I love German. It can be rather intimidating to attempt to learn, but it is fun nonetheless. In fact, the word "nonetheless" is a spectacular example in English of German compactness. You could write "none the less" or "none-the-less" but it's much more efficient and economical to write "nonetheless" and it means the same thing anyway. German is full of these compound words. Instead of hyphenating things like "He-who-must-not-be-named" or "orffan-in-austria" the Germans just run them all together. It's quite sensible, albeit not always easy to read.
I love the compound words. They make so much sense! See if you can guess what these words are in English. I've added a fairly literal translation...
A. Hubschrauber - screw
B. Reissverschluss - travelling closure
C. Meerschwein - sea pig
D. Ausfahrt - out drive
E. Staubsauger - dust sucker
F. Flusspferd - river horse
How fun is that???? Give up?
A. Helicopter
B. Zipper
C. Guinea pig
D. Exit
E. Vacuum cleaner
F. Hippopotamus
I've actually had an opportunity to use all those words in conversation. OK, maybe not Guinea pig.......
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