Not quite sure why this is what's at the top of my head at the moment, but here are two linguistic notes related to partying and drinking...
1. If you went to college in the US anytime recently, you're probably familiar with the saying, "Beer before liquor, never been sicker; liquor before beer, you're in the clear." (At least, that's the version I learned.) In other words, it's a little rhyming trick to help overzealous (college freshman?) drinkers remember that drinking first beer and then hard alcohol is - supposedly - a bad idea.
In Germany, the equivalent saying is, "Bier auf Wein, das lass sein; Wein auf Bier, das rat ich dir." - "Beer after wine, leave it be; wine after beer, that's a good idea." (Very roughly translated.) In other words, Germans couldn't care less how you mix your softer and harder alcohols, but they're definitely concerned about the order of your beer and wine. Which makes some sense, since Germany has a strong beer culture (obviously) but also a pretty firm affinity to wine. What they do now that cocktails have entered the cultural mix, I'm not sure...
2. The German word "Party" is not, as you might be forgiven for expecting, a direct translation of the English word "party." A German child doesn't have a birthday "Party" - the festive event is referred to as a "Kindergeburtstag" ("child's birthday") and it's understood that you mean the celebration itself, not just the fact that a child has a birthday on that day.
Similarly, older adults who celebrate their birthdays by inviting friends over for coffee and cake, or an evening of food and wine, are not holding a "Party," but perhaps a "Feier" (another word for party, which seems to be more all-encompassing). "Party" in German is reserved for, you know, a party - drinking, dancing, loud music, lots of people.
Anything else is not actually a party, and you're going to get weird looks if you ask an eight-year-old (or an eighty-year-old) whether they're having a party this year.
When I was in Sweden there was a very clear distinction (at least for younger kids) between "kalas" and "party". "Kalas" was a little kids' party, and I remember my host sister looking very witheringly at my host mom and telling her she was going to have a "kalas" this year, she was going to have a "party". I think it just implied more grown-up activities then, say, musical chairs.
ReplyDeleteYes, sounds like it's a similar concept - that there are different types of "party" (obviously) and while English uses one word as a blanket term, other languages are more particular.
ReplyDeleteI love that stuff... like how German uses the English word "happy" (pronounced "heppy") but of course it doesn't quite mean "happy" - it's apparently more like "content."
Actually, I could go on and on and on about English words used in German to mean something they do NOT mean in English! But that's a whole nother post...