Timeline for Does German use contractions in this way?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
25 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Oct 9, 2021 at 8:22 | comment | added | puck | @JimMack The difference in my point of view is that the two english versions may differ in "formality" but both are widely known and accepted and understood everywhere, while your german phrase is regionally limited which means can be confusing or not understood in most other regions and may be not accepted in written form even in regions where used in speech. To me the english and german forms are absolutely not on an equal level. | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 15:49 | comment | added | Jim Mack | @puck - Where's vs where is is a matter of register. The former is less formal and highly colloquial. And, as you say, is not likely seen in formal documents or discussions. I do think from what I've read here, and it has been quite informative, that there's some blurring of elision, which occurs only in speech, and contraction, which is generally an aspect of orthography. Many German dialects seem to employ a fair bit of elision, but that rarely (I gather) bleeds into contraction in print. | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 13:22 | comment | added | puck | If so many others think "wo's" or "wos'n" are common, then it must be a highly regional thing. I in contrast to others don't hear or see that and in many regions that would lead to misunderstandings or people just wouldn't get the question right. Abbreviations in German with apostrophe and s are far from being so common or accepted as they are in English. This can never appear in official documents. Can you please explain the different flavor of "where is" to "where's"? | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 2:14 | vote | accept | Jim Mack | ||
| Oct 7, 2021 at 21:00 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackGerman/status/1446218812118999053 | ||
| Oct 7, 2021 at 18:45 | answer | added | user51103 | timeline score: 3 | |
| Oct 7, 2021 at 8:46 | comment | added | henning no longer feeds AI | @HenningKockerbeck even more, there isn't even a distinction between meat (food) and flesh (human and animal tissue) , as both are "Fleisch". | |
| Oct 7, 2021 at 4:14 | answer | added | David Optional Courtenay | timeline score: 0 | |
| Oct 6, 2021 at 20:16 | answer | added | AndreKR | timeline score: 4 | |
| Oct 6, 2021 at 16:05 | answer | added | not2savvy | timeline score: 3 | |
| Oct 6, 2021 at 12:20 | comment | added | Bernhard | Just to point it out, in the dialects of German are actually a LOT of contractions. In a specific region someone would say "'s is 'n?" ("Was ist denn?") or "I' wü a' a Bier" ("Ich will auch ein Bier"). | |
| Oct 6, 2021 at 11:49 | comment | added | Jim Mack | @EikePierstorff - Sorry for the confusion, I wasn't looking for a better translation, I was just curious about presentation. Rendering this in idiomatic German would miss the point: it was meant to give a (whimsical) German flavor to a US idiom, for US readers. But I'm pleased to know about Rind versus Rindfleisch, etc. Always learning. | |
| Oct 6, 2021 at 11:42 | answer | added | planetmaker | timeline score: 6 | |
| Oct 6, 2021 at 11:41 | comment | added | Henning Kockerbeck | @EikePierstorff Didn't the idiom originate in a commercial slogan for a burger joint? Since then, it has mostly been used to question the substance of something, like "Where's the beef in this hamburger?", "Where's the real value in this product?". In 2020, when there was a shortage of beef in some places, the burger joint revived the ad. I'm not sure whether the idiom "to have beef with somebody" is related. | |
| Oct 6, 2021 at 11:16 | comment | added | user2508 | As an idiom, "where is the beef" is actually closer to "Was hast du denn für ein Problem", so I am not sure the culinary discussion is pertinent (and the German idiom offers ample opportunity for contractions). Unless of course we are not talking about idioms, but about cattle, but somehow that seems unlikely. | |
| Oct 6, 2021 at 10:49 | comment | added | phresnel | @Henning: I understand. Yes, German is rich in compositums. But then again, if someone asked me in the dinner "Was hast du denn auf dem Teller?" ("What's on your plate?"), I wouldn't answer "Rindfleisch mit Kartoffeln" ("Beef w/ potatoes"), but would rather use the name of the preparation, e.g. "Sauerbraten mit Kartoffeln", or "Rinderbraten ...", "Kotelett ...". I would say we are more preparation- than animal-centric when talking about meals. | |
| Oct 6, 2021 at 9:26 | comment | added | Henning Kockerbeck | @phresnel I was referring to the distinction between the living animal and the animal on your plate. In English there are separate words for that, like "cow" vs. "beef", "pig" vs. "pork", "chicken" vs. "poultry". In German, there's no word that directly corresponds to for example "beef", therefore, we use the compositum "Rindfleisch" ("cattle meat"). As you note, when it's clear from the context that we're talking about the meat and not the live animal, you can just say "Rind". But that context isn't there in "Wo's das Rind?", so we need to specify. | |
| Oct 6, 2021 at 9:16 | comment | added | RalfFriedl | You shouldn't ask this unless you literally want to know where the cow is. | |
| Oct 6, 2021 at 8:41 | comment | added | phresnel | @HenningKockerbeck: I am not entirely sure about your remark on the distinction Animal ./. Meat of the Animal. You can say "Schweinefleisch", "Schweinehack" (and many more) things meaning the meat at the meat counter. Though you could also say "300 g Gehacktes, bitte", to which the service could answer "Schwein oder Rind?" and you answer "Rind, bitte". But I am not sure if you are reffering that. Or did you mean the distinction between meat ("totes Fleisch") and flesh ("lebendiges Fleisch"), which we indeed do not have? | |
| Oct 6, 2021 at 8:05 | history | became hot network question | |||
| Oct 6, 2021 at 5:10 | answer | added | Stephie | timeline score: 33 | |
| Oct 6, 2021 at 2:40 | comment | added | Jim Mack | @HenningKockerbeck - I'd accept that as an answer, if you like | |
| Oct 5, 2021 at 22:59 | comment | added | Henning Kockerbeck | In spoken German, "Wo's das Rind?" could be acceptable. As a side note, German doesn't have the distinction between "animal" and "meat of the animal" ("cow" vs. "beef", "pig" vs. "pork"). Therefore, "das Rind" would probably be understood to refer to the animal on the meadow. Something like "Wo's das Rindfleisch?" or just "Wo's das Fleisch?" might work better. | |
| S Oct 5, 2021 at 22:21 | review | First questions | |||
| Oct 6, 2021 at 4:54 | |||||
| S Oct 5, 2021 at 22:21 | history | asked | Jim Mack | CC BY-SA 4.0 |