AUGH! From German to English
AUGH! It’s not just a cry of distress, it’s an anglicization. Why do we see lots of names ending in -augh? Baugh, Grumbaugh, Brumbaugh?
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Stefan Israel
- Oct 7, 2019
- 2 min
German in English I
Gesundheit! Bless you? In the American melting pot, you hear bits of the various ingredients still in the mix. Here are a few examples of Ge
211 views
Pamela Israel
- May 22, 2019
- 3 min
Old German Writing Tips
Here are a couple tricks to help decipher old German handwriting, Kurrent or Suetterlin, especially important with old family letters.
1,785 views
Stefan Israel
- May 8, 2019
- 3 min
H- huh? Making Sense of German
German and English both mostly use h the same, as that puff of air at the start of a word:
hello/hallo, here/hier, horn
But what’s that h do
532 views
Stefan Israel
- Jan 31, 2019
- 3 min
Ack! Pronouncing German ei vs. ie
English can be all over the map in how you’re supposed to pronounce any given set of letters: you polish the Polish silverware, you wait for
776 views
Pamela Israel
- Oct 23, 2018
- 2 min
German in the Cemetery
Some old cemeteries have gravestones written in German. Here are some tips to help translate some key words.
4,229 views
Stefan Israel
- Sep 21, 2018
- 4 min
Clues Hidden in "von" and "van"?
People's surnames often provide clues into their way back family history. Learn what Von and Van mean for the Dutch and Germans.
18,555 views
Stefan Israel
- Mar 31, 2018
- 2 min
Frohen Geburtstag, Bach! Happy birthday, Bach!
It’s the old master’s birthday, and we’ll take that as a happy excuse to talk about names like Bach.
105 views
Stefan Israel
- Mar 14, 2018
- 4 min
the FEMININE of FAMILY NAMES
The history behind some of those last names - many had a feminine meaning. In some languages, the end of names still changes!
1,550 views
Stefan Israel
- Jan 18, 2018
- 2 min
What’s with the -ch- in German?
German has two variants for ch, depending on whether the surrounding letters are ‘bright’ or ‘dark’. If you say “ee, ey” versus “o, oo, a
602 views
Pamela Israel
- Dec 16, 2017
- 1 min
O Tannenbaum (O Christmas Tree) & More!
Houses are adorned with festive lights, decorations and trees. We've some German translations to get you even more in the holiday spirit
92 views
Stefan Israel
- Dec 5, 2017
- 2 min
St. Nicholas - Bringer of Gifts
Martin Luther, who grew up with the tradition of gifts on Nikolaustag, shifted gift-giving to Christmas, since saints were no longer a focus
345 views
Stefan Israel
- Nov 15, 2017
- 2 min
The Curious History of the German 'Doubled S' - ß
Ä, Ö and Ü are simple variations of familiar letters, but the fourth letter that German has that we don’t is the real kicker: ß Eszett
5,060 views
Pamela Israel
- Oct 31, 2017
- 1 min
Black Cat (schwarze Katze) Boo!
German words inspired by US Halloween
166 views
Stefan Israel
- Oct 2, 2017
- 2 min
Are those even the same letters in old German?
Old German letters are tough to read but they are mostly the same alphabet we use - just with a few variations.
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