Reddit reviews The Meaning of Tingo: and Other Extraordinary Words from Around the World
We found 3 Reddit comments about The Meaning of Tingo: and Other Extraordinary Words from Around the World. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
German words are quite literal from what I know, they'll just add words on until they get to the idea haha. Hey you might be interested in getting this book called The meaning of Tingo, it's about word all around the world that have very interesting meanings. Its in English but I'm actually fairly certain there'd be a German translation. I'm also even more certain that you probably wouldn't need it.
Link:
https://www.amazon.com/Meaning-Tingo-Other-Extraordinary-Around/dp/1594200866
I believe it truly does. The Yiddish word has a deeper, richer meaning than any succinct, one word English counterpart. /r/doesnottranslate is a great place to explore many of these instances.
If you (or anyone else who clicks the link) enjoys the content I also recommend [The Meaning of Tingo by Adam Jacot de Boinod) [https://www.amazon.com/Meaning-Tingo-Other-Extraordinary-Around/dp/1594200866].
Can a native German speaker comment on this word?
I'm not a native speaker but do speak a fair bit. I learned German "on the streets" so I've heard a lot of slang but have never heard this word.
Most google and google.de hits are either English pages talking about cool foreign words or a song by Die Ärzte (B-side of a 1999 single). The back cover spells the word the exact same way.
Duden (the OED of the German language) has a stub entry for Backpfeifengesicht. It just says it means "Ohrfeigengesicht" (which has no entry). "Ohrfeige" is a fairly common word meaning "slap to the ears". So "Ohrfeigengesicht" would mean something like "a face that deserves/should get an ear slap". Leo.org has no official entry for Backpfeifengesicht.
"Die Backe" means "cheek". "Backpfeigengesicht" would mean the same as the ear word but for cheek. "Pfeifen", however, means "to whistle/whistling". "A face that deserves a cheek whistling" makes no sense.
My guess is that Die Ärzte made up this word for the song, it got picked up by a book called "The Meaning of Tingo" which gave it legitimacy. It then spread on the net. Is this possible?
Vielen Dank im Voraus.