Eichhörnchengefahr

[beige_alert]

If you are menaced by squirrels, don't miss this at Nothing For Ungood.

No matter how much these things look like they want to cuddle up with you, keep away, as they are wild killing machines.

And on the subject of squirrels, Germans will always try to make you say their word for squirrel. Don’t do it, they are just going to laugh at you.

For more on the topic of trying to say Eichhörnchen, see Germans make fun of you when you try to say stuff:

Germans know their language is filled with sounds foreigners can’t make, so they try to get you to say certain words so that they can mock you. Such words include:

Eichhörnchen - This is the classic trap Germans set for us.

Oachkatzlschwoaf - This is the Bavarian cousin of the aforementioned.

Streichholzschächtelchen - This is the ultimate impossible German word to say.

(One of my many readers who actually speaks German will have to let me know if "Eichhörnchengefahr" actually makes sense or if I'm just messing up. And many thanks to legoline for making me aware of Nothing for Ungood.)

Comments

[jaelle-n-gilla.livejournal.com]

Nothing for UnGood - the name of the website alone is priceless!!!!
Yes, Eichhönchengefahr makes sense (although I never heard that). Just for the nitpicking though: Oachkatzlschwoaf is just the tail of the above mentioned, although I may be wrong because I am not of the Bavarian aborigine sort.

Streichholzschächtelchen is actually a lot harder for French visitors, so don't whine ;-)

[madfilkentist]

"Streichholzschächtelchen" isn't really that hard once you've mastered the soft "ch." Think of it as two words, "Streichholz" and "Schächtelchen."

But "Matchbox" really is easier to say. :)

I have no idea how to pronounce "Oachkatzlschwoaf." It obviously doesn't follow normal German rules.

[beige-alert.livejournal.com]

Eichhönchengefahr makes sense (although I never heard that)

Well, it isn't the sort of thing you'd often have need to say! I figured that since you get to stick words together in German, I'd try this. I figured it's either funny or just dumb, the only way to see which is try it :)

I suppose it works both ways, though, with pronunciation. Refrigerator!

[maverick-weirdo.livejournal.com]

The word Squirrel comes from the greek words skia "shadow" + oura "tail" based on a colonist's description of a rodent who could stand in the shadow of his own tail

[jaelle-n-gilla.livejournal.com]

*lol* funny piece of trivia. Thanks for sharing!

[legoline.livejournal.com]

I had a feeling you would like the site :D

Though--baseball is definitely far more boring than soccer ;-)

[beige-alert.livejournal.com]

Oh geez. Baseball was the winner in a contest to design the dullest possible sport, I think.

But speaking of sports, this I loved: "Also, Americans will never drive as a well as Germans. Our idea of racing is putting everyone on a big oval and telling them to turn left. Germans have Michael Schumacher. Enough said."

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

To me, mouthfuls like Streichholzschächtelchen aren't actually hard to say, they're just hard to figure out because my hardwiring for pronouncing words I don't actually know chokes on that many letters with no spaces. I have to stop and break it down consciously into syllables.

My only formal education in German was a few weeks of private tutoring (before my parents decided I wasn't serious enough to keep paying for it) when I was in grade school. It probably helped to nail down my knowledge of pronunciation, but most of what I consciously remember is a few words of vocabulary. Die Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung was my favorite word in the whole word, because I just couldn't get over how something that long could be a real word that ordinary people could actually use in everyday life.

[ladysanjou.livejournal.com]

Oh this entry made me laugh so hard - yes, these words are really mean for non-native speakers *snickers*

I wonder which words english native speakers would use to make some fun of it confronting a German....;)