I’ll have to check with some German acquaintances, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the German word for “grilled cheese” is “Grilled Cheese”.
The Germans used to oppose foreignisms, but over the last several decades that has changed completely. Now they freely talk of “worst-case-scenarios”, “talk shows”, “money managers”, “Top Ten”, “real estate”, and on and on, all in English.
If you get “Deutsche Welle” on cable, listen to their German-language broadcasts for a few minutes and it won’t be long before you hear English words.
Its also possible that the German and English words are similar. That also happens with the Scandinavian languages.
The languages are related. English is a Germanic language with a heavy French (Latin) overlay.
Add to that, English is often the common second language for Europeans. If I speak Norwegian and you speak French, we will probably communicate in English. Regardless of official opposition to foreignisms, English words are going to creep into common speech.
pschearer Premium Member over 14 years ago
I’ll have to check with some German acquaintances, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the German word for “grilled cheese” is “Grilled Cheese”.
The Germans used to oppose foreignisms, but over the last several decades that has changed completely. Now they freely talk of “worst-case-scenarios”, “talk shows”, “money managers”, “Top Ten”, “real estate”, and on and on, all in English.
If you get “Deutsche Welle” on cable, listen to their German-language broadcasts for a few minutes and it won’t be long before you hear English words.
ellisaana Premium Member over 14 years ago
Its also possible that the German and English words are similar. That also happens with the Scandinavian languages.
The languages are related. English is a Germanic language with a heavy French (Latin) overlay.
Add to that, English is often the common second language for Europeans. If I speak Norwegian and you speak French, we will probably communicate in English. Regardless of official opposition to foreignisms, English words are going to creep into common speech.
Just like English borrows words from everywhere.