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Languages in the EU (lemmy.world)

submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I'm about to sound like the ignorant American I am, so I apologize in advance! We're looking at a trip to Germany, and possibly Prague, and we've noticed that a lot of the hotel names are French and a couple hotels that aren't named in French have replied to comments with things like "Bonjour! etc etc" What's up with this? Is French just the most commonly spoken common language, even in Germany and Czechia? (I know that Germany and Czechia have their own languages, of course.) Or is it something else?

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago (8 children)

Is French just the most commonly spoken common language, even in Germany and Czechia?

No. This title is likely taken by Turkish.

Or is it something else?

Many phrases from European languages are common knowledge across Europe. I'm about to go grab some coffee. When I walk in to the coffee shop, I'm free to say "Hello" in one of 10+ languages and no one will think anything of it. Why would I do that? Maybe because I'm in the mood. Ciao!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

This makes sense, too. I know we borrow a ton of words and phrases over here, especially from our neighboring countries and historically from, well, basically all of Europe.

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