German Secrets
Description
Living and working in Germany has been pleasurable and rewarding. We’ve met a great many interesting and friendly people. We’ve learnt a lot from them. And this is our “British” way of repaying this friendship and hospitality.
“German Secrets” is not intended as an academic dissection of Germany and the Germans, there are enough of those. On the contrary, this book is meant to be an affectionate and fun kaleidoscope of some of our impressions, and also an opportunity for Germans to talk about Germans.
The book is divided into two sections:
Part 1: Various impressions, presented alphabetically and in no order of importance. Dip in anywhere !
Part 2: A summary of “The Real Truth about The Germans”, an online survey carried out on One-Word-A-Day ( www.owad.de ), a free English vocabulary learning service. The survey addresses the question: “Do the Germans see themselves as others see them?” and provides some interesting answers. An old and rather tired joke starts with the question “Where would we be without a sense of humour?” the answer is “Somewhere in Germany !” We have a problem with this stereotype - we‘ve had more fun in Germany than in many other countries. This book is the result of our 30 year joint venture with thousands of Germans - friends, colleagues, and business partners.
More details
Content
2 - Introduction [Seite 9]
3 - Achtung! [Seite 11]
4 - Angst [Seite 12]
5 - Beate Uhse [Seite 12]
6 - Beer [Seite 14]
7 - Bosses [Seite 15]
8 - BreakfastRolls [Seite 16]
9 - Bureaucracy [Seite 17]
10 - Cars [Seite 17]
11 - Cheers! [Seite 19]
12 - Christmas Markets [Seite 20]
13 - Clubs [Seite 21]
14 - Der - Die - Das [Seite 22]
15 - Dinner for One [Seite 24]
16 - Directness [Seite 25]
17 - Dogs [Seite 25]
18 - Doktor [Seite 26]
19 - Du and Sie [Seite 27]
20 - Facial Hair [Seite 28]
21 - Family [Seite 29]
22 - Food [Seite 30]
23 - Football [Seite 32]
24 - Funny English [Seite 33]
25 - Geography [Seite 35]
26 - Goethe [Seite 37]
27 - Handshaking [Seite 37]
28 - Health [Seite 38]
29 - History [Seite 39]
30 - Humour [Seite 41]
31 - Hunting [Seite 42]
32 - Instant German [Seite 44]
33 - Inventions [Seite 49]
34 - Italy [Seite 50]
35 - Mittelstand [Seite 51]
36 - Mobile Phones [Seite 51]
37 - Money [Seite 52]
38 - Music [Seite 53]
39 - Names [Seite 53]
40 - Nudity [Seite 54]
41 - Oktoberfest [Seite 54]
42 - Ostalgie [Seite 56]
43 - Perfection [Seite 56]
44 - Punctuality [Seite 57]
45 - Religion [Seite 57]
46 - Rubbish [Seite 58]
47 - Rules [Seite 59]
48 - Sauerkraut [Seite 59]
49 - Schiller [Seite 60]
50 - Skiing [Seite 61]
51 - SmallTalk [Seite 61]
52 - Stammtisch [Seite 62]
53 - Television [Seite 62]
54 - Tipping [Seite 63]
55 - Toilet Attendants [Seite 64]
56 - Toilets [Seite 65]
57 - Tourism [Seite 65]
58 - Trains [Seite 66]
59 - Wagner [Seite 67]
60 - Wine [Seite 69]
61 - Work and Pleasure [Seite 69]
62 - World War II [Seite 70]
63 - Xmas [Seite 71]
64 - Zeitgeist [Seite 72]
65 - Birkenstocks, Beer and Bratwurst [Seite 76]
66 - Time is of the essence [Seite 76]
67 - Teutonic perfection and efficiency [Seite 77]
68 - All work and no play [Seite 78]
69 - Brutally honest [Seite 78]
70 - Germany's past [Seite 79]
71 - The arrogant German [Seite 79]
72 - Humourless in Berlin [Seite 79]
73 - Prussian bureaucracy [Seite 80]
74 - Sprechen Sie Englisch? [Seite 80]
75 - Business,Romance,andNationality [Seite 81]
76 - Business Advice [Seite 81]
77 - Pragmatic love [Seite 82]
78 - Vive la France! [Seite 83]
79 - Rule Britannia! [Seite 84]
80 - La Dolce Vita! [Seite 84]
81 - Statistics [Seite 85]
82 - The Authors [Seite 87]
83 - Acknowledgements [Seite 88]
Achtung ! (p. 10)
Thanks to Hollywood films, comic strips, and the Rock Band U2, the German word “Achtung !” is now firmly embedded in the English language. And what a useful, life-saving word it can be. So much more concise and precise than its English cousins “Watch out !”, “Be careful !” or “Pay heed, kind Sir !” If a light-flashing Porsche is bearing down on you at 240 kph, you don‘t want to mess around with unnecessary syllables. Of course, we do use the word “attention” but never in the context of giving a warning or caution.
The following wordplay joke, originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4, has even been known to raise a smile in Germany. Tell it carefully: A German farmer walks across a field, slips over in the mud, and falls face down into a cow pat. Rising to his feet, the only thing he can say is “Ach ! Dung !”
