American reacts Top German Memes This Week [#85]

Thank you for watching me, a humble American, react to GERMAN MEMES!!!!

Thanks for subscribing for more German reactions every weekday!

Join as a member to get the ridiculous emojis and badge!

Got a video request? You can fill out this form!

Got a fun local news story? Submit it here!

Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS

[ren_dhark]

In german we have a formal and an informal way to address "you". Addressing you with "Du" or with your first name is the informal way we call "duzen". The Formal way is "siezen", when you address a person as "Sie" or by his last name to show respect to Elders or people you are not on a personal level with. So it's a good manner to address someone as Sie until the person offers you to be addressed by Du.

[aoeuable]

That's Schaschlik on the grill right there. The word comes from eastern/southeastern Europe and is used for pretty much any small spit, generally marinated, not rarely with some veggie in between, like some onion, tomato, etc.

[Finsternis..]

You would think that with the amount of time he spend on Germany and cultural nuances he would have gotten the Du/Sie thing by now.

[Ossey]

The "Wurgs" from the Club Mate meme doesnt mean Wurst/Sausage, this is meant to be the sound you make when you almost have to throw up... comes from the word "würgen" (=to gag)

Also: The 38th Chaos Communication Congress (38C3) takes place in Hamburg, 27.-30.12.2024, and is the 2024 edition of the annual four-day conference on technology, society and utopia organised by the Chaos Computer Club (CCC) and volunteers.

[pahhw]

a german comedian once said: switzerland is expensive, a beer coast 18 franks, a schnitzel 40 franks and even 5 franks coast 8 franks

[MichaEl-rhkv]

10:00 those skewers are called Schaschlik (Shashlik) in German. The word originated from the tatar language spoken in Crimea until WW II (after WW II the Stalin regime deported most Crimean Tatars to Sibiria).
10:55 Club Mate is a caffeinated carbonated mate-extract beverage, which is very popular with tech start-ups and hacker communities as a stimulant. The mate flavor needs getting used to, especially in the carbonated form.

[Luwis]

11:18 That means they are your friends otherwise they wouldnt greet you and this shows your mom with what people you are friends with

[norbertwrzesinski]

Hey Ryan,

In Old English, the formal version of “you” was “you, ” while the informal one was “thou.” It originated in Old English and was commonly used until the 17th century, when it began to be phased out in most dialects. Today, the formal “you” in English has turned into the informal version. In German, however, this distinction still exists:

• „Sie“ = “you” (formal, similar to how “you” was used in Old English)

• „du“ = “thou” (informal, as in Old English)

Here’s an example in Old and Modern English:

• Old English (informal): “Canst thou help me with this?”

• Modern English (formal in Old English but informal today): “Could you help me with this?”

The same sentence in German:

• German (informal): „Kannst du mir dabei helfen?“

• German (formal): „Können Sie mir dabei helfen?“

AND REMEMBER:

• „du“ = „duzen“ (to address someone informally)

• „Sie“ = „siezen“ (to address someone formally)

Calling my German English teacher “you” was always a weird experience for me. I tried to avoid it by saying “Ms. [her last name]” instead.

[Emptiness_Machine_]

2:00 fun fact about riding a bicycle in germany:

You are still participating in traffic, so rules still apply and you can't cycle drunk.
If you get caught cycling drunk, they can withdraw your licence (for driving a car)

So basically cycling drunk will be punished by you being forced to ride the bicycle and not being allowed to drive a car (til you get the license back obviously)


4:00 those are pedalos. They are fun, but also can't go around corners and they always... Well they are made of wood and always feel like they'd need some lubrication but that's not an option. Also, unlike a bicycle, these become harder to hold balance the faster you go so basically you pedal until sth jams inside or you go to fast to then fall off.
We also had the scooter boards in elementary school, fun to use too


About the last meme, there are multiple variations of past tense in germany, swiss german just doesn't officially have one of them but kinda makes their own thing. However, people don't usually talk like a text book and the languages, both being German, obviously influence each other.

[SlentStrm]

10:40 The drink is Club Mate, stereotypically a "Hacker Drink" frequently enjoyed by IT Nerds. "Common folk" stereotypically don't like the taste and cannot understand why anyone would drink it.
C3 is the biggest IT Security convention (at least German speaking) held between Christmas and new years, 38 simply signifies it's the 38th iteration of the convention.
The joke is that first sip tastes horrible, the 2nd is meh until eventually you don't dislike it and suddenly you want to be part of the convention or at least feel the need to watch the YouTube videos of the convention.

[helloweener]

Mönch from Lützerat is the Mud Wizzard who pushed the policeman into the mud.
He is at court now.
"Loic S., 29, a French citizen from near Nancy, is on trial at Erkelenz District Court for resisting law enforcement officers on 14 January 2023 at the large rescue demonstration for the lignite village of Lützerath. Disguised as a Franciscan monk, he had been there and had allegedly pushed police officers into the mud. The humorous videos were clicked millions of times worldwide"

[philippgro]

0:17 In Switzerland, penalties are a percentage of income. In Germany these are fixed values, which only hurts the lower class

[Hey.Joe.]

Hi Ryan, it's not the first time like at 8:37 where you are wondering about the shape of the 1.5 Litre big size bottle (0.39626US gal lqd)
This design wants to make sure, that even people with small hands can hold those big wide bottles and also to prevent slipping easily through your wet hands or whatever.

[CathrineMacNiel]

1:51 the speeder should have considered that, huh? DON'T SPEED!

10:50 Club-Mate also known as the Hacker Soda. Wurgs doesn't mean Wurst/Sausage but puke. And the 38C3 is the 38th Congress by the Chaos Computer Club, a white hat hacker organisation.

[ChristianKolbow]

2:00 That doesn't matter in Germany. Even if you are a truck driver, you must give up your driver's license.

[janekmundt]

1:10 1 Franc is actually worth more then a euro or dollar. So the fine is around 200 k $. Its because the fines in Switzerland are proportional to income, but not in Germany

[Blockschrott]

1:40 Wait I can drive 60 Miles per Hour in an American city without having to fear loosing my license?

[MissSimsalot]

7:20 in german there is the formal you "Sie" and informal you "du" both can be used as a verb "duzen" = saying informal you to someone, "siezen" = saying formal you to someone. So the meme is about that. The police will have no problem using the informal you to you, but if you dare to use the informal you to a cop, you are in big trouble.

[CommiePlasma]

Kaufland is a major german supermarket. Kaufen means to buy and Land means country or state or stuff like that

[_qlone]

5:50 Add a second separator, look the other person in the eye and say "I don't trust you."