Friday Evenings in Germany

May 19, 2024May 19, 2024 Linguist Gone Foreign1 Comment

Germany has a Pfandflaschensystem or bottle deposit system: every time you buy a drink in a store or kiosk, you pay a deposit ranging from 8 to 25 cents per beverage, and then return the empty bottles to reclaim your cash.

Since most people don’t visit the grocery store every day, these Pfandflaschen or returnables tend to pile up around kitchens and balconies until it’s time to feed them to the hungry bottle return machine, which in turn will spit a slip to knock a few euros off your next purchase.

It’s a win-win for everyone. Not only does this system keep the streets clean, but it promotes recycling glass and plastic. Does the country where you live have a bottle deposit system? Let me know in the comments!

Illustration with two panels. The top panel with the caption "The usual Friday evening" shows Linguist reading a book on a couch in a cozy room. The bottom panel with the caption "Friday evenings in Germany" depicts Linguist on the street dragging bags with returnable bottles. The watermark reads Linguist Gone Foreign.

ßilly ßadass

April 21, 2024April 19, 2024 Linguist Gone ForeignLeave a comment

Things that happen when non-German speakers use German graphemes.

Hand-drawn comic strip in a playful and colorful style. The first panel shows a video game on a laptop screen. A knight character stands next to a text box with the caption "Enter character name:" and a cursor flashing in the input field. The second panel displays a person with spiky hair, wearing a cap and holding a game controller with both hands. He's grinning mischievously and saying "...ßilly ßadass!", implying that he has chosen that name for his video game character. The final panel shows two young adults playing a computer game. One of them says, "Take that, Ssilly Ssadass!" as he presses buttons on the game controller. The other character is crying with laughter. The watermark reads "Linguist Gone Foreign ©".

Disclaimer: I saw this joke in text form on the internet and decided to cartoonize it. If you have language puns and ideas worth doodling, get in touch!

Schwyzdüütsch a.k.a. Swiss German

March 31, 2024March 30, 2024 Linguist Gone ForeignLeave a comment

If you are into languages, you are probably familiar with those conversations with your multilingual friends: you take arbitrary elements from the languages you both speak, and randomly squeeze them together into sentences. That is any regular Monday for the Swiss. Schwyzdüütsch, a.k.a. Swiss German is a colorful amalgamation of German, French and Italian.

Illustration with the caption "Schwyzdüütsch a.k.a. Swiss German". There are three panels, each with the same three characters. In the first panel, a French person says "Merci beaucoup!". In the second panel, a German person says "Danke vielmals!". In the third panel, the Swiss person says "Merci vilmal!". Watermark: Linguist Gone Foreign

Collective Nouns

February 11, 2024February 10, 2024 Linguist Gone Foreign2 Comments

Today in Linguist Gone Foreign: collective nouns in the English language.

Illustration with the caption "Collective Nouns" divided in four panels. The first panel shows a group of sailors with the caption "A group of sailors is called a crew". The second panel shows musicians and the caption "A group of musicians is called a band". The third panel depicts a group of thieves as "a gang", and the fourth panel depicts Nazis as "a pile of excrement". The watermark of the author "Linguist Gone Foreign" is at the bottom right.

Friendshifts

December 10, 2023 Linguist Gone Foreign6 Comments

Oh, the magical journey of friendship! Once a bustling metropolis of social events, now a cozy village of serene activity. As the calendar pages flip, so does the size of your social circle, shrinking faster than your tolerance for crowded places and deafening small talk.

This illustration, titled “My friends” depicts three stages of friendship over time. The first row, "in my teens," shows a group of five cheerful characters and colorful clothing with the protagonist in the middle. The second row, "in my twenties," presents the protagonist with two other characters. They all have a more serious and monochrome appearance. The third row, "in my thirties," features the protagonist surrounded by an array of potted plants, suggesting a shift in companionship. The artwork is signed "Linguist Gone Foreign©" indicating it is from a creator with this pseudonym.