Not something or someone who is crashing and burning, but a rising star in entertainment or politics. Although English does have an expression, shooting star, for a meteorite that expires during Earth entry, the German term is clearly a pseudo-Anglicism, since it is not intelligible in the German sense to a monolingual English speaker. Curiously, there is an annual award for "der European Shooting Star" (not hyphenated) from an organization with the semi-English name "die European Film Promotion". This prize for up and coming actors and actresses is awarded in Berlin in blithe disregard for the English language. Capitalized, either hyphenated (der Shooting-Star) or merged, and pronounced with the stress on -shoo- rather than on -star-.
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A glossary of some of the most peculiar English-derived words in today's German language, with discussion of the subtle differences that make them dangerous for translators.
Topics
An Anglicism ...
- alters to German orthography (caps, hyphens, inflection)
- is pronounced with German vowels and consonants
- may become narrower or wider in semantic range than the English source ... Read More
A pseudo-Anglicism ...
- comprises English-style syllables
- has a folk etymology claiming an English source
- is unintelligible in meaning to a monolingual English speaker ... Read More
Anglicism Resources
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About the Author
Mare Frisicum is a news correspondent writing in English about events in Germany. He says the German language is like a biotope where he happily spends his days. The Anglicisms are more than just a fascinating word variety growing there. They are also a potentially toxic species: every so often, a false friend or pseudo-Anglicism enters our English writing unawares and makes us look foolish. The original Mare Frisicum, by the way, was that great sheet of water bounded by Hull, Harwich, Harlingen and Husum where words knew no boundaries: the North Sea.
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