• tatterdemalion@programming.dev
    10·
    3 小时前

    I suspect every language does this to some extent. Some good examples from Japanese:

    靴 = shoes 下 = under 靴下 = socks

    手 = hand 紙 = paper 手紙 = letter

    歯 = teeth 車 = wheel 歯車 = cog / gear

    火 = fire 山 = mountain 火山 = volcano

    Sadly (?) the Japanese compounds are often only compounds of the symbols, not the spoken words.

    • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip
      2·
      3 小时前

      Even more than the compound words I really like the kanji that have basically pure pictograph meanings, like mountain pass being “mountain up down” 峠.

      Side note my favorite mnemonic is for the word (hospital) patient, where a person (者) ate too much meat on a stick, and now the problem is in their heart 串 + 心 --> 患者

  • 鳳凰院 凶真 (Hououin Kyouma)@sh.itjust.works
    5·
    4 小时前

    Mandarin-Chinese:

    冰 = ice
    箱 = box
    冰箱 = ice box (refrigerator/freezer)

    or in Cantonese:

    雪 = snow
    櫃 = cabinet
    雪櫃 = snow cabinet (refrigerator/freezer)

    usually 上層 “upper level” is used to indicate the freezing part (急凍/雪藏), like where you out ice cream, for example; 下層 “lower level” is used to refer to the non-freezing part, like where you put fruits, for example. Because every fridge we had was designed like that.

    Also fun fact: 電腦 means “electric” + " brain" (aka: computer)

    飛機 = “flying” + “machine” (aka: airplane)

    Feel free to ask questions. I’m bored and wanna see how much I know.

  • Venat0r@lemmy.world
    2·
    3 小时前

    but a cold cupboard is the the technology that predates the refrigerator, so how would you know which one people are talking about in German? (j/k)

    • darklamer@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      1·
      35 分钟前

      Just in case there’s someone here who’d like to know: that “cold cupboard” technology that preceded the refrigerator in people’s homes is called Eisschrank in German.

  • chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world
    13·
    9 小时前

    If you like this you’ll love Chinese! A language where books were printed with literal blocks of wood!

    Yes, and the language works this way too:

    电 (diàn) : lightning

    脑 (nǎo) : brain

    电脑 : computer

  • Gladaed@feddit.org
    3·
    7 小时前

    Every language is. German not having a word for fridge is fine. Compound words are a product of lack of a dedicated wird in a lot of languages.

    • PlexSheep@infosec.pub
      9·
      7 小时前

      I like new words, like Rucksackriemenquerverbindungsträger (the horizontal connection between the straps of your backpack that makes the backpack magically less heavy when closed)

  • Tonava@sopuli.xyz
    121·
    11 小时前

    English really is the weird one in this. Constructing new words with old ones makes a lot more sense than just stealing the words from other languages and mashing them in without changing much

    • hakase@lemmy.zip
      2·
      8 小时前

      All languages borrow, including German. English is not at all weird in this way.

      • Tonava@sopuli.xyz
        2·
        5 小时前

        Borrowing itself is normal, yeah, but english tends to go to the extremes with that. Even yoinking words like smörgåsbord as they are

        • hakase@lemmy.zip
          1·
          5 小时前

          English does have an above-average percentage of loanwords, but not the highest. Armenian and Romani are over 90% borrowings, for example.

          Also, note that “smorgasbord” has undergone significant phonological adaptation in its borrowing to fit English’s phonotactics - it’s definitely not borrowed as-is.

  • General_Effort@lemmy.world
    81·
    11 小时前

    English is so pathetic. A Cupboard is not a board and it’s not just for cups. Then they add insult to injury by just failing to coin the word chillgrill.

    • General_Effort@lemmy.world
      41·
      10 小时前

      Though, to be fair, following the logic of the word cupboard, a fridge should be a cheesegrill. That’s not something anyone could want. Goddammit English.

  • MalikMuaddibSoong@startrek.websiteEnglish
    2·
    8 小时前

    German must have its own share of disappointing terms.

    Pferd comes to mind as an example. I really expected something more metal like horzdraken or comical like hoofenstreider. But no, just a boring Roman loan word.

  • RouxBru@lemmy.world
    10·
    13 小时前

    Afrikaans:

    Vries - Freeze Kas - Cupboard/Closet

    Vrieskas -> Freezer

    Ys - Ice Kas - Cupboard/Closet

    Yskas -> Fridge 🤷

    Troetel - Cuddle / Pet (verb) / pamper Dier - Animal

    Troeteldier -> Pet animal

    Duik - Dive Boot - Boat

    Duikboot -> submarine