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- "Der Meister"
62 Comments
I don't know what you social standing is, but the word is on of the 10.000 most common words in German according to the Duden.
Every crafting company in Germany you ever worked with most probably had a Meister as boss. The compulsion to be Meister before you can found such a company was only removed a decade before for most crafts: Meisterzwang
If you really missed out on Meister Röhrich until now, it's time to freshen up that awkward German humor ;)
691
Well . . . . if your profession was baiting, you might not be terribly forthcoming about being a master baiter.
But, no, in English, "master" is more often used as an adjective than a noun. (With exceptions for historical usage dealing with slaves and more modern usage in fetish subcultures.) For that reason, I find "craftsman" a more useful translation for der Meister. Sieh Duden.de.
861
I’d think “Der Meister” alone would mean “The champion” (of a championship in almost any sport) more commonly than it means “The master”. I’m glad to see that “The champion” is accepted, but am slightly confused as to why “The master” is being used as the main translation. (Posted here rather than reported because to me it doesn’t quite seem worth reporting as a “mistake”.)
I don't know why you got downvoted for asking a question, have an upvote to bring you back up.
According to dict.cc there are a few translations for overseer, but none of them are Der Meister (http://www.dict.cc/?s=overseer)
Meister is a particular level of professional accomplishment, similar to the old word 'journeyman'. It indicates someone who has completed their apprenticeship or training in a particular trade. Trades, such as carpentry, are highly valued in Germany, and so people who have become Meisters are usually well looked upon.
88
One can say master plumber, master carpenter, master mechanic, etc. to indicate high level of expertise.
The gaffer is someone in charge of a team of workers. You used to hear it a lot in the 70's now it seems to only be used as slang. We used to informally call our manager "the gaffer", which he pretended to dislike but I think he secretly enjoyed.
It's just one of many possible translations of Der Meister.
As for learning "common words"... I'm not sure I read anywhere that this site only teaches common words. You're under no obligation to remember it if you think it won't be useful. Chalk this one up to experience and move onto the next question.
While that may be true, gaffer is not used ...wait...ok I looked it up and it is used in British english...I forget that it's not just American english. No big deal, have a nice day. :-) http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gaffer
Yup, it's definitely a British word when used in that sense. We used to have a TV program called the Gaffer in the early 80s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gaffer_%28TV_series%29
Meister
translates often to master ...
in craftsmanship.
So, yes, the Meister
is often the boss in German craftman's companies but Meister
doesn't really translate to boss
.
The Meister
often won't come along for minor jobs but trust his Geselle
/journeyman
to do it. If problems arise you'll want to speak to the Chef
/boss
which often is the Meister
.
88
When I studied German half a century ago, we were taught two proverbs. 1) "Übung macht den Meister", like the English "Practice makes perfect." (literally, "makes the master"). 2) "Es ist noch kein Meister vom Himmel gefallen". Literally, no master has yet fallen from the sky - if one wishes to become very good at something, one has to work hard; it doesn't just happen.
It's basically a blue-collar line-manager, overseeing a (usually small) team, reporting up to a more "white collar" manager above him. My dad used to be a foreman in a dairy, so it's not just construction. You get them in factories, warehouses etc. too. It's a word we use in Britain too, but it's maybe just fallen out of usage a little.
691
Genau. Also in many blue-collar jobs, the supervisor of the front-line workers is a "foreman" or "shop foreman". I've never personally held such a job, but have several friends who have. I think that the foremen report to a "manager" or "supervisor".
Could this word be used for a person who is the best at a specific task? As in: "He is the cooking master!" "Er ist der Kochmeister!"
Can this word also be used for martial arts instructors? (Like a Sensei)
1475
My son-in-law is a master plumber. There are certain plumbing jobs that, by code, must be done by either a master plumber or under the supervision of a master plumber. As Mariba66 said, it indicates a certain level of training and experience, but does not indicate a level of authority over anyone else.
385
For 'Select the missing word", both "der" and "die" are correct: DER Meister, DIE Meister, but Duo does not accept that.
691
Meister can also refer to someone of exemplary or notable skill (in art or sports or crafts, e.g., a "master carpenter"). I think Meister has most of the meanings of the English "master", except perhaps in the context of slavery.
691
It's probably mainly because, in this exercise, die Eule presents a German phrase (Der Meister) and asks us to translate it into English. So, die Meister would fail to accomplish that task.
If you had provided the English "the masters", you would have still been wrong, because the German phrase was singular, not plural.