Timeline for Does this German song imply that the Germans fear the English national football team?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
10 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2, 2020 at 8:54 | vote | accept | Mitsuko | ||
| Jan 2, 2020 at 8:50 | comment | added | Cacambo | @gnasher729 Actually I'm coming from the German perspective, too. I don't really know how the English see it. But you may well be right and rival might be too strong an expression. I was thinking about, e.g., the Wembley goal 1966, the Bloemfontein "reverse-Wembley" non-goal. | |
| Jan 2, 2020 at 8:47 | comment | added | Cacambo | @VolkerLandgraf I agree, afraid ist too strong. You put it very adequately! | |
| Jan 1, 2020 at 22:45 | comment | added | gnasher729 | @cacambo Germans will be very surprised to hear that the English team is a “rival”. That is a purely English view. | |
| Jan 1, 2020 at 22:36 | comment | added | Volker Landgraf | @Cacambo I think afraid is too strong. Let's say you consider yourself one out of 6 teams that can win, because all 6 are rougly similar in strength. Now one of the other teams fails to qualify - thus the number of serious opponents has dropped from 5 to 4. Even if you had estimated your chances of winning against this team 60:40, this team out is still good news - one competitor less to worry about. | |
| Jan 1, 2020 at 22:23 | comment | added | Volker Landgraf | @Mitsuko Your confusion probably comes from an ambiguity in the word respect: It can be used in the meaning of esteem, you honor someone; or in case of a rivalry something like "I know you are a tough opponent, roughly my equal, I know I must take our competition serious but I also know I can beat you - I don't fear you." | |
| Jan 1, 2020 at 18:39 | comment | added | Cacambo | Indeed, it is an instance of Schadenfreude, I believe. The German and English football fans are traditionally rivals. However, I do agree that it is ambiguous; because immediately before that, he talks about the "Kraftvergleich". It would be a reasonable interpretation to say that he is happy not because England cannot have fun (=Schadenfreude), but because Germany does not have to face England, of which he is afraid. | |
| Jan 1, 2020 at 18:37 | comment | added | Paul Frost | It is Schadenfreude which does not contradict having respect for such an old rival. A more famous example is the rivalry between the Dutch and the German football team. Here is a song from 2001: youtube.com/watch?v=SbGCfaREH_I "Ohne Holland fahr'n wir zur WM". | |
| Jan 1, 2020 at 18:10 | comment | added | Mitsuko | Thanks a lot. >> Traditionally Germans have respect for the English team but don't really fear, so I would guess it was rather meant as mocking than as relief << I am confused as to how respect and a mocking can come together. Also, a phrasing like "we are happy England is not playing" seems to be a weird way to mock, as it is unclear as to exactly why the Germans are happy. Or is if the famous Schadenfreude? | |
| Jan 1, 2020 at 17:48 | history | answered | Volker Landgraf | CC BY-SA 4.0 |