fix

A sometimes baffling adjective that shows up in a variety of uniquely German meanings: whether it comes from French or from English is not entirely clear. It's definitely a false friend, as it is not an adjective or adverb in English.
The prime English meaning today of the verb to fix would be to repair, whereas most people would regard the sense of attach (similar to fixieren) as a secondary meaning requiring a preposition (fix something to or on, or affix it). English fix also has a common meaning of obtaining obedience by intimidating or bribing a person.
In German, a prime meaning of fix is quick: the most obvious use is in a brand of teabag, Fix-Tee, where the sense is that the tea-making is instant, and a person who is fix is a quick learner. Fix is also familiar from the expression fix und fertig (sometimes jokingly fix und foxi from the (cartoon) characters of that name), which means tuckered out or exhausted. How this entered German is unclear, since meanings allied to the French word fixe are usually spelled with an -e-: Jour fixe, fixe Idee and so on. Fix certainly sounds like pidgin English, as used by tourists or soldiers in communicating with the populace, which might explain its bizarre transformation in meaning. Fix is pronounced with a German -i-, not an English -i-, and is inflected as other adjectives. ... Read More

Display, das

This Anglicism is a useful shibboleth, since das Display has its stress very firmly on the first syllable, -dis-, and a subtly different -i- vowel. Kids find this amusing and will sometimes pronounce it English style, with the stress on -play- in order to sound deliberately stupid. English speakers should therefore avoid saying das Display: try die Anzeige instead, when speaking of a video display. The other German meaning is a specialized one: an arrangement of goods in a shop, or a stand, usually of cardboard, designed as an eye-catcher for shoppers. The wider meanings of English display, including showing off your finery or prowess, are unknown in Gemran. Das Display is capitalized, given neuter gender and inflected with -s- in the genitive. ... Read More