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I have seen this sentence on FB. I looked it up and it turned to be a book title. However, I couldn't understand what it means. nich could mean nicht, jeht could be geht?!, dasset according to google has to do with cryptocurrency and Bitcoin but I doubt it. It looks more like dass.

Is it old German? A regional dialect? What does it mean?

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7

It's just an idiom from Berlin and broader counties (Brandenburg), so it's a regional dialect.

Erzählt mir doch nich, dasset nich jeht!

Translated to regular german would be

Sagt mir doch (bitte) nicht, dass das nicht geht (funtktioniert).

English:

Please don't tell me that this won't work out.

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14
  • Is it pronounced by people like it's written as well? geht with j instead of g?
    – Abdullah
    Oct 19 '18 at 20:03
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    @User Yes. Replacing g with j is usual for the Berlin/Brandenburg idiom specifically. A prominent example is JWD standing for "janz weit draussen" in b4 "ganz weit draussen" in b4 "from the outer city woods".
    – πάντα ῥεῖ
    Oct 19 '18 at 20:07
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    @User Pro Tip: If you want to have a bake roll at a bakery in Berlin, order a "Schrippe", "Brötchen" will earn laughter, "Semmel" probably some respect but denied understanding. The Bavarian idiom is still somehow respected there unless H. Seehofer doesn't manage to consume all of that respect for his throws.
    – πάντα ῥεῖ
    Oct 19 '18 at 20:13
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    @πάνταῥεῖ, nicht jedes Brötchen ist eine Schrippe.
    – Carsten S
    Oct 19 '18 at 22:36
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    I don't think, that Please don't tell me that this won't work out. is a propper english translation. It is rather Don't tell me that this won't work out. The speaker is not expressing a wish, but rather an expectation in a sense similar to Don't try to fool me telling me this won't work out. This is expressed by the doch. The please is something you just added to the sentence by yourself, it is not part of the german sentence .Hence, I gave -1 here.
    – jonathan.scholbach ♦
    Oct 21 '18 at 19:09
4

It is a regional dialect. It translates to:

Erzählt mir doch nicht, dass das nicht geht!

Which means:

Don't tell me that this is not possible.

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3

Erzählt mir doch nicht, dass es nicht geht!

  • nich=nicht Das t wird in großen Teilen Deutschlands weg reduziert, manchmal bleibt nur ein "ni" übrig (z.B. Dresden).
  • preußisches Dialektgebiet (Berlin, Brandenburg, Sachsen-Anhalt):
    • jeht=geht - "g" in Anfangsstellung wird allgemein zu "j"
    • dasset=dass es
      1. Die zwei Wörter werden in der Umgangssprache mündlich zusammengezogen: dasses (siehe auch isses=ist es / hammses=haben sie es / bistes=bist du es)
      2. aus "s" in Endstellung wird im Dialektgebiet rund um Berlin ein "t" (siehe auch allet=alles)
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1
  • 2
    Genauer gesagt: gemeingermanisches “t” wird im Oberdeutschen zu /ts/ oder /s/. „Et“ (englisch: „it“) ist die ältere Form.
    – fdb
    Oct 23 '18 at 17:32

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