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-   -   Germany - What Things Do You Like? (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/germany-what-things-do-you-like-824035/)

Echnaton Feb 4th, 2010 10:32 AM

>>>how is my German here:

"Prost" ?<<<

Perfect would be "prosit" - and that is basically Latin.

Palenque Feb 4th, 2010 10:45 AM

Oops-in French it's Prost!

logos999 Feb 4th, 2010 10:46 AM

Just be resonable and don't start drinking that early in the day. Right!?

Echnaton Feb 4th, 2010 10:49 AM

In French it is santé.

Prost is colloquial German, spoken by people who have consumed so much that they do not master prosit. Real German would be "Zum Wohl!".

Palenque Feb 4th, 2010 11:00 AM

Prost is indeed widely used in France as is sante (to your health i think)

here's one Logos might understand

Auf Vedersein!

hsv Feb 4th, 2010 11:58 AM

"Prost is colloquial German, spoken by people who have consumed so much that they do not master prosit. Real German would be "Zum Wohl!"."

That is some poncey claptrap indeed!

And Palenque: It's "Auf Wiedersehn", but luckily there is a perfectly acceptable shorter term: "Tschues" (derived from Northern Germany and a malapropism of the French "Adieu"). It's used by most everyone these days, unless one is in Bavaria, where it's "servus".
People who say "Zum Wohl" are likely to frown on it, though.

Pvoyageuse Feb 4th, 2010 12:32 PM

"Prost is indeed widely used in France as is sante"

Maybe in Eastern France but surely not in the South.

logos999 Feb 4th, 2010 12:55 PM

Just use "Prostata" instead, the guys will love it, the girls not so much, but they won't go drinking with the guys anyway :D

Hans Feb 5th, 2010 05:08 AM

Palenque, stay with Prost :-)

Palenque Feb 5th, 2010 07:30 AM

Prost!

There is no beer in Heaven
and that's why we are all here...

hhildebrandt Feb 7th, 2010 10:13 AM

feel some kind of sad, that no one mentioned book shops.

smetz Feb 7th, 2010 06:47 PM

I agree the friendliness of Germans is one thing that sticks in my mind about my trips to Germany.

Another was mentioned early on by EmilyC - I really enjoy taking a long walk or hike, with the proverbial pot of gold - a beer garden - at the end.

Other things that are great treats to me include steckl fische, bratwurst on a delicious roll, wine stands, & zwiebelkuchen.

smetz Feb 7th, 2010 06:49 PM

Federwasser is not so bad, either.

klondike Feb 8th, 2010 06:50 AM

I, too, believe "Prost" to be more an Alsace-Lorraine regional French usage tha true French. I lived in Brittany for three years and visited friends in the Parisian and Bordeaux areas as well and never heard Prost at any of our many toasts.

À votre santé, å la tienne, and chin-chin....In France, yes.

Here in Germany I have met many well-educatd, middle-class people who have instructed us to use "Prost" and, no, they weren't bombed out of their minds. I also haven't heard "Zum Wohl" used by anyone. Perhaps it is now passé or what the French would call being "précieuse"?

I've also decided the Germans are like husbands...the same thing that you love about them can absolutely drive you mad!

kfusto Feb 8th, 2010 07:45 AM

High on my list:

Outdoor markets
Excellent public transport
Clean bathrooms
Excellent trains and train stations - when compared to many other European countries
Boat rides
Reasonable cost to visit
Featherbeds!
Ease of getting around
Helpful and cordial residents
Fresh and wonderful foods
Great breads - no spongy nasty bread in bags

wanderfrau Feb 8th, 2010 09:30 AM

"Zum Wohl" is used on the German Wine Road and in the Pfalz region. It's even written on the boxes the wine bottles are packed in.

logos999 Feb 8th, 2010 11:07 AM

It's not a regional thing it's a social class thing. ;-)

annhig Feb 8th, 2010 02:13 PM

and...logos?

upper, middle, lower? you can't leave it like this!

we HAVE to know.

logos999 Feb 8th, 2010 03:10 PM

Well, the simpletons were always drinking beer while the better off citizens and nobility were having wine. Over the centuries, student fraternities developed well organized beer binge drinking contests and rules. To show their presumed "class", they were using "sophisticted" latin words. Ordinary folks (drinkers) just started using this word too.

Zum Wohl(e) is used when drinking wine, some simpletons would say Prost here as well. But of course "zum Wohle" doesn't fit when you drink Liebfraumilch, so you better don't drink that at all.

annhig Feb 9th, 2010 09:42 AM

thanks logos.

the reason I asked is that my pen-friend's family, who are from the Pfalz and come from a wine-growing family, [NOT Liebfruamilch, of course] always say "zum Wohl".

they say a lot of other things too but as they speak Pfaelzisch, I can't always understand them.


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