962
How are there so many of them (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/memes@lemmy.ml
144 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 194 points 2 years ago (25 children)

It's the German version of me_irl. Stands for "Ich _ im echten Leben" and is a direct translation of the English

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 25 child comments
    •
  • [–] 87 points 2 years ago (14 children)

    Aww, thanks! Consider me slightly more educated than when I awoke this morning :)

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 14 child comments
    •
  • [–] 29 points 2 years ago (10 children)

    it is only me_irl in name though, it is a general meme / conversational community with the obnoxious (and over used to death) in joke that is zangendeutsch.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 10 child comments
    •
  • [–] 14 points 2 years ago (5 children)

    "Zangendeutsch" means an aggressive way of removing the influence of english into the german language. But outside of ich_iel we write in english as everyone. Which is obviously a little bit weird, isn't it?

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
    •
  • [–] 17 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    No, that's wrong. Zangendeutsch is all about English influence and playfully literal translations even when there are better German words. So you need to translate it back to English and into German again to decode it and that's the fun about it.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    So is that the "Zange"? Because you need to go from the things you are holding (the information, in "German") to the hinge (the literal English translation) and back down again (actual German translation) to understand (aka grasp it)‽

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 0 points 2 years ago

    I'm not sure if I understood your deduction. The literal translation of "Zange" would be "tongs", "pliers" or "pincer". Hinges are the things that make doors swing and hold to a wall right?

    Multiple source say the origin of the word isn't documented but the best explanation they come up with is that pliers can be used to bend something into a different form.

    My guess was it has its origin in the proverb "Das würde ich nicht mal mit der Kneifzange anfassen" which translates to "I wouldn't even touch that with pliers" as in stuff you detest that much that you rather would stay away from it.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    What annoys me personally about it (to the point that i blocked the community) is that it is mandatory. That's not humor, or funny, that is weird performative scripted humor. I often felt reminded of carnival speeches.

    I'd also argue that it isnt very successful in clearing anglicisms from the german vernacular when it is all about making the most incorrect and cryptic literal translation imaginable to the point that nobody could understand unless they are well versed in those anglicisms.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Dutchie who speaks German here, I hadn't heard of the word 'Zangendeutsch' before. I get what it means, but why 'Zangen'? Does it come from tongs or does it have another meaning? Tongs-German makes no sense to me

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 27 points 2 years ago (7 children)

    Omg I was reading it as "ich lel" not "ich iel" this whole time 😅 thanks

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 7 child comments
    •
  • [+] 9 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (6 children)
    [deleted]
  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 6 child comments
    •
  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago* (5 children)

    It is pretty close on the pronunciation, except ch is not sh. Unless you're speaking certain regional dialects :)

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
    •
  • [+] 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)
    [deleted]
  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago* (2 children)

    I'm a German native who studied linguistics (ok, computational linguistics with a minor in phonetics and phonology), but I basically only speak my regional dialect well. I was visiting a friend in Berlin once and a stranger in a bar complimented me that I "speak good German for a foreigner".

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •