German and English : the two sisters who each went her own way

Abstract

English borrowed quite a few words from German, also when German immigrants introduced them to American English, especially in the field of food and drink, but not only, e.g. hamburger, frankfurter, wurst, sauerkraut, kindergarten, blitz(krieg), dachshund, wunderkind, leitmotiv, umlaut. German, which for centuries managed to remain a pure language, is now finding it very difficult to resist the influx of English words, like most languages of the world after 1950. Thus die Klimaanlage is becoming die Aircondition, die Drogerie – der Body-Shop, die Stadtmitte – die City, der Höhepunkt – das Highlight, arbeiten – jobben, der Saft – der Juice, die englische Königin – die Queen, die Feier – die Party, and dozens of other examples could be listed. Some of these words are pseudo-anglicisms, as they mean something else in English, e.g. what Germans (and after them Poles) call Smoking is in fact ‘dinner jacket’ (British) or ‘tuxedo’ (American); Handy is an adjective synonymous with ‘useful’ and is never used with reference to ‘mobile phones’ (British) or ‘cellphones’ (American). Anyway, after fifteen centuries of separation English and German have come into direct contact again and the increasing number of English words are finding their way back to the continental Urheimat of the Anglo-Saxons, including the peninsula of Angeln. The two sisters, who each went her own way, are having a reunion, though one of them appears to be imposing her way of life on the other.