this post was submitted on 10 Nov 2023
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. A showerthought should offer a unique perspective on an ordinary part of life.

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A solid 30% of posts in my feed are German memes. I don't understand the language, but I love the memes that I can't read.

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[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

How do I get these German memes?

[–] lichtmetzger@feddit.de 21 points 1 year ago (3 children)
[–] Selmafudd@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And now I finally know what ich iel means, thank you

[–] flei@feddit.de 10 points 1 year ago

Ich im echten Leben

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 4 points 1 year ago

Perfect! Thanks 😄

[–] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Is that what it means? I love trying to decipher those memes

[–] Killing_Spark@feddit.de 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Ich = me
iel = im echten Leben = in real life

[–] greywolf0x1@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Killing_Spark@feddit.de 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

"im" is often used as an abbreviation of "in dem" which is the direct translation of "in the/this" but it is also used as an abbreviation of "in einem" which directly translates to "in a" and somtimes "im" is just translated as "in"

Let's take "Der Saft ist im Glas" as an example.

If you are trying to say that it is in a specific glass that you could point to, you would use "in dem". If you are just talking about the general method of storing juice you would either use "im" or to be more precise "in einem". Using "in einem" tells you that it is in a glass but the actual glass isn't really specified or relevant right now.

"Der Saft ist in einem Glas" is basically the same as "Der Saft ist im Glas". But it is very different from "Der Saft ist in dem Glas" which is also basically the same as "Der Saft ist im Glas".

To translate these:

"Der Saft ist in einem Glas" => "The juice is in a glass"
"Der Saft ist in dem Glas" => "The juice is in the/this glass"
"Der Saft ist im Glas" => "The juice is in the/this glass" or "The juice is in a glass"

As a bonus:

"Das passiert im echten Leben" => "That's happening in real life"

Always fun to think about the weirdness of my mother tongue :)

Edit: These abbreviations are mostly used when the context already makes it clear which it is going to mean. Otherwise they are just confusing.

[–] zepheriths@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Hmm not on my instance. I'll have to join lemmy.world to get the sweet memes apparently.

[–] Killing_Spark@feddit.de 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Nah just subscribe to ich_iel on feddit.de (how do you link communities here?

!ich_iel@feddit.de

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Yeah thanks, after posting that I noticed someone else had linked the community.

BTW you link communities starting with a ! then starting to write the name, and lemmy should start autocompleting. It ends up like this: !ich_iel@feddit.de

[–] Killing_Spark@feddit.de 3 points 1 year ago

BTW you link communities starting with a ! then starting to write the name

thanks!