The German language

thanks for your answer!

but doesn't "hin" indicate that someone is moving away from the speaker? i.e. "wohin gehst du?"
which would make "hierhin" kind of contradictory...?

"Hierher" is tautological, indicating a larger area / broader meaning. Cf. "vielmehr".
Imagine the speaker pointing "hin" to a specific spot.

Good luck with hinstellen & herstellen!

Hai, der!

"Hierher" points in the speaker's general direction, while "hierhin" points towards a specific place near the speaker. A politician talking about refugees would say they are coming "hierher" (to his country) but not "hierhin" (to his podium).

It's the subtlest of distinctions and most Germans use those terms interchangably.

Like “here, where we are” and “here, where I am”

Yes, functionally it's a little like the difference between "come here" and "come to me".

Japanese also has this distinction but in the other direction: それ “that” for things closer to the lister and あれ “that” for things far way from both speaker and listener.

Just landed in Munich and was complemented on my german by the immigration officer.

Spanish has the same thing you mention Ed, with 'este, ese, aquel' being 'this, that, that over there' (plus other corresponding forms eg esta, esos, aquellas etc).

The Plain People of Ireland: Isn’t the German very like the Irish? Very guttural and so on?
Myself: Yes.
The Plain People of Ireland: People say that the German language and the Irish language is very guttural tongues.
Myself: Yes.
The Plain People of Ireland: The sounds is all guttural do you understand.
Myself: Yes.
The Plain People of Ireland: Very guttural languages the pair of them the Gaelic and the German.

Frühlingstagundnachtgleiche

I have been enjoying hearing newspeople talk about the SPD, because it sounds to me like "sbd", which Beavis & Butthead fans at least will appreciate

So the word “leutselig” seems to be normally translated as “affable” but the usually reliable dict.cc has an added usage

leutselig sein gegen jdn.
to condescend to sb.

Can’t seem to find this anywhere else. Can a native or fluent speaker comment?

Ah, Langenscheidt says “condescending (in a friendly way)”

I don't know that usage, and really hate Langenscheidt. I'll ask around.

I always thought "leutselig" means "affable"; if you add condescension, you're "gönnerhaft." According to Duden leutselig means "wohlwollend, von einer verbindlichen, Anteil nehmenden Freundlichkeit im Umgang mit Untergebenen und einfacheren Menschen" (affable towards people of lower rank or social status).

The Wikipedia entry for Leutseligkeit sheds some light: the definition of "Leute" has shifted much in the same way "common people" has, so leutselig today means "friendly towards your fellow man" when it used to be closer to "fraternizing with the plebes."

Thanks for the help with “leutselig.“ Today’s question has to do with the proper way(s) to say “What’s-his-name” and “Peter so-and-so.”

I see Dingsbums or just Dings in the dictionary but I have never really used or come across these before.

What’s-his-name = wie-hieß-er-noch
So-and-so = soundso
Dings/Dingsbums is reserved for inanimate objects, for people it's Dingens/Dingenskirchen.

That’s perfect, thanks!

nach wie vor

It means “we for natch”

naw wir gegen es mayne

seriously this fkn language

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/05/world/europe/merkel-storm-translation-germany.html

Speaking at a technology conference on Tuesday, Ms. Merkel, known as a staid, no-drama politician, told a self-deprecating anecdote about being widely mocked online five years ago after she described the internet as some mysterious expanse of “uncharted territory.”

She chuckled at the memory of the digital blowback.

“It generated quite a shitstorm,” she said, using the English term — because Germans, it turns out, do not have one of their own.

Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän

Learned in school, never forgotten.

Um sie den Arm geschlungen zag,
sprach er mit sanftem Zungenschlag,
was war das für ein Schlangenzug,
der mich in deine Zangen schlug.

Es war einmal ein Leibesriese,
der machte eine Liebesreise.
Des Abends sprach er: „Reib es, Liese!“
Und Liese kam und rieb es leise.

Frohe Weihnachten!

wot's german for wobs

It's pronounced 'vaubz'.

ach, ein lehnwort!

Wie so oft.

Fast immer, glaube ich

Redewendung des Tages: Pi mal Daumen.

Oder besser gesagt:
Gott sei Dank, es ist Pi-Tag!

Pi-Tag ist 22/7.

warum?

das ist pi-annaeherungstag

3.14 ist kein Datum in der deutsche Schreibweise.

Vielleicht doch in Texas?

wikipedia:

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi-Tag

Zum anderen wird ein Pi-Annäherungstag (Pi Approximation Day) am 22. Juli gefeiert, mit dem die näherungsweise Darstellung von π durch Archimedes als 22/7 ≈ 3,14 geehrt werden soll.

pi ist 3,14

Kleinvieh macht auch Mist.

Small /something/ power also poop?

small animals also poop I think

Sorry little m not big M - 'makes'.

My favorite word was always 'Eisdiele', not sure why. Typical grade school bs I guess.

Kruzitürken!

Was zum Kuckuck?

Dann gibt es Mort und Totschlag.

Was zum Kuckuck?

Fjandinn hafi það!