Wortauswahl - Choosing the best word out of a list of alternatives.
24
votes
10answers
4k views
Why is “Fräulein” considered offensive, as opposed to “Frau”?
Does Fräulein imply that the woman being addressed is not fully a Frau? Does it imply a lower class status?
11
votes
1answer
367 views
Redewendung wenn man an ein fremdes Telefon gehen muss
Im Arbeitsumfeld gibt es üblicherweise mehr oder minder festgelegte Formulierungen die man benutzt, etwas in der Art von Firma Meier, Michael Müller, Apparat von Peter Schmitz hört man öfter.
Im ...
10
votes
4answers
300 views
What are “Marmelade”, “Konfitüre”, or “Fruchtaufstrich”?
Living in Germany I almost exclusively hear "Marmelade" for any spread made of fruits including "Erdbeermarmelade", "Himbeermarmelade", "Aprikosenmarmelade" and so on. Only rarely I also hear ...
8
votes
3answers
184 views
Which spelling is the right one: “deinstallieren” or “desinstallieren”?
Some computer software uninstallers that are localized for German users use the word "deinstallieren" and others "desinstallieren".
Which one is the correct one - or are both words right?
--
Update
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19
votes
5answers
1k views
How to distinguish between a female friend and a girlfriend?
The word Freundin can mean either a girlfriend or a female friend. In some cases, they can be distinguished by using the possessive pronoun to refer to the former:
Ich habe mit meiner Freundin ...
6
votes
2answers
368 views
How do we define the strength of coffee?
Coffee is the most consumed drink in Germany. No wonder it comes in a huge variety of flavours. However the list of coffee specialities does not say much on the strength of the brew. I heard of
...
5
votes
4answers
321 views
Using “nötig” vs “notwendig”
What is the difference between "nötig" and "notwendig"? When would one be preferred over the other, or are they always interchangeable?
9
votes
4answers
274 views
Selbst oder selber?
Sind folgende Sätze beide richtig?
a) Das haben Sie doch selber gesagt!
b) Das haben Sie doch selbst gesagt!
Wenn ja, gibt es dann einen Unterschied zwischen ihnen?
8
votes
1answer
159 views
Is there a difference between “Messer” and “Kniff?”
The word I was taught for "knife" is "Messer".
But someone, who appears to be a native speaker, answered a question to the effect that "Kniff" looked like its English counterpart "knife".
Certain ...
8
votes
2answers
141 views
Why is “erstmal” not recognized by my spellchecker and is “erstmals” correct?
I typed the following sentence in an E-Mail in Thunderbird:
Muss man sich erstmal einloggen?
The German spellchecker said "erstmal" is not a word and suggested that it be replaced with ...
8
votes
3answers
644 views
“ist” oder “sind” bei Aufzählungen
Üblicherweise verwendet man bei Aufzählungen den Plural. In konkreten Fällen kann sich das aber schon einmal komisch anhören.
Beispiel:
Folglich sind in Abbildung 1 ein Subsystem und in Abbildung ...
7
votes
3answers
144 views
Gibt es ein deutsches Pendant zur englischen Wendung «writ large»?
In der englischen Sprache gibt es die Wendung «writ large», die normalerweise so benutzt wird:
Switzerland is a democracy writ large.
oder
The State is the organization of robbery writ ...
7
votes
2answers
220 views
What is the difference between 'noch' and 'noch immer'?
They would both appear to mean the same thing in English i.e. 'still'
How do they differ and under what circumstances might you use either of them?
5
votes
4answers
234 views
What's a good translation for “outcome measures”?
For example in the sentence:
Outcome measures for this study include three-year-survival rate and relapse.
4
votes
2answers
180 views
What is the difference between “schätzen” and “abschätzen”?
The following to sentenses have different meanings
Er schätzt sie.
Er schätzt sie ab.
But looking at
Er schätzt die zurückgelegte Strecke auf 5 Kilometer.
and
Er schätzt, dass er ...
3
votes
2answers
178 views
Weniger informeller Ausdruck für “weg-abstrahieren”?
Der Satz
A und B sind gute Ansätze, welche aber die Eigenschaft E von der Problemstellung P wegabstrahieren.
kommt mir sehr umgangssprachlich vor. Ich würde aber gerne diese Bedeutung mit einer ...
3
votes
3answers
204 views
Is There Another Way to (Poetically) Say “Sie ist schön?”
In one of my translations, I used: "[Deine Mutter] hat Schönheit. The original is a line in Gershwin's Summertime.
My translation was:
Sommerzeit, und das Leben ist leicht.
Fische beissen, wenn ...
