Forwarded from Tafelrunde (David Korb)
Words that are too beautiful to forget...
Today: NULLACHTFÜNFZEHN
The "08/15" was the standard machine gun of Germany in the so called I.World War. It was manufactured from 1908 on and decisively improved in 1915.
The name 08/15 is derived from the construction years 1908 and 1915.
Until the 1930s, it became the most widely used and thus "common" MG of the German Army, until it was replaced by the better now air-cooled MG34 with interchangeable barrel, higher firing rate and easier handling in 1934.
From the Kommiss, the German soldiering in its Prussian coinage, finally the term 08/15 went then soon into the normal German language use, as designation for something completely normal, usual.
Standardized.
Today, unfortunately, it is no longer used so often.
Our German language is so rich and endearing that not a single word should be forgotten.
Today: NULLACHTFÜNFZEHN
The "08/15" was the standard machine gun of Germany in the so called I.World War. It was manufactured from 1908 on and decisively improved in 1915.
The name 08/15 is derived from the construction years 1908 and 1915.
Until the 1930s, it became the most widely used and thus "common" MG of the German Army, until it was replaced by the better now air-cooled MG34 with interchangeable barrel, higher firing rate and easier handling in 1934.
From the Kommiss, the German soldiering in its Prussian coinage, finally the term 08/15 went then soon into the normal German language use, as designation for something completely normal, usual.
Standardized.
Today, unfortunately, it is no longer used so often.
Our German language is so rich and endearing that not a single word should be forgotten.
Forwarded from Wakingup1984
A blog post for The Economist agrees that English is rich in vocabulary, but comparisons with other languages can’t be made for several reasons.
The simplest problem in comparing the size of different languages is inflection.
Do we count “run”, “runs” and “ran” as three separate words? Another problem is multiple meanings. Do we count “run” the verb and “run” the noun as one word or two? What about “run” as in the long run of a play on Broadway? According to a recent NPR article, “run” has at least 645 different meanings!
ARTICLE
The simplest problem in comparing the size of different languages is inflection.
Do we count “run”, “runs” and “ran” as three separate words? Another problem is multiple meanings. Do we count “run” the verb and “run” the noun as one word or two? What about “run” as in the long run of a play on Broadway? According to a recent NPR article, “run” has at least 645 different meanings!
ARTICLE