In Germany we have the letter U but we call it by the real name "Kehrtwende"
this post was submitted on 10 Aug 2023
141 points (89.0% liked)
Showerthoughts
29678 readers
1368 users here now
A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. A showerthought should offer a unique perspective on an ordinary part of life.
Rules
- All posts must be showerthoughts
- The entire showerthought must be in the title
- Avoid politics
- NEW RULE as of 5 Nov 2024, trying it out
- Political posts often end up being circle jerks (not offering unique perspective) or enflaming (too much work for mods).
- Try c/politicaldiscussion, volunteer as a mod here, or start your own community.
- Posts must be original/unique
- Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct-----
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
Just for context, the word Kehrtwende is not used often. Instead, the verb "wenden" is used the sense of "making a U-turn"
Is that the real name for the letter U? damn
The fuck did you just call me?
What does that translate to?
kehrt -> return
wende -> turn
A re-turn?
re turn turn
Knowing the Germans, probably "extra long and bent letter I"
load more comments
(12 replies)
In Hebrew, it's a horseshoe turn.
...
In countries without horses...
A U-turn
We call it a 180.
As in 180 degrees turn.
We call it something like 'half circle turn'.
In France we call it a half turn
Which language is that in?
Dutch. But the variant we speak in Flanders (Vlaams).
Stupid, sexy, Flanders.
Yeah, infamousbelgian, which language is that in? /s
Edits: How the hell do I mention a user in Lemmy?
We actually have 3 official languages in our (small) country. Dutch (Flemish), French (Walloon) and German :)
The Romans must have called it a V-turn
A five turn?
How is this not the top comment??
You should see the the folks in Beijing make a 欲-turn.
In French it's called a pin turn.
I imagine that would be a hairpin which takes the shape of a U. In routing there is a hairpin NAT which redirects traffic exiting back into the local network.
In rally races in the US its also called a hairpin.
Even though the letter U is definitely existing in the vocabulary, in Italian it is called "elbow turn" (curva a gomito)!
Italian.... “elbow turn”
I'd be willing to bet that when they say elbow they mean the pasta.
Thank you for making me discover elbow pasta! It deepens my conviction that everything in Italy is somehow related to pasta...
How do they not get it confused with elbow pasta?
Confusingly enough, in Italy I believe it is not quite a thing "elbow pasta". Personally I have never heard anyone refer to any kind of pasta as "gomiti", though Google showed me that they indeed exist. I have always heard the ones that looks like elbows in other names.
load more comments
(1 replies)
In Chinese doing an u-turn can be called 掉头 or 调头, literal translation would be lose head (or front) or change head (front). For whatever reason apparently both can be used.
My language doesn't has U, but we call it U turn anyway, even though we have a similar letter in our own language.
Now that's odd.
But the symbol still makes sense
You don't need an alphabet to design what may as well be modern day hieroglyphics.
view more: next ›