In America people generally learn French or Spanish in high school. If German is ever taken as a language, it isn’t until college. As a result many people have never seen a German dictionary. But there are many of these online that can help translate words and phrases from German to English and back.

German Dictionary

Let’s take a look first at the more popular type of German dictionary, a translator such as is run by Google or AltaVista. These translators generally accommodate a great number of languages. They can translate from one to the other. You can use them to translates websites. It’s fun to use. Google seems to be the better one.

But the type of German dictionary fewer people know is one that not only translates but does it both ways at once. If you enter a German word it returns other similar German words as well as the English translations. Using it can be interesting.

Nothing, for example, returns some interesting results. One English phrase is nothing doing. People say this in many situations. People say this when they really mean no. It could also mean you don’t agree to something. For instance the salesman wanted to pour dirt on my rug, I kicked him out saying nothing doing. The Germans say nichts zu machen. It’s literally no chance. The Germans say nichts for nothing.

Type blimp into this German dictionary for it to return kleinluftschiff. It can also be a zeppelin. People are familiar with one of these – the Fuji Film blimp. One of the most famous airships was the Hindenburg. In 1937 the Hindenburg caught fire. It was gone in just over a minute. Many people died in the disaster. Many people are familiar with its spectacular newsreel coverage of it. The commentator was caught up in the horror of the situation YouTube has it archived.

The primary reason the Hindenburg caught fire is still debated. No German dictionary lists the reason. It may have been sabotage. One theory is that static electricity built up on the skin, igniting the tanks. Others think lightning struck the airship. The hydrogen in this craft would normally not ignite. But during landing hydrogen would be vented where it mixed with air. That could ignite. On the 70th anniversary an article proposed a theory. The author postulated that perhaps the engine exhaust caused sparks which then ignited. No matter the cause, the effect was devestating.

German Dictionary

The German dictionary can be very interesting.

1. German English Dictionary There are many words to find in a German English...
2. Spanish Dictionary Most people who took Spanish in HS or College are...
3. Greek Dictionary Greek can live for everyone who has a Greek dictionary....
4. Spanish English Dictionary The Spanish English dictionary has been around for years, used...
5. English Gaelic Dictionary There are many dictionaries on the Internet. There are many...