this post was submitted on 06 Jan 2025
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[–] hsdkfr734r@feddit.nl 56 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

Uvula? The german says Gaumenzäpfchen. It's a Zäpfchen and it's dangling from the Gaumen. Makes sense, no?

[–] IndiBrony@lemmy.world 23 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Reminds me of the Flammenwerfer!

[–] Spezi@feddit.org 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

It’s literally a 1:1 translation of Flamethrower.

There are much better examples for long German words beeing short in English like

Toy = Spielzeug (Play Stuff)

Mall = Einkaufszentrum (Shopping Centre)

Sale = Schlussverkauf (End sale)

Matchbox = Streichholzschachtel (Swipe wood box)

Lighter = Feuerzeug (Fire Creator)

[–] Vincent@feddit.nl 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I don't think that was intended as an example of a long German word being short in English. Rather, it was an example of the meaning of a word being clear from the word itself.

[–] hsdkfr734r@feddit.nl 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

To me it was both. The descriptive nature of words on the one hand and the word length which often comes with it on the other.

Eichhörnchenschwanz is one more nice example (it also works with dialects: oachkatzlschwoaf - an oak cat's tail) :D

[–] Vincent@feddit.nl 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

🇳🇱 Eekhoorntjesstaart! (And vlammenwerper of course.)

[–] hsdkfr734r@feddit.nl 2 points 1 month ago

Google insists that I must have mistyped eekhoorntjestaart. Who am I to argue? 🤷‍♀️

[–] stroz@infosec.pub 18 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Didn't know I'd be thinking about a "palate suppository" when I woke up today, but here it is.

[–] Successful_Try543@feddit.org 24 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The word Zäpfchen itself is the diminutive of Zapfen, a stud, peg or pin. E.g. the fruits of needle trees are also called Zapfen, Tannen-, Fichten- or Kiefernzapfen. So Gaumenzäpfchen is a small stud dangling down from the palate.

[–] stroz@infosec.pub 12 points 1 month ago

This makes way more sense! (and also makes it obvious I currently do not speak German 😅)

[–] stevedice@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 month ago

So it's a girl house.

[–] papalonian@lemmy.world 32 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] Brahvim@lemmy.kde.social 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] papalonian@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

That was my first guess, but when I sounded out the words as spelled it didn't sound very... tongue-y. Maybe I'm not hearing it right.

Edit: you don't even use your tongue to make the K sound 🤔

[–] TRBoom@lemm.ee 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You do use it. You need to press your tongue to the roof of your mouth to make a k sound.

This happens close to the back of your mouth where the molars are…

[–] papalonian@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

Huh, fair enough.

I still don't associate the tongue with a K sound 😅 a lisp I feel would make more sense

[–] Brahvim@lemmy.kde.social 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

you don't even use your tongue to make the K sound

I almost think I do!
...And the comic is more about the character being lispy.

[–] papalonian@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Someone else pointed out the use of the tongue for the K sound.

I used to have a lisp that I took speech therapy for, it definitely didn't sound like I was putting K in everything, but maybe the artist hears it differently than I do

[–] Senseless@feddit.org 20 points 1 month ago
[–] barkingspiders@infosec.pub 17 points 1 month ago (2 children)

IT SOUNDS LIKE A SEX THING

[–] EtherWhack@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] edgemaster72@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Anything can be a sex thing (once) if you're brave enough

[–] garbagebagel@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago

I was talking to my hairdresser once and accidentally called my tonsils testicles so maybe uvula can be vulva now to make it all even

[–] Mozingo@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I think of this scene from Monster House every single time I hear the word uvula https://youtu.be/oM0SArkFxco

[–] Cenotaph@mander.xyz 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] dragonfucker@lemmy.nz 9 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] FurtiveFugitive@lemm.ee 3 points 1 month ago
[–] wabafee@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Monster house reference I think.

[–] passiveaggressivesonar@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I also am pavlov'd to remember this line every time, great minds think alike. Or the superior German proverb, two fools one thought

[–] SapientSloth@feddit.org 1 points 1 month ago

Great minds think alike is only half the proverb. The other one is: , but fools rarely differ. Somewhat similar to the german one.

[–] letsgo@lemm.ee 4 points 1 month ago

Wasn't Uvula that comms officer on Star Trek?

[–] fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

That's called a "clacker" where I come from.

[Edit] That might be a really local dialect term that nobody else understands.

[–] palordrolap@fedia.io 3 points 1 month ago

It might be a family thing, or even dialectal from where I grew up, but its common name for me is "(the) clack".

Wiktionary suggests that the name "clack" is used for the tongue, but then there's this Black country (UK West Midlands, where I'm not from) dialect page: https://www.sedgleymanor.com/dictionaries/dialect.html that actually lists "clack" as being a name for the uvula, so it might well dialectal word used the north of England and the midlands.

[–] EmoDuck@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 month ago

Delightful and relatable

[–] Hupf@feddit.org 1 points 1 month ago

My name is Uvuvwevwevwe Onyetenyevwe Ugwemuhwem Osas

[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 month ago

Must've been confusing to the Romans