From: unruh@invalid.ca   
      
   On 2012-05-19, Adam  wrote:   
   > Wolfgang Schelongowski wrote:   
   >> Adam  writes:   
   >   
   >> Over here it was like that (abridged):   
   >> 4 years primary school   
   >> 9 years secondary school terminating with Abitur   
   >   
   > Secondary education here isn't divided into vocational and   
   > pre-college programs as rigidly as I understand yours is.   
   >   
   >> We never had Bachelor's/Master's degrees until a few years ago.   
   >> Now universities award both of them. The politicians (some professors   
   >> included) love it, the students hate it, industry and commerce   
   >> whine in pain.   
   >   
   > I'm confused -- were only doctorates awarded before that?  And why   
   > are the "new" degrees hated?   
      
   Diplom (somwhere between Bachelor and masters) Habilitation (greater   
   than PhD)   
      
   >   
   >>>> That's from (transl.) "Dr. Murkes collected Silence".   
   >>>   
   >>> paperback [...] which also includes "Murke's collected silences".   
   >>   
   ...   
   >> The o-Umlaut is pronounced similar to the vowel in girl but it's the   
   >> first name which is difficult. Start with "Hine-rik"   
      
   ACtually different from girl. No real equivlent.   
      
   And the rolled r-- either gutteral or tounge tip.   
      
      
   >   
   > I can pronounce a German "ch" (as in Bach) with no problem, as I was   
   > forced to study Hebrew as a child.   
   >   
   >> It's much easier than the English th.   
   >   
   > Which "th"?  English has a "soft th" ("thick and thin") and a "hard   
   > th" ("this and that").  The stereotypical "German accent" here has   
   > "w" mispronounced as "v" ("Vat vas dat?" for "What was that?").   
   >   
   >>>> "principle of the least action" into German?   
   >>>   
   >> The difficult word is the last one: "Wirkung" which in reverse   
   >> direction becomes "effect" except if you can measure it in   
   >> Joule * seconds.   
   >   
   > That reminds me of the English "less" and "fewer", where "fewer" is   
   > only used for things that can be counted (AFAIK).   
      
   Yes, and less should not be used for those-- it is for continuous   
   quantities (water and time are less, and people and ants are fewer).   
      
   >   
   >> Now translate "Normalteiler" into English. Look it up in   
   >> de.wikipedia.org - you don't have to understand German to find its   
   >> meaning :-&)   
   >   
   > Apparently "normal subgroup" -- the German and English Wikipedia   
   > pages are similar.  Abstract algebra, which I've avoided ever since   
   > a particularly bad Linear Algebra course at the university I mentioned.   
   >   
   >> For further enlightenment, take any English<->$OTHER_LANGUAGE   
   >> dictionary of at least 1500 pages and look up the possible   
   >> translations of know and let.   
   >   
   > Sorry, all I have are cheap paperbacks.  However, my 1500-page   
   > English-language dictionary shows that "let" is actually two   
   > different words with the same spelling and pronunciation.  One is   
   > defined as, among other things, "to free" while the other (archaic)   
   > means "hinder".  It's not the only English word with contradictory   
   > meanings.   
   >   
   >> Now it's even worse due to women's lib and political correctness.   
   >> Generic terms are usually of male gender, so PC-speak appends   
   >> In (sing.) / Innen (pl.). I usually call such GutmenschInnen   
      
   Or plural. In english the use of the plural to designate the   
   indeterminate singular apparently goes back to the at least the 17th   
   century.  (their for his/her for example).   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)