English words and expressions in the German retail and service industry?

Hi, we’ve started a little project called ‘English words and expression in the German retail and service industries’. The project is still in its infancy – there are even a few typos we’ll remove soon. I thought you might be interested in participating it collecting and processing the information. The idea is to find out how many English words and expressions are printed on products that are being sold in German shops and stores and how much of the English language has found its way into everyday live in Germany. Here is the list – please let me know what you think:

Subway (food company)
Herkunft: Amerika
Produkten: sandwitches, cookies, wraps
Übersetzung: U-Bahn
Slogan: “eat-fresh”

Hair effect
Origine: NDH
Produkten: hairs, shampoos, hairdressing
Übersetzung: Haarschnitte
Bemerkung: “Ihr Friseur” / Hairdresser

Soccer table
Produkt: table football
Übersetzung: Tischfußball
Bemerkung: soccer table hobby

Power up
Herkunft: Gummersbach
Produkt: Fitness mashine
Slogan: ich bin bodyfit

The Spirit of georgia
Herkunft: Berlin
Produkt: Soft drink
Übersetzung: der Geist von Georgia
Bemerkung: traditional refraichment

Wrigley’'s Spearmint
Herkunft: Unterhaching
Produkt: Chewing Gum
Übersetzung: Kaugummi

Men’'s Health
Produkten: newspaper
Übersetzung: männliche Gesundheit

Dry mop-Duster
Herkunft: Hamburg
Produkt: Hand- und Flächenmop
Bemerkung: entstauben und polieren in nur einem Arbeitsgang

Mega Ligther for candels
Herkunft: China
Produkt: Feuerzeug
Übersetzung: großes Licht für Kerzen

Deep Energie with ginseng
Herkunft: Sydney, Hünenberg, Paris
Produkt: Duschbad
Übersetzung: Starke Energie mit Ginseng

Beauty wash cream
Herkunft: Hamburg
Produkten: Handwaschlotion
Übersetzung: schöne Cremewäsche
Slogan: jede Haut kann schön sein

head&shoulders
Herkunft: France
Produkten: Shampoo
Übersetzung: Kopf&Schultern
Slogan: classic clean

Portable Hard drive
Herkunft: Melbourne
Produkten: Portable Hard drive
Übersetzung: tragbare Festplatte

Super-write-master
Herkunft: Indonesia
Produkten: DVD-Brenner
Übersetzung: Super-Schreib-Meister
Bemerkung: The most powerful overspeed application

Haribo
Herkunft: Bonn
Produkten: Tropifrutti
Übersetzung: Gummifrüchte
Bemerkung: Kids and Grown-ups love it so

Fisherman’'s Friend
Herkunft: England
Produkten: Kaugummi
Übersetzung: Fischer’'s Freund
Slogan: Sind sie zu stark, bist du zu schwach

Kit Kat
Herkunft: Frankfurt
Produkten: Waffeln mit Schokolade
Slogan: Have a break, have a Kit Kat!

Thanks a lot,
Torsten

TOEIC listening, talks: Radio commercial for special sale days for mattresses

Torsten, you should know that in the United States what the Germans call a “soccer table” is called “foosball”.

Head & Shoulders shampoo didn’t come from France. It’s an American brand that started in the 1960s.

I don’t think Haribo is an English word, is it?

1 Like

Hi Jamie,

You are right, ‘Haribo’ is not an English word. As a matter of fact it’s a German acronym which I’m sure you already know. What often amazes me is how companies come up with new brand names for products or projects. Most of those names are easy to pronounce and memorize because they are short and contain many vowels. However, some are almost impossible to pronounce especially if the words are English and the product is being marketed in Germany.

TOEIC listening, talks: News report