Hacker News Reader

> English, on the other is awesome for forming phrases that are nearly impossible to translate. "To go to town on somebody" is one I really like, for example.

I think all languages do this. Why would English be specifically better at it than german?

View on HN

That example, specifically, all languages do. What I find unique in English is that it is very onomatopoeic. What is a "boom box"? It's a box that does the sound "boom". When you "crash" your car, that's the sound that occurs. A staple, when applied, sounds like "staple", as much as a zipper produces the "zip" sound when pulled. It is quite unique.

The German word for “staple” is »Tacker«, which is onomatopoeic.

If you wanted to say that two cars crashed, you could use:

»Zwei Autos (prallten|krachten) gegeneinander.«

Both »prallen« and »krachen« are onomatopoeic.

Onomatopoeia is common in German as well.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com