this post was submitted on 06 Jan 2025
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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 day ago

I was talking to my hairdresser once and accidentally called my tonsils testicles so maybe uvula can be vulva now to make it all even

[–] [email protected] 54 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

Uvula? The german says Gaumenzäpfchen. It's a Zäpfchen and it's dangling from the Gaumen. Makes sense, no?

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Reminds me of the Flammenwerfer!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

It’s literally a 1:1 translation of Flamethrower.

There are much better examples for long German words beeing short in English like

Toy = Spielzeug (Play Stuff)

Mall = Einkaufszentrum (Shopping Centre)

Sale = Schlussverkauf (End sale)

Matchbox = Streichholzschachtel (Swipe wood box)

Lighter = Feuerzeug (Fire Creator)

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I don't think that was intended as an example of a long German word being short in English. Rather, it was an example of the meaning of a word being clear from the word itself.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

To me it was both. The descriptive nature of words on the one hand and the word length which often comes with it on the other.

Eichhörnchenschwanz is one more nice example (it also works with dialects: oachkatzlschwoaf - an oak cat's tail) :D

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

🇳🇱 Eekhoorntjesstaart! (And vlammenwerper of course.)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

Google insists that I must have mistyped eekhoorntjestaart. Who am I to argue? 🤷‍♀️

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Didn't know I'd be thinking about a "palate suppository" when I woke up today, but here it is.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The word Zäpfchen itself is the diminutive of Zapfen, a stud, peg or pin. E.g. the fruits of needle trees are also called Zapfen, Tannen-, Fichten- or Kiefernzapfen. So Gaumenzäpfchen is a small stud dangling down from the palate.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 days ago

This makes way more sense! (and also makes it obvious I currently do not speak German 😅)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

So it's a girl house.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 day ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

I also am pavlov'd to remember this line every time, great minds think alike. Or the superior German proverb, two fools one thought

[–] [email protected] 1 points 18 hours ago

Great minds think alike is only half the proverb. The other one is: , but fools rarely differ. Somewhat similar to the german one.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Monster house reference I think.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

That was my first guess, but when I sounded out the words as spelled it didn't sound very... tongue-y. Maybe I'm not hearing it right.

Edit: you don't even use your tongue to make the K sound 🤔

[–] [email protected] 2 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

You do use it. You need to press your tongue to the roof of your mouth to make a k sound.

This happens close to the back of your mouth where the molars are…

[–] [email protected] 2 points 15 hours ago

Huh, fair enough.

I still don't associate the tongue with a K sound 😅 a lisp I feel would make more sense

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

It might be a family thing, or even dialectal from where I grew up, but its common name for me is "(the) clack".

Wiktionary suggests that the name "clack" is used for the tongue, but then there's this Black country (UK West Midlands, where I'm not from) dialect page: https://www.sedgleymanor.com/dictionaries/dialect.html that actually lists "clack" as being a name for the uvula, so it might well dialectal word used the north of England and the midlands.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 day ago
[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 days ago (2 children)

IT SOUNDS LIKE A SEX THING

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Anything can be a sex thing (once) if you're brave enough

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I think of this scene from Monster House every single time I hear the word uvula https://youtu.be/oM0SArkFxco

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

That's called a "clacker" where I come from.

[Edit] That might be a really local dialect term that nobody else understands.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

Wasn't Uvula that comms officer on Star Trek?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

Delightful and relatable

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Must've been confusing to the Romans