332
the Germ-ans (feddit.org)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 36 points 1 year ago

Ok but Schmetterling doesn’t even sound worse. Just picture it in a not angry German accent

[-] Noodle07@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

If anything it's a good exemple of a nice German word

Well, "schmettern" (verb) literally means to smash or to belt something. "Schmetterling" comes from the old Slavic "Schmetten", meaning cream (the one you skim off milk), but it sounds more like it comes from "schmettern", which is a word still in use.

[-] YellowTraveller@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago
[-] grrgyle@slrpnk.net 7 points 1 year ago

But only the "TT" sound harsh, which is the same as butterfly, which I'd argue sounds harsher overall.

[-] Sauerkraut@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 1 year ago

Good point. They even have the same amount of number of syllables.

Also, Butterfly sounds too much like Butt-fly

[-] grrgyle@slrpnk.net 2 points 1 year ago

Thanks Sauerkraut, I thought so too.

[-] samus12345@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The "schmett" makes me think of the mess that's left if you squish one.

EDIT: Curious about the etymology of the German word, and the "schmett" part means "cream," which is similar to the "butter" part we use in English. The closest word an English speaker might recognize is probably the Yiddish "schmir."

this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2024
332 points (86.1% liked)

Memes

54085 readers
891 users here now

Rules:

  1. Be civil and nice.
  2. Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.

founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS