction is often (but not exclusively) used. This contrasts with the German subjunctive in two ways: 1. The past subjunctive is, like in English, used in conditional statements. However, it is acceptable to use everywhere, not just in if clauses. However, with the exception of a few select verbs (mainly sein 'be' and haben 'have'), it is generally avoided in colloquial speech and even in formal writing (especially, when the form is awkward or is identical to the past indicative); this is true for the German past tense in general. The past subjunctive (or it's replacement, the würde + infinitive construction, which corresponds to the would + infinitive construction used in English conditional statements) carries no past tense meaning on its own (as insinuated at 4:52-5:00 in the video), and an additional perfect aspect (haben + passive participle) is required, which is the case here (this is why we're conjugating 'haben' into the past subjunctive here, not 'gewinnen'). 2. The present subjunctive is used in German differently than in English. As in English it carries no conditional meaning (Exception: set phrases like 'Es sei denn') but is used, unlike in English, for reported speech, especially when you want to make the statement seem dubious. It is also used in place of the imperative for the 1st person plural (though here you may often see a similar construction to English aswell: 'Lass uns'+infinitive) and the polite address form 'Sie'. In more archaic/formal language, it's also used in the 3rd person singular, similar to English: 'Gott schütze den König' = 'God save the King'.

[@rewboss]

This is (more or less) true for American English; not so much for British English, where the subjunctive has to all intents and purposes died out. The sentence "It is important that he buy apples" is no longer considered standard in British English.

[@connectingthedots100]

So German of you to complain about a quiz show translation. However, you are correct - of course.

[@witerabid]

Well... If Germany _had_ won WWII the writers would have been held to a higher standard. Although... looking at German television standards now...

[@paulsj9245]

Nur wegen der Ausländer!!

[@witerabid]

@@paulsj9245 DANKE CHURCHILL!!1!!EINSELF!! 😋

[@HagenvonEitzen]

Another (possible) translation failure could be the word "order" in the Wolfenstein title, which allows a surprising variety of German translations: a) Ordnung (order=hierarchy), b) Befehl (order=command), c) Orden ([monastic] order, not medal) However, the choice made seems reasonable

[@spot1401]

with a) having kind of a double meaning in itself as being sorted and also "in its place" (as John Berkow would mean it when yelling "ordaaaa, ordaaaa!!"

[@jemandanderes7075]

The worst thing is that this would have been so easy to avoid. Just check how google translator would have translated the sentence. It would have been perfect.

[@ricksimon9867]

As the example shows, "only connect" is not so much about intelligence than about knowledge of trivia. If I have never heard of Bucharest as "little Paris", or of that darn tank as "little Willie", I can have an IQ of 180 and will not be able to solve that puzzle. Don't get me wrong, there are some puzzles that do not require any trivia knowledge; but the majority does. That is one reason why I love watching the show: I am an English teacher from Germany, and this show teaches me British trivia.

[@kualamekan9843]

Great video

[@davidcarroll7829]

I like how many mistakes the video maker makes and how snotty he is while making them.

[@JoannaHammond]

Wow, why did this even end up in my recommended list?????????

[@charlymaurer3132]

Ah, we did watch that episode and did escape us. Now, for being German and living in Germany and not seeing this obvious mistake, well shame on us. However, (British)TV's toughest quiz shoooow? I don't know. I would argue that the one following "Only Connect", "University Challenge", is equal if not even more demanding.

[@cutthr0atjake]

Yes, University Challenge is tough, but it only requires regurgitating facts. Only Connect also requires convoluted deduction.

[@LS-Moto]

*Target audience:* English speaking people who want to learn about Germany *actual audience:* proud German people

[@annaflitz2838]

Phew, I'm really glad I decided to watch the newest OC episode before this video - that would have been a spoiler! ;) Funnily, this was an answer I actually got, which is sooooo rare. Yay!

[@matthiass.19]

Musste bei der Folge auch an der Stelle schmunzeln. 🙂

[@c.primavera9690]

Nice, it's not a "short".

[@DiggerWhoops]

You are a living example when they say foreigners speak (for example) English better that native speakers. LOL!

[@tariik.h]

Danke!

[@Esperantisto]

Watch out, she'll reference your comment on a show intro. Or a naughty Portillo joke on the extro... :)

[@kevinrussell2718]

Just Tweeted this to Victoria Coren-Mitchell - she tells me that it was a joke sentence.

[@omp199]

Ah, the lazy excuse of the lazy researcher. "I got it wrong on purpose as a joke!"

[@0xyg3n]

Auch eher "Falls" als "Wenn", oder?

[@motokuchoma]

The difference between Burg and Schloss, while real, is not really used that way in German anymore as it was in the middle ages. "Schloss" is used for all kinds of fortresses whereas "Burg" is almost exclusively used for the exact medieval fortification made from stone bricks.

[@titusmagnuseinuniversumaus6354]

"Der Mann in dem hohen Schloß" - das bezieht sich doch auf den Obersalzberg, oder?

[@HalfEye79]

Wouldn't "Wolfenstein: The New Order" be "Wolfenstein: Der neue Befehl" or "Wolfenstein: Das neue Regime"? I don't know the games of the Wolfenstein-series so I can't answer the question by myself..

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

"Die neue Ordnung" is totally correct.

[@montanus777]

"regime" and "ordnung" both are fitting in regards of the content of the game - "befehl" not so much.

[@ID-ig6fq]

Not really, the correct German translation of „world order“ is „Weltordnung“ and „new order“ in this context is thus correctly translated as „neue Ordnung“. It’s not commonly used without a prefix in German (politische Ordnung , gesellschaftliche Ordnung, Weltordnung), but it’s nonetheless the correct translation which precisely matches the english word and sentiment. The word „order (political or societal structure) is in itself neutral , “Regime” is certainly not (unless used in the colloquial sense of “routine” („mein Fitness Regime“)). The “new order” may technically be achieved via a new regime or via civil war or anachrchy or democratic elections. The vagueness of the title “new order” combined with the image and knowledge that, in this case, we are in fact talking about a Nazi Regine, adds a level of uneasiness and doom that simply calling it “a new regime” does not correctly capture . As a translation It is unnecessarily more specific and interpretative than intended or indeed required, as “Ordnung” already offers a precise translation (after all the English version could have been titled “the new regime“, but was deliberately not). “Neue Ordnung“ (or, if applicable, neue Weltordnung) precisely captures the sentiment and meaning of the english title „new order“ (“ab jetzt weht ein anderer Wind”). “Neuer Befehl” (order in the sense of command) would be entirety incorrect. 🙂

[@janschlumpf]

Die Briten berücksichtigen halt einfach, dass es auch noch Paralleluniversen gibt.

[@holger_p]

Das würde verleugnen das es Fantasy gibt. Ist Harry Potter ein Paralleluniversum ? Oder gleich mehrere ? Oder gar keins.

[@NFSHeld]

I thought you were about to complain about "Geschichte machen" from "Making History", which feels like "Sinn machen" from "Make sense". I feel like the translation of "Making History" should be "Geschichte schreiben", unless they mean something very different from what I am thinking.

[@MrHunick]

Cannot believe nobody called him grammar nazi yet. lol.

[@eamonahern7495]

If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?

[@viktorchernov-i7v]

- Germany winning WW2 HOLY SHIT IS THIS A TNO REFERENCE ⁉️

[@MichaelAndersen_DK]

Oh the joys of the german language. It's almost as messed up as danish - although some may claim it's the same bloody soup they both got dragged out of.

[@joaovitormatos8147]

I live outside Europe, but I watch it every week on KZbin. I literally watched it MINUTES ago.

[@MyBroSux24]

Wheelsongenius is the mvp for quiz shows on yt

[@farkstein1213]

Did you pay the tv license?

[@S404_44]

Did Victoria just reference this video last episode? :D

[@rewboss]

I was wondering that myself, but I don't know how far in advance they record the show.