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Redet man den Weihnachtsmann mit "Du" oder mit "Sie" an?

Hier in den USA gibt es eine Werbung für Rosetta Stone im Fernsehen. Ein deutscher Junge will mit Santa Claus reden und es stellt sich heraus, dass Santa auch Deutsch kann. Der Junge sagt, "Du sprichst auch Deutsch?!". Würde ein Junge nicht "Sie"…
Scott
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What is the current term for people who are ethnic Germans who don't live in Germany?

As someone with an interest in history, I know that there was a time when people of German descent living outside of Germany were called Volksdeutsche but I gather this term is now frowned upon due to its linkage with Nazism. How are such people…
Henry
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What is the origin of the two past tenses in German?

In my German class, we learned that there are two past tenses, which we referred to as the "narrative" and "conversational," the former only being used for writing, and the other used exclusively for verbal communication. I'm sure it's much more…
fpf3
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Was ist der Unterschied zwischen „Dunkelheit“ und „Finsternis“?

Beides bedeutet darkness, aber gibt es einen Unterschied? Ist Finsternis negativer, oder bösartig? Zum Beispiel gibt es diesen Satz in der Unendlichen Geschichte von Michael Ende: […] was ihn umgab, war nicht mehr die frostige Finsternis des…
Andras Nemeth
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geschafft or geschaffen? which one is past participle of schaffen?

Accordding to Langenscheidt, Oxford, Duden the verb has two past participles, but those have not mentioned when we shall use each one! because the meanings are also the same.
Armin
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, etc. Does German always use 2nd Person Singular Imperative verbs for emoticons? If so, why?

In an IM, I just wrote: Ich hab ihr halt eine unverfängliche Frage gestellt. Das ist alles! I sometimes use "schwitz" like this -- in place of its corresponding emoticons: , , ^^; -- to express the idea of "breaking out in a nervous…
Con-gras-tue-les-chiens
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Translation of common Australian saying -- "If you throw enough shit against a wall, some of it has gotta stick."

I am looking for a faithful translation of the (common in Australia) saying: "If you throw enough shit against a wall, some of it has gotta stick." It is in no way offensive, and means that if you try to attack a problem long enough and with enough…
Glen Wheeler
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When to use "spendieren" rather than "spenden"?

Recently I came across the following sentence "Wie viel RAM hast du denn deiner Kiste spendiert?" Roughly I would translate this with "How much RAM did you dedicated to your box?". What itches me more is that I cannot precisely tell the difference…
Takkat
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Verb "geeitet" in an old scientific text

I am looking for the modern version of this verb and its root "geeitet" from a text written in 1863. This came up while searching for an etymology of the name of an acid by a chemist called Adolf von Baeyer. It is thought that he called…
AChem
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How are mathematical expressions of this kind read in German (with fraction and root)?

        My guesses are: ein fünfte Wurzel aus a plus c Quadrat-tel / ein Kubikwurzel aus p-tel eins durch fünfte Wurzel aus a plus c Quadrat / eins durch Kubikwurzel aus p These are just examples, I want to understand how are complicated…
nakajuice
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Why is "das Weib" grammatically neuter?

The word das Weib, meaning woman, is grammatically neuter. While the gender of nouns is generally unpredictable from their meaning, it is unusual that a word with such an explicitly feminine meaning (can't get more feminine in meaning than…
Neugierig
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Füllwort "traun" - Wo kommt das Wort her und was bedeutet es genau?

Ich kenne das Wort traun von früher; jetzt lese ich es in einer Übersetzung des "Timaios" (Plato) auf zeno.org: Timaios: Traun, lieber Sokrates, tun doch das wohl alle, die auch nur ein wenig Überlegung besitzen: (...) Traun von der größten und mit…
Gottfried Helms
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What do you call a "Questions & Answers site" (Q&A) in German?

I am looking for a German term to describe StackExchange - the English term seems to be "Questions & Answers site" (Q&A) which has no equivalent in German (that I'm aware of). The literal translation "Frage-und-Antwort-Webseite" sounds too…
Jakob
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"was ist der Unterschied" vs. "was ist die Differenz"

I noticed "Differenz" is the equivalent of the English word "difference", since I used "Unterschied" till now. Are the two completely interchangeable?
Gigili
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What are the rules behind this translated phrase: "das, was ihr mich habt tun sehen"?

I came across this when reading the German translation of the Book of Mormon: Denn das, was ihr mich habt tun sehen, ja, das sollt ihr tun. The English part reads: For that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do. There are a few things…
Dougvj
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