• Mr Fish@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Krankenwagen = sick car = ambulance

    Krankenhaus = sick house = hospital

    German (as well as most of the germanic family) does word construction really well.

      • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip
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        16 hours ago

        Interesting what languages go with, as Japanese keeps the save part but drops the protect in favor of hurry/emergency, so it’s the “hurry up and save you car” 救急車

        Even ambulance itself comes from the French phrase walking hospital, and then the hospital part got dropped. We still retain the word ambulant to mean moving in English

    • 0ops@piefed.zip
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      1 day ago

      Help I’m kranken, someone call a krankenwagon to take me to the krankenhaus before I krank again

      • Deestan@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Entschuldigung, but the Krankenwagen is krank and must be taken to the Wagenkrankenhaus in the Krankerwagenkrankenwagen.

        We will send the Krankenpfleger Klaus and his Krankenschwester Klara to pick you up in a Rollstuhl.

    • uniquethrowagay@feddit.org
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      1 day ago

      The “en” part puts “krank” in genitive though, so “car of the sick” or “sick’s car” would be a more accurate translation. The car is not sick after all.

      • Björn@swg-empire.de
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        1 day ago

        Germany has Hospital as well. But it sounds archaic.

        If I recall correctly hospitals were just the only “hotels” sick people could afford. So that’s where nuns would go to care for them. So more sick people would come because they would get good care there. Until they made the hospitals the official house where they care for sick people.

      • Hofmaimaier@feddit.orgOP
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        1 day ago

        Kranke Bewegung, but we don’t say it in that context, not even for Parkinson patients who literally got sick moves.