We got chatting to a guy in a cafe a few years ago and he said he lives in Schwabenland but was originally from Dresden, and moved in 1979. My husband said 'Huh? 10 years before the Wende?' 'Yes', said the man, 'My family escaped from the DDR in a small airplane'.

Deleted repost about the balloon escape cause I realised I'd misremembered the story - I'll post again

Und so kommt die Arbeitspflicht schleichend. Erst für Asylsuchende, dann für unter 25-Jährige – erst nur in Thüringen und als Nächstes wo und für wen?

A radio programme like the Shipping Forecast but it’s called Bin Day and it just reads out every single council in the country’s bin schedule

This is helpful (though I admit I struggle with commas in German anyway). Important info on anglicisms, such as ‘geliked’.

My instinct on this is that Americans don’t understand the relationship between the Brits and the BBC. It’s a bit like having a sibling. You can complain about them, but when some else attacks them, you will defend them to the death.

I‘ve done a couple of intercultural courses* and that’s a book I recommend too. *Next one - Christmas cooking and conversation - is on 13 December if you know anyone who might be interested in:

He was a Roman cavalry trooper! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_...

Just booked our ferry to Hull next year and they announce this! Saying that - if DFDS has similar prices to the Newcastle ferry, we will be sticking with P&O. For August next year, Newcastle was literally twice the price of Hull.

Rabimmel, rabammel, rabum! Say that to any German and they’ll immediately be transported back to their childhood. The woman here is unfamiliar with the story, but isn’t it the Good Samaritan? I’ve always assumed so.

My German husband has spent literally decades trying to work this out. My kids can do it unerringly. Husband mentioned UK friends from Geneva being ‘upper class’ and daughter immediately corrected him. But couldn’t explain why. The book Watching the English is brilliant on this.

Google search results for the masculine form 'texter' and the feminine form 'texterin'. Looks like women have to call themselves a 'Texter' to rank on page one of google.

The supposed leader of the free world just read out “I, and state your name…”. I mean, when are the aliens coming? bsky.app/profile/acyn...

Gary Lineker: "This is the mistake the BBC makes. The BBC tries to appease the people that hate the BBC, rather than worrying about the people that love the BBC."

Yes, let’s add this to the list!

I’m redoing my website and the fecking gendern thing is doing my head in. Germany needs to come up with a plan for this that’s better than sticking a star or a colon in the middle of words. It looks fecking untidy, and makes it more difficult to read.

Hang on. So him saying he’s bet on a fall causes a fall? ‘AI valuation concerns took hold in the US as well after it was revealed the trader who inspired The Big Short has bet $1.1bn (£840m) on a fall in prices for AI-related stocks Nvidia and Palantir.’

Written before the BBC resignations but this by @arusbridger.bsky.social is really worth reading. www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/...

Accountant: To deduct your home office, it must be a separate room with a lockable door. Me: Got it. Accountant: And you use it for ONLY for work? Me: Often, I use it to pick my nose. I’m sure the tax office will understand. Accountant: Don’t say that. It won’t make them like you. #lifeingermany

On Donald Trump's attack on the BBC this PM, Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey: "It’s easy to see why Trump wants to destroy the world’s number one news source. We can’t let him. "The BBC belongs to all of us here in the UK. "The PM [and others] should be united in telling Trump to keep his hands off it."

So everyone is just caving to Trump now? You all just lie down and let him win? BBC, Democrats … who is next? www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...

Live your life in such a way that when you die people don't literally rise from the dead to shit on your grave.

Thread

Today I learned there’s a castle in Scotland called Fatlips Castle. www.fatlipscastle.com

Achtung. Smugness incoming. Made beef olives for dinner tonight and they were amazing.

Zeug*innen gesucht #Kehl #Bodersweier

Hallo, ich suche eine 1-2 Zimmer Wohnung Raum Heidelberg, Eberbach, Mosbach. Bin 59 und Bürgergeldempfängerin. Muss wegen Eigenbedarf des Vermieterd in den nächsten Monaten ausziehen. Gerne DM für Kontakt. Vielen Dank.

Wenn ihr nur ein oder zwei Titel auswählen könntet: welches deutschsprachige Buch der Gegenwart (Sachbuch oder Fiktion) würdet ihr als unbedingt lesenswert empfehlen – und warum?

Who needs professional translators?

Considering getting my husband a rowing machine for Xmas and found this one. Might get it just for the laughs. www.kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/ru...

Oh no no no no no! Meine lieben deutschen Freunde. Bitte sag niemals, dass ihr gerne “Dogging” geht, wenn ihr Gassigehen meint. Ob mit echtem oder imaginärem Hund.

Yesterday, I watched a video of an interview with a NY taxi driver with whom Mamdani went on hunger strike to protest the massive taxi medallion costs. Musk calls him a swindler in this car crash of an interview. (Also wtf is going on with Musk’s face?)

Good literary translation requires understanding (language, culture, genre--on both sides of the translation) and an ability to write well. "AI" can't do that. There are no shortcuts. Treat your work and foreign language readers with the respect they deserve. You won't fool anyone with this.

"Things have gone horribly backwards over the past five or six years." With far right rallies being held across the UK, our latest podcast episode disucusses how racism affects doctors. @kamranabbasi.bsky.social Listen at open.spotify.com/episode/1zS9... Or podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/d...

Can anyone explain why Trump went to the Supreme Court to stop SNAP payments? From a political POV, it seems like an utterly losing battle. It’s got to be massively unpopular, no?

RABIMMEL RABAMMEL RABUMM MADDAFAKKAS!

There’s a real life film set in our Viertel at the moment - at the gorgeous brutalist church. I’ll have a wander past on Monday and see if I can get some pics. Went past today, and the catering truck was blasting Griechischer Wein.

only in the small print of this article do they make clear that the pensioners paying an extra £2,500 of tax would have to have “earnings over £125,140” I know many pensioners are asset rich but how many have income at that level?

Went to the chocoversum in Hamburg yesterday and definitely can recommend a visit!

Tried out CarPlay because our BMW GPS is so incredibly bad, but it doesn’t allow you to zoom in and out on maps using the car twiddly button (technical term). Which makes it a bit of a pain to use. Wish BMW and Apple would work together to improve the UX.

I'm sorry but she made the sculpture 100% better www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The Deutsche Bahn winter rail timetables were released online a few weeks ago for travel starting Dec. 14. This is generally the best time to get one of these "Super Saver" fares, as they apparently only load a limited number of them when the new timetable goes live. Berlin to Amsterdam is 5h 44m.

This might be of interest to a few people The Boring Fund: Small (£200) grants to UK non-profits, charities and voluntary groups who just need a bit of help to pay for boring running costs like web hosting, admin, insurance etc Apply by 30 November www.christinapoultoncreative.co.uk/boring-fund

Beyond the story of what a C this man is (not a word I use often), this story highlights: - the need for local journalism (if you can afford it, subscribe to yr local paper) - the need to get rid of leaseholds.

Dear GOD if you want to save money in the asylum system 1. LET ASYLUM SEEKERS WORK 2. FAST TRACK STATUS FOR EVERYONE FROM CLEARLY UNDAFE COUNTRIES like Sudan, Syria, etc 3. Run an asylum accommodation system that is NOT FOR PROFIT #r4today

There was a surprise guest at our show in Washington, D.C. #CrookedCon2025

Ok, but Tesla is currently at 7.2 million sales in 9 years, sales have slowed down and to make the first step towards his trillion dollar salary he needs to sell 20 million cars. I don’t think any of this is going to happen.

This sort of thing is the proper and correct use of the internet.