Memes

45187 readers

1557 users here now

Rules:

Be civil and nice.
Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.

founded 5 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

330

the Germ-ans (feddit.org)

submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

72 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 35 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

Ok but Schmetterling doesn’t even sound worse. Just picture it in a not angry German accent

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

If anything it's a good exemple of a nice German word

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago

Well, "schmettern" (verb) literally means to smash or to belt something. "Schmetterling" comes from the old Slavic "Schmetten", meaning cream (the one you skim off milk), but it sounds more like it comes from "schmettern", which is a word still in use.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

The "schmett" makes me think of the mess that's left if you squish one.

EDIT: Curious about the etymology of the German word, and the "schmett" part means "cream," which is similar to the "butter" part we use in English. The closest word an English speaker might recognize is probably the Yiddish "schmir."

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

There's too many consonants

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

But only the "TT" sound harsh, which is the same as butterfly, which I'd argue sounds harsher overall.

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

Good point. They even have the same amount of number of syllables.

Also, Butterfly sounds too much like Butt-fly

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

Thanks Sauerkraut, I thought so too.