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English Words Borrowed from German

There are a number of words in modern English that have been borrowed from the German language. These are mostly words that were adopted in the United States and the United Kingdom starting in the 19th century. Let's take a look today at some food and beverage related English words that come from German.

 

Save them for a stir-fry or noodle bowl later in the week.

Caption 24, Rainbow Plant Life: 20 Minute Vegan Meals EVERYONE Should Know

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A noodle is a long thin strip made of wheat or rice and boiled in water. You often find noodles in Italian and Asian dishes. The noun "noodle" comes from the German word Nudel, which is pronounced the same too. Note that "noodle" is also a slang word for a foolish or simple person. Also, if someone says "use your noodle," it means to use your brain to think about something!

 

I've got five hundred grams of strawberries here... and I want to blitz these now.

Captions 4-6, Nigella's Recipes: Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream

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The word "blitz" came into the English language during the German Air Force attacks on Great Britain from 1940 to 1941. The Nazi propaganda called their victories in those years Blitzkrieg, which means "lightning war." The Brits called the time of the German air attacks "The Blitz," and the word is still used in English today. Later, especially in the UK, "blitz" began to be used as a verb too. In the caption above, "to blitz" means "to mix food in a mixing machine."

 

I poured the old ginger beer down the sink.

Caption 6, Ed Sheeran: Supermarket Flowers

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Beer is an alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink usually brewed from hops and malt. Ginger beer is non-alcoholic and tastes sweet and bit sharp from the ginger root that is in it. There is also a drink called ginger ale that is very similar to ginger beer.  Most people probably know that the English word "beer" comes from the German Bier, which is also pronounced the same.

 

She almost spilt her lager.

Caption 30, Pete Doherty: Last of the English Roses

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Lager is a style of beer developed in Germany. The original German word Lager comes from the word for  "storage," as the beer was originally brewed and stored in cool caves. The word "lager" has come to be used as a general term for beer, especially in the UK. Young men who drink too much and behave badly are even called "lager louts."

 

Later, the Germans arrived selling pretzels from delicatessens.

Caption 10, The History of English: American English

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Pretzels are a snack food, and a delicatessen is a small grocery store, sometimes carrying delicacies and other specialities. "Pretzel" and "delicatessen" come from the German words Brezel and Delikatessen, which are pronounced similarly to the English words. A literal translation of Delikatessen is "delicate food." In English, delicatessens are often called "delis" for short.

 

...pickled vegetables like sauerkraut or vegan kimchi.

Caption 35, Rainbow Plant Life: 10 Tiny Changes to Improve Your Cooking

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Sauerkraut is made from fermenting cabbage in salt. A literal translation of the German word Sauerkraut is "sour cabbage," and it's indeed very sour! As a note, kimchi is a very spicy fermented food that's a bit similar to cabbage but has hot chilis too. That word has been adopted by English from the Korean language!

 

Further Learning
See more English words derived from German on Wikipedia, then search for some of the words on Yabla English to see them used in different contexts.

Some Summer Words in English

Now that summer is finally here, it's a good time to improve your summer vocabulary. Let's take a look in this lesson at some of the important words you may need when heading outdoors into the sunny weather.

 

It's too sunny outside. Make sure you have your suntan lotion!

Caption 15, English with Lauren - The Weather

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Suntan lotion was originally intended to help people get suntans without getting a sunburn. A "suntan" occurs when skin darkens after being exposed to bright sunshine, while a "sunburn" is when it actually turns red from too much exposure. These days we know that too much sunshine can be dangerous to your health, so it's good to use a lotion that protects your skin. For this, you want sunscreen:

 

Protect your face. Sunscreen is really the biggest thing.

Caption 12, Katie Holmes - About Family, Beauty and Olay

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Sunscreens are rated by SPF, which stands for "Sun Protection Factor." A sunscreen with a SPF of 15 blocks 93% of the sun's rays, SPF 30 blocks 97%, and SPF 50 blocks 98%. Many people think that SPF 30 blocks twice as much sun as SPF 15, but this is not true. So while it is important to get a good sunscreen, the higher SPF sunscreens are often much more expensive and actually provide only a small percentage more protection. The important thing is to apply it often, especially after swimming!

 

Going camping is another popular summer activity:

 

I mean, camping out with my family.

Caption 12, Jimmy Kimmel’s Quarantine Minilogue - Home with Kids, Trump, Tom Brady & St. Patrick’s Day

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Unfortunately, most commercial camping spots may be closed this summer because of the coronavirus. But if you are an experienced camper, you may still be able to go camping in non-commericial places in nature where camping is allowed.

 

Going to the beach is also a popular summer activity:

 

With 46 kilometers of beautiful beaches,

it's the perfect spot to hit the beach.

Captions 10-11, Discover America - California Holidays: Surfing and Beach Town Santa Cruz

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The phrase "to hit the beach" is just a casual way of saying "to go to the beach." With the current coronavirus travel restrictions, we may have to settle for going to a local beach at a lake this summer instead of flying to a distant beach on the ocean. Those of you who are lucky enough to live near the sea won't have this problem!

 

Building sandcastles is something that is fun to do once you've hit the beach:

 

Last Fourth of July, they skipped putting out beach chairs or building sandcastles.

Caption 36, Toxic Lake - The Untold Story of Lake Okeechobee

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But when it starts to get too hot, you may need some help cooling off: 

 

There is just something about homemade strawberry ice cream.

Caption 1, Nigella's Recipes - Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream

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Further Learning
Think of some other things you like to do in the summertime and search for the words on Yabla English so you can get a better sense of the different contexts in which the words are used.