Image: Dietmar Rabich Lampenladen (m.) Lampenladen literally means a lamp store, but in East Berlin it was also a dig at the government. One of the most important buildings in the communist part of the city was the Palast der Republik, or the palace of the republic, which was a cultural centre with restaurants and a theatre, among other things. It had a big glass … Continue reading A Word from German History (no.2)
Swear words are stored in a different part of our brains to the rest of our vocabulary and tap directly into our strongest emotions. Foreign swear words, on the other hand, are kind of just words. For proof, just search in the Google news tab for “shitstorm”: almost every entry is from a non-English news outlet – because what even is a vulgarism? I’m looking … Continue reading Swearing: Lost in Translation
Die Wende A “Wende” (f.) means a decisive change, development, or turning point, and for Germans it really means the dramatic period following the fall of the Berlin Wall (die Mauer). Die Wende encapsulates the social and political earthquake not just of 1989 but the years afterwards, as the East German government collapsed and the current reunified republic came into being. When Germans refer to … Continue reading A Word from German History (No.1)
