this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2023
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Showerthoughts
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Funny, because in German it's exactly that: Tooth doctor (Zahnarzt).
The one that always bothered me is Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Arzt. Why is it Nasen? We only have one. It should either be Hälse-Nasen-Ohren Arzt or Hals-Nase-Ohren-Arzt.
I assume it's for the same reason you say Nasendusche, Nasenrücken or Nasenbluten but Halsschmerzen or Halstuch (though I'm not sure what's the exact grammatical reason). It has nothing to do with the number of noses. I think it would be Augenarzt and not Augearzt even if we had only one eye.
I never thought about that. Now it bothers me too. Thank you.
I'm already trying to contact the Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache. We can get this sorted.
Perfect!
In Dutch it's the same, but we just say "KNO-arts", for "throat, nose and ear".
Tierarzt sounds normal but animal doctor sounds weird
But that's because you learned english and know it's called a vet. Direct word-for-word translations are often supposed to be weird because that's just not how it works.
Yes and y'all also use the French word for "curly" to say hair dresser... So.....