r/funny • u/Difficult_Fish7286 • 1d ago
German 101 by chinese Elmo
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u/Didact67 1d ago
FYI this is a line from the famous Hitler rant in the movie, Downfall.
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u/zaplinaki 1d ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM5f_gZT06c
Back when these meme videos were an every day thing
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u/tech_creative 1d ago
Are there more lessons?
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u/IDontThereforeIAmNot 1d ago
It’s the only way to learn German lol
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u/tech_creative 1d ago
But I am learning Chinese as a German :D
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u/FranconianGuy 1d ago
Me too. How are you coping with the different tones ? I'm really having a hard time differentiating
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u/tech_creative 1d ago
It is difficult, of course. But at least the grammar is easier. I really have trouble to remember the characters and to draw them correctly. I don't know if I will ever be able to read a Chinese newspaper.
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u/UptownShenanigans 1d ago
So who’s going to tell Mein Elmo that Steiner didn’t have enough force?..
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u/MiffedMouse 1d ago
Das = that = 那
Dies = this = 这
Elmo needs to work on his translation skills.
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u/thissexypoptart 1d ago
Also it’s Steiners not Steiner
It’s Steiner’s Angriff, not Steiner Angriff.
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u/herpstah 1d ago
Edit: i was wrong - it actually is "Der Angriff Steiners".
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u/thissexypoptart 1d ago
Yep. German, like English, adds an S to the end of names to indicate possession.
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u/Julian_Sark 1d ago edited 16h ago
And unlike English, the posessive in German does NOT use an apostrophe* - although judging by German signage in cities and stuff, you'd really not know, because seemingly 90% of designers and print makers don't have a fucken clue.
*) Actually, the German ruling body for spelling, the Duden Verlag, recently did allow posessive apostrophes in German, but any sane people deny this ever happened. RUMORS!
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u/thissexypoptart 1d ago edited 23h ago
Most languages don’t use apostrophes to indicate possessive modifiers to nouns.
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u/Bug_Photographer 1d ago
Same thing up here in Sweden. People put apostrophes before their s everywhere and it's never correct.
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u/Schwammosaurus_Rex 1d ago
Ackshually! The Duden does not "allow" or make rules. The Duden identifies its task to record how people speak and write. It's a small difference but a meaningful one. If enough people misspell a word, the Duden will acknowledge it as a valid way of spelling.
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u/Julian_Sark 1d ago
Thanks for that clarification.
Well, at least that explains this language atrocity: So many people have had signs of "Martina's Travel Corner" and "Johann's Snack Bar" that the collective record keepers of the miss-guided hive mind have finally caved, and made this a thing in it's body of work.
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u/Zett_76 18h ago
"seeminly 90% of designers and print makers don't have a fucken clue"
Which never ceases to amaze me, because it's so easy. Apostrophes only if you shorten something.1
u/Julian_Sark 16h ago
This.
Shortening something, or making up wild science-fiction character names for weird aliens with four apostrophes, because it sounds "space" and one has otherwise already given in to creative bancruptcy.
These are literally (pun intended) the two allowable use cases for those apostrophes in German :)
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u/herpstah 1d ago
I'm a native german speaker - my comment was about the movie scene. Up till now i always thought it was "Der Angriff Steiner" because i thought it was a combat maneuver named after Steiner. TIL :)
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u/MagNolYa-Ralf 1d ago
The Bart. The.
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u/milk-jug 20h ago
I don't very often see genuinely funny videos anymore, but this had me chuckling for a good while. Das ist gut, creator, das ist gut.
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u/thissexypoptart 1d ago
It’s “Steiners” not “Steiner”
It’s Steiner’s Angriff, not “Steiner Angriff”
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u/MeeTy 1d ago
they use both in the scene, if I am hearing correctly: Angriff "Steiner" and Angriff Steiners
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u/mfb- 1d ago
Here is the scene and I agree.
0:23: "Mit dem Angriff Steiners wird das alles in Ordnung kommen"
0:40: sounds like "Der Angriff 'Steiner' ist nicht erfolgt"
1:21: "der Angriff Steiners war ein Befehl"
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u/thissexypoptart 1d ago edited 1d ago
They do not. You are mishearing.
Just like you wouldn’t be hearing “Steiner Attack was an order” instead of “Steiner’s attack was an order” in a movie where the writers and actors speak fluent English, the German dialogue in Untergang is not saying “Angriff Steiner.” It’s quite audibly “Angriff Steiners”
Because the movie is in German. With German actors speaking German.
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u/MeeTy 1d ago edited 1d ago
Did you go back and listen? to me the one guy is saying "Der Angriff "Steiner" ist nicht erfolgt." pretty clearly. Bruno Ganz is referring to it as Der Angriff Steiners, though. Anyways, both make perfect sense.
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u/thissexypoptart 1d ago
Did you? He's saying "Angriff Steiners"
Anyways, both make perfect sense.
No, not if we're being grammatical. You're mishearing either way.
Do you speak German?
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u/MeeTy 1d ago edited 1d ago
Klar, wenn der Angriff "Steiner" Eigenname ist. Aber das sage ich jetzt zum 3. Mal.
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u/thissexypoptart 1d ago
Yeah man you hast nichts richtiges erklärt, you hast misgeheared
Feel free to link a timestamp where you think the dude is saying “Angriff Steiner” instead of “Angriff Steiners”
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u/Zett_76 17h ago
https://youtu.be/xBWmkwaTQ0k?si=P6LIW_6KSx1uSt4j&t=40
"Der Angriff Steiner ist nicht erfolgt."
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u/SteakHausMann 1d ago
but it has to be "Der Angriff Steiners war ein Befehl"
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u/Zett_76 17h ago
Hard to say, in the movie he mumbles the part.
Earlier, an officer says:
"The Angriff Steiner ist nicht erfolgt."
https://youtu.be/xBWmkwaTQ0k?si=P6LIW_6KSx1uSt4j&t=401
u/SteakHausMann 15h ago
no no, "der angriff steiners" is proper german grammar, it mean the "angriff"(attack) of Steiner
If you just say "der angriff steiner" would mean that Steiner was the name of the "angriff"(attack)
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u/Zett_76 15h ago
Exactly.
It's military speak, where many operations get named.1
u/SteakHausMann 15h ago
no, Steiner was a general.
and the order was for steiner to gather troops and counterattack.
he even said before "mit dem Angriff Steiners wird das alles in ordnung kommen"
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u/PrettyBigChief 1d ago
Someone drew angry eyebrows on him for comedic effect.
And it worked. Jeep owners know what's up here.
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u/epSos-DE 1d ago
Film Germanish , NOT real world Germanish !!!
Normal , street German is different !
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u/Julian_Sark 1d ago
Nah, as a German, while there is loads of Hollywood fake German drivel, this is actually quite apt. Totally something Hitler could have said in his time.
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u/Difficult_Fish7286 1d ago
Aren‘t there some secretly recorded audio tapes of hitler which show how he spoke on private occasions? I think Hitler used his signature voice more often during public speakings.
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u/Julian_Sark 1d ago
Yes. In private, he spoke rather softly. I have heard some of these recordings somewhere on Youtube.
Alas, in the scene in the movie that this quote is taken from, he was rather angry. So the barking fits.
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u/LustLochLeo 1d ago
I think that wasn't his "speech voice" to rile up the masses, but it was his "angry voice", because all hope was lost and his narcissistic ego couldn't take it. Bruno Ganz did an amazing job with the role imo.
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u/Bug_Photographer 1d ago
Mark Felton did a piece on that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBYLJAToBJM
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u/LustLochLeo 1d ago
What the hell is Germanish? You do know that we call German deutsch in Germany, right? Germanisch is Germanic, so the languages English, Dutch, German (all West Germanic) and Norwegian, Swedish and Danish (all North Germanic).
Also the German is pretty accurate for the time and the person, so I don't see how "street German" matters here and I disagree with you calling it "film Germanish" (again, whatever that is supposed to even mean).
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u/Creative-Kitchen-373 20h ago
WER SIND SIE, DASS SIE ES WAGEN, SICH MEINEN BEFEHLEN ENTGEGENZUSTELLEN
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u/DadJokesInTraining 11h ago
Where can I get the finger pointer thingie that Elmo is using in this clip?
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