´óÏó´«Ã½

For or against headache?

I enjoyed learning this German sentence. I actually laughed out loud. In German you say Ich suche etwas gegen Kopfschmerzen, I'm looking for something 'against' headache. In order to cure our headache, we English-speakers look for something 'for' headache. Hmmm, I think the German makes more sense.

Sent by: Mary

Comments

Shox, UK 2009-03-27

Yeah I see what you mean, the German makes much more sense to me. I'm English so I don't really notice it as much but it's actually kind of funny.

Flag this comment

Anonymous 2009-02-16

It's exactly the same in Dutch:
Ik zoek iets tegen hoofdpijn, something "against" headache.

Flag this comment

Achaly 2008-09-24

Yes German is far more literal ....

Flag this comment

Halil Isbilici 2008-12-13

We have familiar idiom in Turkish: derdini söylemeyen, derman bulamaz, a problem shared is a problem halved.

Flag this comment

Julia 2007-11-27

Indeed, in German it makes much more sense. I'm from Brazil and here, it is just like English, we take pills "for" headache. Para dor de cabeça.

Flag this comment

Raju 2006-12-12

Yes I agree completely that German is more logical than English. This is also reflected in construction of some words like Durchfall, diarrhea, that something is falling through or Verstopfung, constipation, that something is blocked ... I mean for a laymen it is impossible to know from the English parallels what we are talking of ...

Flag this comment

Uschi 2006-03-04

I always thought it was funny that in the UK you were looking 'for' something so you could have dandruff.

Flag this comment

Jeannie 2006-02-02

It especially makes sense when you consider that so many headaches come from banging your head gegen die Wand, against the wall.

Flag this comment

Steve 2005-11-27

I think that's great! ;-)

Flag this comment

Pratama 2005-09-23

Yeah, I agree ... the German makes more sense ... :)

Flag this comment

´óÏó´«Ã½ iD

´óÏó´«Ã½ navigation

´óÏó´«Ã½ © 2014 The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.