59 of 67 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing, useless and inaccurate., June 8, 2010
This review is from: Dirty German: Everyday Slang from "What's Up?" to "F*%# Off!" (Dirty Everyday Slang) (Paperback)
I have lived in Germany for 10 years and speak German fluently. This book is full of obsolete terms and badly translated expressions. Profanity and slang are very culturally specific and difficult to translate in any language. English profanity is centered around feces, procreation, and genitalia whereas German is less so. The authors seem to be unfamiliar with German idioms and are trying to make a quick buck translating English street talk literally. My German friends had not heard many of these expressions before. This book might be fine as a joke gift, but don't use
it to try and fit in or sound hip in Germany. I would like to have had a German urban dictionary that catalogs and defines current slang.
Ey Alder, isch habe schon 10 Jahre Deutschland auf den Buckel, boh glaubst Du! Diese Buch ist voll krass der Brueller und als ich in Berlin damit die Ischen klar machen wollte, war isch der Burner des Abends. Willste gangstamaessig cool rueberkommen in Germany, dann hol Dir den Schinken.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Cool idea, doubtless interesting, enjoyable, but the phrases are not common slang always and partly with errors, August 29, 2011
I am German, (and moreover 40+). As we Germans take everything very serious, here is my philological review of this important book:
Being a German (did I mention that already?) I can recommend this book without concerns to Germans to learn "Dirty (American at least) English" - seriously !
The other way round it is more tricky. You will learn much about German language without doubt, but many of the used phrases are not 100% correct or not really common or are out of a certain joke and what is meant, could be understood only, if the person knows that joke or you tell him/here the joke before..
Some examples:
"Schnitzelkind" cannot be commonly understood, you need to know the mentioned joke/explanation before.
Of course many words and phrases fit well, and are commonly known, for example "Grufti", "dicke Freunde", "quatschen", "Das ist g#il."
"K#ckvogel" can be good understood as an insult but is not a common word, it's more a word creation.
"Eiweisstorsten" for a man having muscles, is difficult to understand and not at all a common word.
"Tussistempel" for a common tattoo which girls are used to have at the back at a certain place, is a wrong word nearly nobody would understand- "#rschgeweih" is the correct one for that.
"Hol mir mal ne Flasche Bier" is not a question, but an order.
"srz" as a German phrase used in a chat as a replacement for the English "sry" (sorry), was new to me. It may be a good joke in the hacker community knowing details about German keyboards, but it is surely not commonly understood. I laughed after understanding it (after 12 minutes and 8 s or so), but others may not get it at all... ;-)
And so on...
The author is far from native tongue (as my English here, srz for that).
At the best pages, there is even cultural critizism in place ("We have been having ##x for weeks now, don't you think we should use 'Du' ").
So, you learn much about German, but if you want to use one of the phrases, I recommend asking a native German speaker before. Or at least google the word.
But, maybe, if you want to get in contact with a German girl, it is more "charming" ('Ist der süüüß!') to talk slightly broken German ? Dunno. Then this book is perfect. But don't ask her, if her t#ts were a birthday present. That advice from my side... ;-)
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Absurd and useless, August 20, 2011
This review is from: Dirty German: Everyday Slang from "What's Up?" to "F*%# Off!" (Dirty Everyday Slang) (Paperback)
This book is fine if you buy it as a joke, but otherwise useless. A German friend read through it and spent half of the time laughing hysterically at absurd phrases that no one would ever use, and the rest of the time *actually* cursing at the book in German because it contained so much utter nonsense. Anyone asserting that this book will help you sound like a real German is mistaken. If you can tell the difference between the few phrases that a German might actually use and the many that are complete horse***, then you don't need this book anyway. If you can't tell the difference, then reading it will do you more harm than good.
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