Thursday, January 15, 2015

German 4 Dummies: Stilles Örtchen

It can happen to any tourist or Ausländer (a foreigner, or, in some parts of Germany, colloquial for anybody from a different village or town).

Imagine you are traveling the backroads of Germany. That is a great idea because there is so much to see, and it will be an even better idea once the country wide freeway toll is implemented.

You roll through hills and valleys, you stop at a guest house called Schwarzer Adler for some German sustenance, in short, you are having a great time.

Just as you leave a particularly quaint little town, you decide to show off your recently acquired German and go: was für ein schönes stilles Örtchen.

Upon which the driver bursts out laughing, banging on the steering wheel with both hands for added effect and thus creating a real driving hazard because both hands are off the wheel as a hairpin curve approaches.

We owe you an explanation. Still: quiet, calm. Örtchen: diminuitive of Ort (place, location). The potential problem with the term stilles Örtchen is that it is a common euphemism for the bathroom.
Presumably, using still was meant to reflect both the quiet and the sometimes meditative quality of said location.

It is only the adjective still that has unintended comic results, any other adjective works without this ambiguity. Schönes Örtchen (pretty, beautiful), romantisches Örtchen (romantic), and whatever else you can find the the dictionary to describe the pretty scenery, will not endanger your life when uttered in a moving vehicle somewhere in rural Germany.



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