What are your words for things which have not really names?
First word: 'Kältewurst' (maybe you don´t have this in your country): In germany we put a kind of a stuffed animal in front of the door gap. Especially in winter when it´s cold, this could conserve the warmth in the house or stops the airflow. it is long as the width of the door. Some people say 'Kältewurst' (cold sausage) to it. But that is not an official word. Elsewhere it could have another name. It has different looks. Sometimes like a snake, or a bear without arms and legs.You can associate the form of the body with a sausage (typical german ;-)
The second word: 'Konsumtrennlatte' ('consume separating latch') - maybe another typical german thing, haha. at a supermarket-cashpoint we put this latch between the things of the other people to make clear: this is mine. Maybe it is easier for the collector to stop his mechanical way of counting. Otherwise the things of the person behind me would appear on my bill ;-)
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Answers · 2
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As for the two words you just mentioned:
In the Netherlands we don't have something that looks like an animal, but we do have something that stops the airflow around doors. We call them "tochtstrips". (draught strip)
We also have "Konsumtrennlatten" in the Netherlands but we don't really have a name for it nor do we ever talk about it, I think. If we really need to talk about it we just say "grenslatje" of "scheidingslatje. Grens = border/separation, scheidings = separation, latje is like "latte" in German.
As for a word in Dutch that's quite uncommon, I think, I'd have to go with "excuusneger". In a time of politically correctness tv producers were concerned that people would think of them as racist. So, without reason they started hiring black actors, even when there was no apparant reason why there should be a black man in the cast. Imagine a bunch of vikings landing on a shore with one black viking among them. The black person who is cast in such a role is called the "excuusneger". Excuus = apology, neger = black person. (Note: Neger is not the same as nigger. Not at all.) Anyway, so the reason is that when people accuse the tv director of racism he can use this as an apology: "I'm not a racist. Look at my movie, there is a black person in my movie." So every time we see a black person in an unusual role we know it's the "excuusneger". :P
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In Australia if we can't find the right word for something we say 'Can you pass me that 'thingumummy' comes from the word thing or object] or sometimes we say 'whatumacallit' [ what do you call it]
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