Germans probably only got major exposure to the bom chicka wah wah phrase during an intensive TV advertising multinational campaign for Axe hygiene products in 2007 that showed teachers and shop assistants going into instant sexual arousal after smelling the scent. The phrase is explained at the Urban Dictionary as a spoken representation of an electric-guitar riff from 1970s porn movies that gained wider currency through an episode of the US TV series Friends. It essentially means, "We are making a transition from social distance to sex." Its reprehensible use in the TV ads did not seem to excite any particular criticism in Germany, partly because it was not completely understood in German-speaking lands. I have not seen bom chicka wah wah in print in German, but I would suppose it would need a certain amount of respelling to fit German orphographic conventions: perhaps bum tschika ouau ouau. Representing wow or wah with the German alphabet is difficult.
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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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