The soccer WM is a big event, of course. To imagine that actually sportsmen from all over the world, even if they might be enemies, are running to kick one ball over the greens of German stadions is anyhow fascinating, isn?t it? Especially that it could be organized that the fans of the teams meet another and can celebrate outside the stadions on public places watching the games on large screens staying peaceful almost every time. Imagine, German TV reported about an today?s event on the Street of 17th June in Berlin with more than 700 thousand guests and only 70 insertions of rescue-services. That is great, isn?t it? Although not as big as in Berlin, in many German towns are events with big screens at least if the German team plays and in the cities, where the games will be played, during every game the fans can follow the games at a large screen.
But there are still other happenings. For example, this afternoon, when I went home by my car from work at 16.30 o?clock and the German team played there was enormous less traffic in the streets. And the car parks at the shops were empty. Do you notice any similar happenings, when your national soccer team plays? Or at which events do you experience similar happenings?
you are right , what’s the magic of ball ? and most of people ( included me ) be astray when the the matches start !!
well … most of you ( I mean German people ) have a strong reason that made you very interested and excited and even so nervous when your team playing …but if you visit any foreign countries which couldn’t play at the final levels , you will see very strange and beautiful situation in the same time !!! yeah … for example : I’ll give you image about what happing at my country …
when you walk down streets in my city ,you will see a lot and a lot of colors , and it isn’t rainbow or the sun or the moon colors , but they are the colors of countries flags !
and you will hear that : I’m a Brazilian and you know that we are strongest team in the world ! the cup for us !!!( you must know that he hasn’t had any a brazilian ancestors ). in the other side …No you are wrong , we are the English fans … The cup is English …or we are the Spanish or …or …craziness
The people have consisted to many kind of fans but be sure it’s very beautiful situation …
I’m imaging that your deserted streets and market when the referee’s whistle has been heard …
A couple days ago I went to the website of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and was shocked to find soccer instead of news. It was almost like those crazy “news blackouts” we have in the US when some celebrity gets arrested or something like that.
Professional sports don’t affect my life. I’m a bit affected by sports that I play myself, but the things that influence my life are mainly personal events, political events and work situations.
I have had very little indication here that the World Cup is even happening. I heard much more about the Stanley Cup championships, which was won by the Carolina Hurricanes. That team is owned here in Detroit, and not in the state it’s located in. That means people go crazy when Detroit wins the cup, and are also happy when Carolina wins.
Have you really heard about tumults while this soccer WM? Until now there weren?t any worthy to be reported about. I remember a match between Italy and England in the 1990s when about 20 Italian fans were trampled to death by English ?Hooligans?and also later the ?Hooligans? were active. Also a few years ago the French policeman Daniel Nivelle was hurt heavy by some German idiots during a soccer contest. You?re right that is really making ashamed. But this WM is going to be a quite one although there always ever will be some idiots. I think during your American Stanley Cup it isn?t different.
What is your sports? Do you jog? I think jogging isn?t a Germlish word, is it? I mean as the American cowboys have a kind of riding a horse which is called “jog”. That allows their horses and them to move during a long time without being too hard. And “jogging” is also part of a western-riding-dressage. While a couple riders with their horses are riding in the arena you sometimes can hear the command; “Jog your horse, please Jog”.
Jamie, this is the point why I hesitated to answer you! I?m not really sure but the Stanley Cup is the North-American Championship in ice-hockey, isn?t it? It?s the contest of all American and Canadian ice-hockey-teams. And they consider it to be the intrinsic World Championship,don?t they? They always give their teams powerful names like Carolina Hurricanes. I?ve heard about one team named Edminton Oilers and would like to know what Oilers mean.
I hope my assumption regarding the Stanley Cup is right?
I assume this team took the name “Oilers” due to the fact that there is a booming oil industry in Alberta, Canada (where Edmonton is). A North American sports team usually looks for a name that has some kind of a connection to (or symbolizes) where they’re from.
I think you’re right about sports coverage in the news and on TV. There is also massive coverage in the US whenever there is some kind of major sports championship going on (for example: American football, baseball, basketball). But I do think the news coverage is a bit different in Germany at the moment for two reasons: The World Cup only happens every four years AND Germany is the host nation for this World Cup.
(And today a third reason? => Germany won yesterday. :lol:)
Jamie, i think anyhow is that strange, isn?t it? But on the other hand it is a good occasion for the politicians to make some unpleasant decisions without getting too much reply or without expecting that people defend against their decisions. For example, yesterday, watching the TV news during the rest of a soccer-match, I learned that the German government intents to change the rules of social health system. This information was told while probably many people which are concerned by their decision were using the rest to relax from the first soccer half or are excited from the soccer match, so that they possibly didn?t really understand what they have been told there. I must admit that I?m not capable to predict what the government?s decision really means for me. Only I?m sure that it means that I have to pay a higher tax although the political partie promised during their vote contest that they would sink the taxes, so that everyone will have more money net. In this sense, I think sports is always depending on politics or could we invers that?
Of course, you?re right to say for most of the people sports can be a leisure activity only. More important is certainly what we are depending on and that is work situation, politics and personal events! Here we are at the same page I think.
Michael, Weltmeisterschaft is a German word, so WM doesn’t mean anything in English, except maybe “waste management” (i.e., getting rid of garbage).
Schwer verletzt is severely injured, badly injured or badly hurt in English.
I don’t hear about anything as bad as that in the Stanley Cup finals, but you don’t want to be on the street after your city has won the baseball or football championships.
I don’t jog, but I swim and bike ride. For 15 years I was active in aikido, about 15 hours a week, and I was even an instructor. Now I can’t do it, because I have to work at the same time the aikido classes are going on. I also like to play basketball, but only if it is played with no rules. I can swim for a few miles, and bike all day, but I can only run four blocks.
No, the world hockey championship is the Olympics. But people consider the North American baseball championships to be the world championship; it’s even called the World Series. I suppose that in some ways it is, because US and Canadian baseball teams have players from everywhere baseball is played.
WM in English stands for many other different things, apparently (‘Why Me’, for example!). Who uses all these acronyms, anyway? As I’ve been taught, we should avoid abbreviations whenever possible. In formal prose, at least, we are supposed to write words in full.
I found a dictionary meaning for “wm.”: wattmeter. Somehow I don’t think that’s what Michael wanted to say either. :lol:
Here in Germany “WM 2006” is what you see (AND hear!) everywhere. Nobody is writing or saying this word in it’s entirety. I’m watching the German game on TV (may I say that?) at the moment, and the announcer is talking about the “vay-em”. :lol: I think Michael is just referring to this sporting event the same way (abbrieviated) that everyone is referring to it here BUT Michael simply can’t bring himself to use an English abbreviation: “WC”.
:lol: :lol: :lol:
Michael, the moral of the story is that you need to write both words in English: World Cup.
This reminds me of something I’ve always found intriguing, namely, that in many English bilingual dictionaries, the sound [e] is rendered as [ei] or [ay]. No wonder so many English natives turn one-vowel sounds into diphthongs (which, on the other hand, is one of the things I like so much about the way they speak other languages).
Of course, it’s not easy to explain the difference in pronunciation between English and, say, French/German/Spanish/Italian vowels, where you have to keep the mouth/tongue/jaw in the same position all the time.
In this part of Germany, the mouth/tongue/jaw seem to fluctuate considerably. :lol: Trying to reconcile what people actually say to what the written language looks like reminds me of English. :lol:
That?s it! But seriously I didn?t think about whether anybody could argue against the abbreviaition WM, as you also can see advice boards at which is advised to Partner or supplier or (I didn?t have a look to the Spanish expression for that)sorry.
And also, if I would have abbreviated Championship some German old aged politicians could have been anoyed, as CS were the stuff the police add to the water they drove the defenders in the 1980?s from the Starbahn West in Frankfurt with and at some other occassions. To whom for example the German Foreign Minister Joshka Fischer had been joined. Now he seems to be a honorable man, who happens to teach at Princeton University in U.S.A. By the way, a term inside of terrorist?s society that time were:“Cleaning my skin, I take water and CS only.” :lol:
Nevertheless, I?m happy to have good friends at this site who support me, and defend me against wrong understood abbreviations 8)
But seriously I didn?t think about whether anybody could argue against the abbreviaition