English questions

[Raphael]

One thing I should note is that <ö ü> are treated as simply allographs of <o u> in America, as demonstrated by the infamous "heavy metal umlaut",

Oh, I handle that by simply pronouncing it. If the bands didn't want me to pronounce it, they shouldn't have put it there.

[WeepingElf]

One thing I should note is that <ö ü> are treated as simply allographs of <o u> in America, as demonstrated by the infamous "heavy metal umlaut",

Oh, I handle that by simply pronouncing it. If the bands didn't want me to pronounce it, they shouldn't have put it there.

This reminds me of an anecdote I witnessed long ago in a Usenet newsgroup where a German spelled the band name Hüsker Dü as Huesker Due (that was the time when Usenet could not yet cope with non-ASCII characters properly), and someone else accused him of disfiguring the band name which he said was properly spelled Husker Du.

[Travis B.]

One thing I should note is that <ö ü> are treated as simply allographs of <o u> in America, as demonstrated by the infamous "heavy metal umlaut",

Oh, I handle that by simply pronouncing it. If the bands didn't want me to pronounce it, they shouldn't have put it there.

This reminds me of an anecdote I witnessed long ago in a Usenet newsgroup where a German spelled the band name Hüsker Dü as Huesker Due (that was the time when Usenet could not yet cope with non-ASCII characters properly), and someone else accused him of disfiguring the band name which he said was properly spelled Husker Du.

I remember reading about the band members of Mötley Crüe being confused by how Germans chanted the name of their band at a show in Germany.

[Linguoboy]

One thing I should note is that <ö ü> are treated as simply allographs of <o u> in America, as demonstrated by the infamous "heavy metal umlaut",

Oh, I handle that by simply pronouncing it. If the bands didn't want me to pronounce it, they shouldn't have put it there.

A friend of one of my college dormmates had a band called "Wänderlüst" and we took schadenfreude in calling them [ˈvɛndɐˌlʏst].

[Travis B.]

As Vince Neil recounts: "I can remember it like it was yesterday. We were drinking Löwenbräu, and when we decided to call ourselves Mötley Crüe, we put some umlauts in there because we thought it made us look European. We had no idea that it was a pronunciation thing. When we finally went to Germany, the crowds were chanting, 'Mutley Cruh! Mutley Cruh!' We couldn’t figure out why the fuck they were doing that."

[WeepingElf]

One thing I should note is that <ö ü> are treated as simply allographs of <o u> in America, as demonstrated by the infamous "heavy metal umlaut",

Oh, I handle that by simply pronouncing it. If the bands didn't want me to pronounce it, they shouldn't have put it there.

A friend of one of my college dormmates had a band called "Wänderlüst" and we took schadenfreude in calling them [ˈvɛndɐˌlʏst].

Which sounds much like Vandalist - which would be a good name for a metal band, too.

[Imralu]

There's a fake Bavarian place here called Winghaüs, which is obviously pronounced [ˈvɪŋhaːˌʔʏs]. When I came back from Germany, an old friend of mine and I met up for the first time there and he was like "Sorry if it was weird that I suggested a German place," and I was like "It's OK, literally nothing about this place is German."

[Raphael]

and I was like "It's OK, literally nothing about this place is German."

Now I'm really curious what they serve.

[Imralu]

and I was like "It's OK, literally nothing about this place is German."

Now I'm really curious what they serve.

It's got a super American vibe. Look at the website.

Winghaus brings you the ultimate sports bar experience, while never compromising on flavour! Don’t let the name fool you, we don’t just do wings, so indulge in our burgers and other diner-themed food as well! We have a stacked line-up of sauces and rubs for you to try, so why don’t you give them all a go and tell us which one comes out on top? Our burgers and nachos are a slam dunk, too!
If you’re feeling extra naughty or have enough room for dessert, you can indulge in our deep-fried Mars bars which will guarantee to fix that sweet tooth up.

Literally none of that sounds German, lmao.

Here's the menu. They've occasionally randomly suffixed "haus" onto some words for no reason. The only things that look non US-American to me are that they use the word "chook" (Australian for "chicken") and say "chips" instead of "fries", but, like, "buffalo ranch chips"? I don't even fucking know what that is.

Looks like they've dropped the ü from their logo. Someone must have told them it's fucking stupid.

[Raphael]

Ah, thank you!

[Travis B.]

They've occasionally randomly suffixed "haus" onto some words for no reason. The only things that look non US-American to me are that they use the word "chook" (Australian for "chicken") and say "chips" instead of "fries", but, like, "buffalo ranch chips"? I don't even fucking know what that is.

Here it is well-known that "house" and "Haus" are pronounced roughly identically and have roughly the same meaning, so there's the tendency to occasionally substitute "Haus" for "house" in the names of things for the hell of it. For instance, in the town where I live there is a place named the "Sausage Haus".

Looks like they've dropped the ü from their logo. Someone must have told them it's fucking stupid.

That I have never seen - people here at least seem to have enough sense to not stick an umlaut in "Haus".

[Travis B.]

We could call the umlaut in "Winghaüs" a "Häagen-Dazs umlaut"...

[Linguoboy]

The only things that look non US-American to me are that they use the word "chook" (Australian for "chicken") and say "chips" instead of "fries", but, like, "buffalo ranch chips"? I don't even fucking know what that is.

Chips with buffalo sauce and ranch dressing, obvs.

The menu for the Bangaroo location (don't ask me why I randomly chose that one) suffers from a certain disconnect, using "fries" in the descriptions of their burgers and "chips" for freestanding sides. They at least offer "Schnitzels", but I suspect these are just breaded (or--to use their terminology--"crumbed") chicken breasts that haven't actually been pounded out. The oddest thing about the menu to me is the use of "Nashville" to mean "Nashville-style hot chicken", a usage I've never seen here. (It's just "hot chicken" most places.) At least that's what I assume they're selling--it's weird to list out "Nashville seasoning" as something separate from "our secret spiced chicken breast" as if this were something you'd dip an already-seasoned piece of meat into.

[anteallach]

I've seen examples here of brand names using umlauts, including on U, as a way of giving a "Scandi" flavour, which is curious given that the actual Scandinavian languages use Y instead of Ü (well, except in German loans).

[Imralu]

They've occasionally randomly suffixed "haus" onto some words for no reason. The only things that look non US-American to me are that they use the word "chook" (Australian for "chicken") and say "chips" instead of "fries", but, like, "buffalo ranch chips"? I don't even fucking know what that is.

Here it is well-known that "house" and "Haus" are pronounced roughly identically and have roughly the same meaning, so there's the tendency to occasionally substitute "Haus" for "house" in the names of things for the hell of it. For instance, in the town where I live there is a place named the "Sausage Haus".

Yeah, but that at least makes sense. WTF is a "chookhaus & fries" or a "classichaus & fries". Like, I'm sorry, but I highly doubt you can buy a chicken house ... or a classic house. I've just noticed they say "fries" in the names of meals, but "chips" in the sides section. Chaos!

For some reason, Australians often describe something as "shithouse" instead of just "shit", so then every fucking monolingual Australian who thinks they can say a couple of words in German will say "Scheisenhausen" . (They can't say Scheiße ... it always sounds like "scheiser"). I wonder if just adding -haus on a few random words in the menu is connected to that.

[Travis B.]

"Buffalo ranch chips" actually makes sense to me - they're just fries with buffalo sauce/ranch dressing flavor. (And actually, "buffalo ranch chips" - using the American sense of "chips" - makes sense too to me.)

[bradrn]

The menu for the Bangaroo location (don't ask me why I randomly chose that one)

Barangaroo’s a nice area, albeit slightly touristy. Doesn’t really need an explanation.

[Linguoboy]

For some reason, Australians often describe something as "shithouse" instead of just "shit", so then every fucking monolingual Australian who thinks they can say a couple of words in German will say "Scheisenhausen" . (They can't say Scheiße ... it always sounds like "scheiser"). I wonder if just adding -haus on a few random words in the menu is connected to that.

My first college roommate took a class in high school which was called "German" but which apparently didn't teach any actual German. One of the odder notions he ended up with was that any English word could be made "German" by adding the suffix -shanka. So he would ask things like "Vo is der Detergentshanka?" and I was somehow not legally permitted to kill him in self-defence.

[Travis B.]

For some reason, Australians often describe something as "shithouse" instead of just "shit", so then every fucking monolingual Australian who thinks they can say a couple of words in German will say "Scheisenhausen" . (They can't say Scheiße ... it always sounds like "scheiser"). I wonder if just adding -haus on a few random words in the menu is connected to that.

My first college roommate took a class in high school which was called "German" but which apparently didn't teach any actual German. One of the odder notions he ended up with was that any English word could be made "German" by adding the suffix -shanka. So he would ask things like "Vo is der Detergentshanka?" and I was somehow not legally permitted to kill him in self-defence.

LOL.

[Imralu]

For some reason, Australians often describe something as "shithouse" instead of just "shit", so then every fucking monolingual Australian who thinks they can say a couple of words in German will say "Scheisenhausen" . (They can't say Scheiße ... it always sounds like "scheiser"). I wonder if just adding -haus on a few random words in the menu is connected to that.

My first college roommate took a class in high school which was called "German" but which apparently didn't teach any actual German. One of the odder notions he ended up with was that any English word could be made "German" by adding the suffix -shanka. So he would ask things like "Vo is der Detergentshanka?" and I was somehow not legally permitted to kill him in self-defence.

I remember watching a movie years ago where a German couple during the Nazi era, ahn-ing the coming war, move to Sweden. They stay with the man's friend, who lives there. Before they get there, he tells her "To speak Swedish, all you have to do is put -as on the end of every word." When they arrive, the woman greet's the man's friend with Gutas Tagas! and the man responds in German with -as added to the end of the words.