In America people generally learn French or Spanish in high school. If German is ever taken as a language, it isn’t until college. Therefore not many people have a use for a German dictionary. But there are many of these German dictionaries online that can help translate words and phrases from German to English and back.

Let’s take a look first at the more popular type of German dictionary, a translator such as is run by Google or AltaVista. These translators generally accommodate a great number of languages. They can translate from one to the other. They can translate your webpages if necessary. Some people find it extremely useful. Google is generally superior to Babelfish as far as translation.

But the type of German dictionary fewer people know is one that not only translates but does it both ways at once. In other words an English word can be typed in and then both English alternatives and the German translations would appear. It’s fun to put words in this type of dictionary and see what returns.

Typing nothing into this type of German dictionary brings up a number of English phrases. One of these is nothing doing. This is a phrase that means not only no but oh heck no. It’s a very strong way to say no. It could also mean you don’t agree to something. For example: my boss said I should work for free, I said nothing doing. The German phrase for this is nichts zu machen. It can also translate to no chance. It comes from the German word nichts, meaning nothing.

Kleinluftschiff in this German dictionary is blimp.  Zeppelin is another word for the same thing.  Airships of this type often float over football games.  The Hindenburg was a famous airship.  It burned in 1937.  It was completely destroyed in about one minute.  Many people died in the disaster.  One news clip of the disaster is well known.  It included the reporter yelling “oh the humanity!”  This footage can still be found today.  Look it up on YouTube.

The primary reason the Hindenburg caught fire is still debated. It won’t be found in a German dictionary. Some people believe it was sabotage. Some people believe that there was a build up of static on the skin which ignited the hydrogen or the outer skin. Others think lightning struck the airship. The hydrogen in this craft would normally not ignite. But during landing hydrogen would be vented where it mixed with air. That could ignite. The Philadelphia Inquirer carried an article on the 70th anniversary of the accident. The author postulated that perhaps the engine exhaust caused sparks which then ignited. Whatever the cause, it was a terrible disaster.

A German dictionary can lead to a lot of knowledge.

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