Bringing this over here from my twitter feed and expanding it a little.

It all started when I realized that British English pronounces forsythia /fɔːˈsaɪθiə/ - like scythe in the middle. My own pronunciation was a mix of the British and the American version: /fərˈsɪθiə/ - the Star Wars Sith pronunciation I'd like to call it. What's your pronunciation like? I don't know whether I came up with my version of my own or whether I heard it in NZ or GB?

The German pronunciation of Forsythie - nearly the same word except for the last letter - is very different though: Phonetically we would spell it Forsützie, the more or less IPA version, taken from a German online dictionary is this: [fɔrˈzy:tsi̯ə] - a world away from the British version!


But then I thought of Fuchsie and fuchsia - same last letter difference again, also a very different pronunciation: German call it [ˈfʊksi̯ə], English-speaking folks say /ˈfjuːʃə/ - and as to spelling it, there is the tendency to turn it into fuschia.

So, we have a Scottish botanist William Forsyth and a flower named after him and a German botanist Leonhart Fuchs and a flower named after him. Naturally, we ignore the native pronunciation of the name and come up with our own. Which I am totally fine with, but it is a little confusing.

With Dahlie and dahlia, named after a Swedish botanist Anders Dahl, the German and American pronunciation are fairly close on the sound of the a (let's ignore the l and the fact that the IPA letters are the same, but the pronunciation isn't):
Dahlie = [ˈda:li̯ə]
dahlia = BrE /ˈdeɪliə/ AmE /ˈdɑːliə/
The Swedish pronunciation of the a is probably different again!

As to other flowers named after people, there is Poinsettia - which was the trigger for all this because of this language log post about its pronunciation and Bougainvillea.

Poinsettias are Weihnachtssterne in English, literally Christmas stars, which is the easy way out as far as mangling the name goes. Bougainvillea are named after a French general and explorer and here the German [buɡɛ̃ˈvilea]  is a little closer to the French version than the English /ˌbuːɡənˈvɪliə/ - which is lovely in its own way, I think.

Any other flowers named after people that come to mind?

Instead of ruins, I today bring you the main church of Lagos:

( Igreja Paroquial de Santa Maria de Lagos )

As is tradition around this time of year, we went on the motorway and visited family in Hesse. ( Text and pictures )

This time there we didn't go for the sights and while I had wanted to take the kid to the very famous castle, we of course didn't. You don't mess with tradition.

Edited for spelling picnic the German way.

In response to this post on languagelog about firstable as an eggcorn for first of all:


The version I've seen from several German students is firstival - which you can also find in the last comment on this blog post on first(ly) etc.

Finding authentic examples of this usage isn't easy but here are two:

Firstival what is true love what is being in love... Is there a difference?

Hello everyone, firstival i would like to say that my english is not evry good but i would like to share my experience of playing my little bunny here, so my apology if there r any misunderstandings.

Apparently it is not only used by ESL students as in this quote from a 'funny freshman essay':

Firstival, the president should…

I learned a new word. It appears to sound like “festival,” but is synonymous with “first of all”.

(As an aside: This current teacher isn't too fond of this former teacher poking fun at the ignorance of students and I'm also not completely sold on the authenticity of the quoted student writing.)

..nor has it pancakes.

Traditionally, it is called Violet Tuesday (after the flowers, not the colour).

This year, we went to the big parade in town and of course I took pictures.

It took me a while to crop and tinker, so that I can share some of them with you.

German Carnival is frequently a very serious thing, and often not very creative costumewise. I was pleasantly surprised regarding the outfits (helped by the motto) and see for yourself whether anyone had fun.

( Veilchendienstagszug )

The letter S for this was kindly provided by oursin as well as the format.

( Stuff )

If you want a letter - or comment on naming trends etc. please use the comments section to tell me all about it.

So there I was at the local branch of an international chain selling office supplies because I wanted to buy something I'd seen in their advertising. Yes, I know but the item I was after was a ring binder so ugly that I needed to get it - it is for a special purpose.

Of course the store was swarming with people - school starts here tomorrow or the day after (if it's your first day at school) and there were these confused groups of parents with lists in hand looking for their children and for the various items that they will need for their first day of school. ( Blue is for boys... )

Just for fun,

here is how Aldi Sued do their "Very British" week:


They registered the trademark for "Taste of British Isles"®. They invented a little logo with a coat of arms that features a rose, a dragon, a thistle and a clover which looks like it is printed on a postage stamp with the words "Taste of British Isles" on it. Yes, obviously that is their way of getting away with selling products from the Republic of Ireland, too. Still, I could see why actual British and Irish people might not be very happy about this.

So, what do they sell to the good people of Germany wanting a taste of the British Isles?

Fish & Chips, Baked Beans and Irish meat (lamb and beef) feature on the first two pages.

The next page shows you Traditional Chips wth the flavours Sweet Chili and Salt & Vinegar - guess what, they mean crisps, but as we call them Chips in German they opted for the American term and bottled Buck's Fizz which is described as a spritziger Cocktail.



Then it's time for sweets:
You get three different kinds from the Toffee-Sortiment: Peppermint Crémes, Chocolate & Toffee and Chocolate Caramels; Winegums, Scottish Shortbread Fingers and ice cream that is modelled on after-dinner mints.

Then you get Gallantry Irish Whiskey and on the next page English Tea in German-style teabags in three varieties: English Breakfast Tea, Five O'Clock Tea and Black Tea Clotted Cream - apparently that is black tea with cream flavour. *Shudders*

That same page also has Brotaufstrich: Bramble Jelly, Fruity Orange, Lemon, Old English Orange and Blackcurrant Preserve.

Everything in italics is a direct quotation from the leaflet. The website already has next week's specials, so you can't see bigger pictures there.

So, we - true to form - booked a last-minute holiday on Gründonnerstag, Green Thursday, the day before Good Friday, to leave for Mallorca very early on Easter Sunday returning one week later late on Sunday night. Those were the only flights available and while they made travelling a little less convenient it gave us an extra 12 hours of actual holiday time.

Mallorca is a place that is known for several things: partying, sangria and being Germany's 17th state. It also has the reputation of being stunningly beautiful if you actually make the effort and know where to look.

( Lots of text, only one photo! )

The trendy food has made it to Germany - with the rather terrible name of N'oats - the apostrophe seems part of the brandname but isn't consistently used in the copy on the website of manufacturers/distributors mymuesli.com.

You can even buy it as N'oats2Go - oats with fruit flakes etc. in a pot noodle cup (just add milk/water). At the supermarket it was a 40g cup for €1,90 or online you can buy 12 cups for €19,90.

Mind boggles.

Very expensive oats. Well, ORGANIC oats, but I guess this is for the people who don't remember their grandparents eating Haferbrei in the mornings or who got to eat Haferschleim when they were ill?

I actually quite like porridge and I guess the to go variety is very convenient for office lunch. I also like the idea of adding some nice and tasty extra ingredients.

But the marketing is just amazing. They've got "recipes" on the website, too - telling you how to add water and milk.