Asklemmy @lemmy.ml Diddlydee @feddit.uk 6d ago

What is the longest word in your language, and what does it mean in English?

I love the German word verbesserungsbedürftig, meaning in need of improvement. I'm not German, but thought this was a cracking word.

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Theoretically you can make infinitely long words in German.
- Anglophonenwortkompositafaszinationsbelustigungsbauchschmerzmittelrezeptdruckerhersteller. Manufacturer of printers for prescriptions for painkillers for belly pain caused by amusement at anglophones' fascination with word compounds.
- Yeah, Wikipedia tells me the longest word that was actually in use is Grundstücksverkehrsgenehmigungszuständigkeitsübertragungsverordnung. It was a decree from 2003 until 2007.
  
  Basically:
  
  "Grundstück" is a plot of land.
  
  "Verkehr" is ~~traffic~~ "trade" in this context.
  
  "Genehmigung" is approval.
  
  "Zuständigkeit" is responsibility.
  
  "Übertragung" is transfer.
  
  "Verordnung" is decree.
  
  So, it decreed that the responsibility of approving ~~traffic on~~ trade of private plots of land should be transferred (to a different government body).
  
  While technically correct, the word Verkehr here does not translate to traffic, but rather belongs to the compound Verkehrsgenehmigung which is roughly a trade permit for selling a plot of land or using it as a collateral on a loan.
  
  Damn, seems you're right. For folks reading along: That's not how that word usually works in German, but I guess, it is how it works in German legalese...
  
  German legalese has Verkehr as a reference to in Verkehr bringen which means put something on the market / put something on circulation.
  
  But it's hard to recognize /learn because
  
  Verkehr almost(?) always means traffic outside of legalese and
  
  There are also traffic laws, that also use Verkehr but really mean traffic

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