'Denglish' fuels ire in Germany
Source: Agencies |
July 28, 2010, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE word "Ruckizuckifutti" is not only a mouthful - it doesn't evoke a sense of American lifestyle like its English equivalent "fast food", either.
But when the German Language Foundation called on Germans to find an alternative for the English term, "Ruckizuckifutti" was one uniquely German suggestion.
The campaign is one of several by advocacy groups who are intensifying their fight against the massive use of English and "Denglish" - a hybrid of the two languages - in Germany's advertising, television and everyday parlance.
"We don't want to be language purists, but we want people to be aware of how they speak and that certain linguistic imports just don't fit into German," said Cornelius Sommer, a former German ambassador and one of the leaders of the campaign.
Another advocacy group, the German Language Club, has called on telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom to stop using terms like "Blackberry Webmail" and criticized national rail operator Deutsche Bahn for similar misnomers.
However, they face an uphill battle in Germany, where English is widely spoken and English expressions and Anglicisms are common.
But when the German Language Foundation called on Germans to find an alternative for the English term, "Ruckizuckifutti" was one uniquely German suggestion.
The campaign is one of several by advocacy groups who are intensifying their fight against the massive use of English and "Denglish" - a hybrid of the two languages - in Germany's advertising, television and everyday parlance.
"We don't want to be language purists, but we want people to be aware of how they speak and that certain linguistic imports just don't fit into German," said Cornelius Sommer, a former German ambassador and one of the leaders of the campaign.
Another advocacy group, the German Language Club, has called on telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom to stop using terms like "Blackberry Webmail" and criticized national rail operator Deutsche Bahn for similar misnomers.
However, they face an uphill battle in Germany, where English is widely spoken and English expressions and Anglicisms are common.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
