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- "Tschüss."
83 Comments
"Auf Wiedersehen" is much more formal than "Tschüss". I only use that to say goodbye to someone that I do not know, for example someone at the register, someone who served me at the restaurant, a store or at the bank, and so on. Maybe you also say that to a person you respect very much and you are not very intimate with, for example a teacher. "Tschüss" is more informal, but not impolite, so you could say that to a stranger as well. I think it's used much more often, probably already because it's shorter. Maybe we can get another native's opinion on that. :)
Also: "auf Wiedersehen" actually means "(Hope to) see you again".
My German teacher (Male - From Berlin) in college explains me about the difference about the two. He said that "Tschüss" are oftenly used for parting but you will just see that person around while "Auf wiedersehen" is used for farewell like you will never see that person for a very long time like going abroad.
714
My dad, who ess in germany during the war said that the ish pronunciation was "low" grrman like the soldiers used, while the ick was "high" german used by doctors, rich people etc. Any validity to that?
2201
No, your dad was completely wrong.
There are different versions because of different dialects in Germany for the pronounciation for instance of "ich".
In the northern part and in Berlin they use to say "ick", in the middle part of Germany from Saxony till the river Rhine they prefer "isch" and in the southern parts they just say "i".
The standard version is the special "ch"-pronounciation you can listen here:
http://www.duden.de/media/audio/ID4110789_408990785.mp3
No, there isn’t. About the term “low German”: it does NOT mean socially
“low” as your dad presumed, but geographically low, i.e., low altitude, or ‘flat’. That’s why the Netherlands and Belgium are called the ‘Low Countries’, and why the dialect of German spoken in the north of the country is known as Plattdütsch. Platt translates as “flat”: North German is called that because the whole region is essentially at sea level (or, in the case of north Holland, below sea level).
Platt speakers, as far as I can tell from listening, tend to say /ik/ rather than /iš/, as in “Ik heb mol Hamborger Veermaster se’en...”
This page from Deutsche Welle is absolutely fascinating, describing twenty different regional varieties of German. https://www.dw.com/de/deutsch-lernen/dialektatlas/s-8150
I think Ciao is Italian, bye is English , adios is Spanish, etc. Depends on what language you're translating into, if I understand your question. Me, I'm just learning; my original language is English. Can anyone tell me the etymology of "tschuss (sorry, no umlaut on my keyboard ! ) because for me, it's easier to remember if I know the origin. It's a funny little word, isn't it?
2201
"Auf Wiedersehen" can be used in any case, it is formal.
"Tschüss" is used between people they know each other.
"Lebewohl" - same like "Tschüss" but you use it only, if someone is leaving for good or at least for a longer time.
2201
The version with the ß is the former orthography. In 1998 a reform was published to make orthography easier and more logical. Some people prefer the old orthography still, and maybe some old German books are still in use. You won't believe, how emotional that topic was discussed and still is ;-)