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How are there so many of them (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/memes@lemmy.ml
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[–] 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.

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  • [–] 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)‽

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  • [–] 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.

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