Wicked German (Wicked Travel Series) [Paperback]

Howard Tomb (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 10, 1992 | Series: Wicked Travel Series

From the sneakily successful travel series with over one million copies in print, here is the guide to help travelers gain a foothold in Deutschland. Learn to distinguish between Mettwurst, Fleischwurst, Blutwurst, Schinkenwurst, Touristenwurst, Pinkelwurst, and Zungenwurst. Praise beer like the cognoscenti: "This Malz has a strong oak flavor with a faint almond backwash" and "The tanner, curvaceous Rauchbier displays a fine set of bubbles." Critique Bavarian castles, torment skinheads, and discover all the accepted excuses for backing out of a polka evening.

From the finer points of cultural exchange, such as discussing the cinema ("Why must there be action of any kind in a film? Hollywood's insistence on plot is ridiculous") to making friends in the disco ("I love your black boots/pants/shirt/jacket/hat/lipstick"), this book will make sure no German puts one uber on you again. It's on the Mark. 114,000 copies in print.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, German

From the Back Cover

KNOWING THE WURSTS

Was für ein Tier ist das?
Which animal was this?

Welcher Teil?
Which part?

Bitte zeigen Sie mir die Stelle an Ihren Köper.
Please just point to the place on your own body.

Hmm. Das sieht mir nicht besonders schmackhaft/gesund aus.
Hmm. That doesn't look very tasty/healthful.

Habe ich erwähnt, dab ich mich entschlossen habe, Vegetarier zu werden?
Did I mention that I've decided to become a vegetarian?

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Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company (January 10, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563052946
• ISBN-13: 978-1563052941
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #111,288 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #26 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > German
  • #74 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > German > Instruction

More About the Author

I enjoy travel, as you might expect from the books I've written. When I go abroad I prefer not to have a lot of plans or even hotel reservations. Many of my favorite experiences on the road -- and the ones I remember best -- have been in situations where I'm out of my element. That often leads to physical or emotional discomfort, but it's almost always worth it.

For example, the first time I set out to scuba dive with sharks, in a place called Palau in the western Pacific, I felt scared. The water was 900 feet deep and I didn't have a weapon. But when they swam lazily over to check me out, my fear turned to awe. Their incredible beauty, curiosity and caution surprised me. (Yes, I would get out of the water if I saw a tiger or great white.)

My brother and I once walked into a tough little biker bar in New Richmond, a small town in southern Ohio. Everyone stopped talking and stared at us. We're city boys; they probably thought we were lost. But we ordered Bud longnecks and shots of Maker's Mark and punched some Patsy Cline into the jukebox, and pretty soon everyone was back in conversation. Within half an hour the owner was introducing us to her daughter and we were shooting pool with the bikers, even though we didn't agree on all the rules. They found out we were people, even though we live in New York and L.A., and we were able to see them as individuals through their beards and leather.

That, to me, is the point of travel: not just to "see things" but to make the world a bigger place.

Although my travel books are meant to be funny rather than practical, my hope is that they help people appreciate other perspectives better and take themselves and their frustrations a little less seriously.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very funny little German book, January 2, 2004

By 

magellan (Santa Clara, CA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Wicked German (Wicked Travel Series) (Paperback)

A very funny little German book that is as much a satire on the language, Germans, and travel in general as a phrasebook. Although only 64 pages, it packs a lot of humor and entertainment into this small package. Some of the phrases are truly funny. To give you a sampling of some of what's in the book, here are a few examples. In the chapter on Clothing I found "Diese Hosen sind einfach ummerfend." (These lederhosen are hilarious!) In the chapter on dealing with policemen, there was "Ich muste sie naturlich von der Strasse rammen." (I had to run him off the road, of course). In the chapter on "Words of Love and Pastry," there was "Ich mochte in Ihren Gugelhopf beissen." (I want to bite your Bundt cake). And in the chapter, "The Wurst of the Wurst," there was "Habe ich erwahnt das ich mich entschlossen Vegetarier su weiden?" (Did I mention that I've decided to become a vegetarian?).

The book is devided into 38 sections of a page or two, each with its own funny phrases. The book is mostly phrases and sentences, but there are a few funny words highlighted too. There is also a humorous two-page "fractured" history and timeline of beer, which has entries like, "1516--The German Purity Law is written ro protect the quality of beer. Anyone caught drinking a Coors is spanked to death by a 300-pound barmaid." Even the chapter and section titles are humorous, such as "Surviving German Romanticism," and "Grimm Tales of the Black Forest."

If you liked this book I can also recommend "Scheisse!: The Real German You Were Never Taught in School," by Gertrude Besserwisser, which covers all the funniest and most outrageous German curses, epithets, slang, and other phrases of dubious parentage and gentility. For example, I learned that saying "BMW" doesn't just mean the name of a car, it also refers to a woman who is not especially well-endowed, since it's from "Brett mit Warzen," or "a board with warts." But a lot of the book wouldn't be repeatable here, so I'll have to leave it at that and urge you to get the book yourself if you're interested.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Amusing, but nothing more, July 21, 2005

By 

Jeff in Philly "Jeff in Philly" (Philadelphia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wicked German (Wicked Travel Series) (Paperback)

I hate to be a stick-in-the-mud here, but this book is really NOT a "phrase book" and should not be listed in the language reference section. As an American who lived in Germany for three years and suffered the slings and separable-prefix arrows of learning this fascinating, complex language, I appreciate the humor at the heart of this book. But the examples here are really for people who understand that this is just humor at the expense of German and Germans -- someone buying this book thinking that it will allow you to be witty in German should think again -- You'll regret using any of the conversation examples here on a native speaker.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious for the German speaker, educational for others!, February 8, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Wicked German (Wicked Travel Series) (Paperback)

This book is well worth its very small price. The author knows his stuff and provides excellent insight into the German mindset (and some only-slightly-exaggerated German history) while brutally poking fun at it.

I'd heartily recommend this book for any German speaker who has been to Germany for even the briefest of visits. It made me want to go back! Non-German speaking travelers could definitely profit from learning these key phrases.