Compound nouns auf Deutsch

Since February of this year, I have been helping a teen, who has no German language classes at her high school, learn German. We're using an old, but-not-too-dated-textbook once used by a local university's German Dept., grammar books from my collection of German-language fare and a book her parents purchased from the 'Dummies for...' series of skills learning. She has recently completed an exercise in the Dummies for German text regarding compound nouns, how to build them and how to determine their gender. Compared to English, German has a plethora of compound nouns, known in German as: Kompositnomen or Komposita. 

Not only are compound nouns in German rather illustrative of the thing that they are describing, they are often also both very literal and rather funny. 

Let me share with you some examples: 

Komposita                English        literal translation

das Stinktier                skunk                stink animal

das Stachelschwein     porcupine            spike pig

der Strohkopf              dummy                straw head

der Handschuh            glove                   hand shoe

die Nachtschnecke      slug                    naked snail

die Glühbirne               light-bulb            glow pear

Good news!

I had a gander at the news recently and it was, indeed, a pleasure for once in a long while. 

Here are some of the good bits: Andrew, brother of Charles, is to be stripped of his royal titles. HAHAHA. He and his ex-wife, Fergie, if I've understood correctly, must also vacate their manse of many years for digs slightly less dignified. Again I say: HAHAHA. The Democratic response to drumpf's shameless attempt at a power grab (gerrymandering in conservatively-run states to help keep his fat-ass in power) has led to PROP 50 passing. Essentially, we've agreed to a five-year gerrymandering situation here in California to block redistricting attempts by Republicans. Zohran Mamdani, a young New Yorker with South Asian roots, has won the NYC mayoral race. Dick Cheney, the so-called 'shadow president' and the architect of the 'war on terror', who was George W. Bush's VP, has finally died. 

I will leave you with two snaps from Halloween/Trick or Treat events here in town--

Nightmare Before Christmas at the Ferry Building

Apollo, he came dressed as a rainbow, although you can't tell!

                                    Lake St., San Francisco

Federal agents in SF

Government goons were meant to visit the streets of the San Francisco Bay Area this week, but it turns out they'll not be called in to harass us after all. The man in the White House, who would seek to turn our armed forces against us (well seemingly, mostly in liberal-leaning cities) has changed his feeble mind. Did Salesforce billionaire Benioff change the Donald's opinion on the matter? You know, the guy who first said he'd welcome ICE in SF during his annual Dreamforce marketing event due to SF being a crime-ridden, hell-hole, I guess, walked that shit back once he realized that people vocally called him out for being a dick? Benioff, along with Zuck, is too busy buying up huge swaths of Hawaii to really care what goes on in the SF Bay Area, I should think. Anyway, I don't know what changed drumpf's mind, but it could have been our millionaire mayor who changed it or billionaire Benioff. Goodness knows it wouldn't be us plebs who could hold any sway over a person like that. 

In anticipation of ICE being deployed on our streets, I noticed that many of the Latinos whom I know who work in the Ferry Building did not show up for their shifts. In their stead were white workers I had never seen before. There was also an anti-ICE protest march scheduled yesterday at the Ferry Building to begin late afternoon. I joined the protesters after work. The march through downtown SF was passionate yet peaceful. At various points along the way, one could hear folk chanting, playing instruments, singing or just simply walking in silence. It feel good to be out in streets with those who also feel that what is happening across the country is both absurd and deeply fascistic. 

Connections

I had an interesting day yesterday at the memory care center. The director of the facility intercepted me straight away to tell me of the 'game plan' for the day. There was a prospective client, B., visiting and she wanted me to engage with him. Never mind that he seemed to be already involved with others around a table, his attention was pulled to away in order for him to make my acquaintance. I had been given a few stats, if you will, about the person, so went straight in with a question that I've posed to other retired SF firefighters whom I've met. I asked B. from which house he retired. As it turned out, he'd worked at a fire-house very near to the one from which my uncle retired and this man and my uncle had known each other. In the 70s, my uncle founded a running club for firefighters and B. had jogged with my uncle's club for about 7 years. B. and his wife had also raised a family in my hometown. I'd probably have gone to school with his kids had they not been sent to Catholic school here in the city. I very much enjoyed spending time with B. and I do hope he'll return to the facility if it's what he and his wife determine would be good for him. 

*** 

I know I've mentioned the new park-at-the-beach a few times here. The fall-out, as it were, of our local supervisor, Joel Engardio, publicly supporting Sunset Dunes, as the park is now called, is that the residents whose support he may have once had, seemed to en masse want his head on a platter. The vote for recall---the only issue on the ballot---was 65% to 35%. I think what the recall results showed me was that those who felt fueled by anger ( pro-recall folk used words to describe a democratically decided issue like 'betrayal', 'backstabbed', 'cheated' and what-have-you) WILL go to the ballot box and those who aren't bothered one way or the other about a new park WILL NOT vote. It's all so stupid as Engardio was up for re-election come the new year. Money to put on a recall isn't scant and we taxpayers footed the bill. For those who are a tad curious, there was even a write-up about the issue in The Guardian. 

Check it out, if you're so inclined--

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/17/san-francisco-joel-engardio-coastal-park

Bartie and me in the back garden. 

September 4, 2025

RFK Jr would not be pleased. I just received my inoculation against Covid today. According to Bobby, I'm not old enough for the vaccine. Additionally, I don't suffer from any conditions that would make my contracting the virus more challenging to recover from. I do, however, volunteer with the elderly and I work in a shop in San Francisco that is visited regularly by tourists from all over the country and beyond. I neither want to become ill nor do I want to spread the virus. This should be a 'no shit, Sherlock' type of situation, but not for RFK Jr. The fact that he's in a position to dictate any sort of public policy regarding the health and well-being of Americans is so fucking galling. 

***

I work with a nineteen-year-old and am learning so much about how the young'uns of this generation communicate (or don't). I know that I and my cohort used *thee* most ridiculous slang, so I cut her a lot of slack when she says things that make not a lot of sense. I also don't ask for a 'translation', if you will, and just sort of figure out what she's saying based on context. Have you heard the word 'bet' being used not as a verb? This is the Gen Z slang I hear most often and have no clear idea of what is meant. It seems like an affirmative of some sort. Again, I'm not asking my co-worker. 

What's also been a trip is learning how young women of this generation make money outside of the usual channels. In my day, it was phone sex. I think they were 1-900 numbers--I really don't recall--and the minutes added up quickly for the guy calling in for a 'good time'. My housemate, an ex-cheerleader from Florida, was in college while also working at a strip club downtown (anyone remember the Lusty Lady?) and doing phone sex from the comfort of our shared house. I remember she'd often be wrapped in a bathrobe with her hair up in a towel, phone receiver against one ear and Marlboro cigarette in hand saying things like, 'Oh, yeah, baby...' with the least sexy expression known to man on her face. It was all fairly comical. Nowadays, young women are video chatting, if that's what you'd call it, with their client/mark. These men seem to be up for a lot of kooky scenes. My co-worker finds the whole thing a bit of a joke and is thrilled to be making a couple hundred bucks for a few plus minutes of freaky role-play. I asked if she felt both in control and not uncomfortable by what she's both saying and seeing on the other end of the camera. She said that she's fine and I have to believe her. 

***

I will leave you with a bit of whimsy and wonder from my visit to Golden Gate Park this afternoon--

Magical serpent seen along JFK Drive.

Volunteering

I'm grateful to be volunteering regularly again. I have not had a steady gig since my two-year stint as a docent at the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park pre-pandemic. My latest volunteer position is at a facility here in the city that specializes in taking care of adults with memory issues. There is one client who is from Germany and with whom I've been spending time when our schedules coincide. This client is a decently spry 98-year-old. She and I speak a mixture of German and English together. In preparing for a visit to the facility last week, I packed up a map of Germany, a children's book by the renowned German author, Janosch, and a book of collected fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm. When I arrived at the facility, I was fortunate enough to meet the daughter of the client who was dropping her mom off that day. It was from her that I learned that not only does her mother like to speak in German, but she also likes to be read to in German. Later I would read to her the book by Janosch which she seemed to enjoy. On the map of Germany, the client's daughter also showed me her mother's journey as a Displaced Person from Silesia to Bavaria at the end of WWII. Harrowing does not fully describe the experience of the DPs, mostly women and children, who fled the Russians as they moved west. 

The children's book I read to the client. It's a lovely story.

In other news: My boss was complaining to me yesterday about the new-hire now in charge of her old gig doing social media posts. My boss told me that he'd nicked her idea, passing it off as his own, about showcasing the many dogs that accompany their owners into our shop. Mind you, this was an idea, though not at all novel, that I had shared with her back at the end of last year when she had first taken over social media for our company. I thought better about reminding her of this. 

Chit-chat over the back fence.

My Scottish neighbor, K., a robust 93-year-old, was out in his backyard today when I was trying to entice one of my cats to come back over the fence from having jumped into another neighbor's yard. My cat was studiously ignoring me, so I put the bowl of kibble down and K. and I got to talking. He mentioned that his apple tree had approximately 20 apples growing on it. Last year there were just 7 apples (he had made a pie!) and the year before only 1 apple. The tree has been in the ground for the last 20 years; I don't really understand why it took so long to produce fruit and neither does my neighbor. I made a point of bringing up the fact that a small pine tree was growing just inches from our shared fence on his side. I asked if it were a volunteer and K. told me that his wife had actually bought it at a yard sale down the street for two bucks. Why it was planted at the fence is a question I did not ask (tho' I do want to know). 

At one point, we got on the topic of politics. I may have brought it up, to be honest. K. was and still is a fairly keen golfer, so I mentioned that The Donald was over in his home country getting the welcome he deserved. 'That man is a real head case', K. said. I haven't heard that expression in years, but I think it applies here. 

The late Janey Godley back in 2020, 'greeting' t-rump in Scotland.