German words you MIGHT NEED TO KNOW; as you will run across them
germanwords.htm
Most of the time there isn't any problem with how things are translated and then published (by factories that made the product, that is).
Once in awhile
even a factory goofs. One such goof is
from the math-challenged idiot who translated the correct torques specified
in Nm to incorrect values in Ftlbs
and then it was published in many a BMW factory publication.
We order by part number or perhaps from a sketch or we describe where it goes/fits/etc. Almost all the time, this works quite well.
There are a few instances where languages have caused some real confusion (besides politics and personal relationships!).
Information on this
page was from several sources. Sources included past articles in BMW
MOA ON magazine; a posting by Joe 'Cuda' on 20 January 2001
to the Airheads
LIST; some of my own input; and, from corrections supplied to me by Hans-Jürgen of
Germany. Further corrections were made on 3/29-30/2012 from
additional input by Joe....but I did not take 100% of everyone's suggestions,
primarily due to COMMON USE in the USA; thus, any quibbling about things on
this page can be blamed on ME!
In some instances on this page I have used ASCII code to show the
way the German's might show these words in PRINT. If they
look totally weird, and maybe
print something not like a German
letter, well, you know how computers are....they vary in display,
depending on how you have set certain preferences.
I have found this particularly happening more often with the diaeresis marks
(umlauts) which are the double dots or call it a pair of dots, located over a
vowel.
An example of these are the following, which MAY not show up properly on YOUR computer:
ë ö
Ö ä ÿ Ü
In the rest of this article you will find this one: ü
For a site for German, English, French, and Spanish translations,
etc.: http://dict.leo.org
That site explains IN DEPTH.
For simpler
explanations,
use Google translations
You may find that some spellings are slightly
different, where, example ü is shown on
other spellings as ue. Another way of
putting this is that the Germans have different
ways of putting
spelling in print form. Example would be flüße which is
the same word for river as fluesse.
EI sounds like EYE
IE sounds like the ee in tree.
That funny looking "B", which is not a B at all, it is printed like ß, is pronounced as if it was SSS.
The double dots over a letter are called umlauts, and the effect is to soften the sound of the vowel.
AUF:
You may see this on your fuel tank petcocks. It does not mean the position
for fuel OFF. It means that position is for fuel ON!! In
truth, the translation is OPEN.
This caused the most confusion,
since it was printed right on the bike part,
this marking was on the petcocks. An amazing number of people have, at one time or
another,
thought it means OFF.
In the older Clymers book on airheads, early-on
in the book where it shows the basics of checking out the bike, and how to
start the engine, etc.,
there is a sketch/photo of the clamshell type of air
cleaner housing, with the 'choke' (enrichener) lever on it. Clymers PROBABLY
(guessing here) mistakenly took AUF
from some long-ago BMW diagram/sketch,
and decided that AUF meant OFF....after all, they look like they should
sound close to the same, when spoken. They might have
taken the idea from
markings, too.
Thus, quite a few folks wondered why their
Airheads were so hard to start, and after starting, why they ran so lousily.
They were using
the choke backwards.
I well remember some instances of that in old inquiries, and I also remember
someone asking "how" he could have attached his bike's cables and
carburetor
levers backwards! Clymers kept publishing the wrong information.
Clymers finally re-wrote the entire section of the manual, and it is now
correct.
Bavarian Motor Works. GmbH means Gesellschaft mit
beschränker Haftung....a company with limited liability....sort
of the way LLC or Corporation is used.
BMW
AG: stands for Aktiengesellschaft....meaning that it
is a company that issued shares of stock.
Bitte,
Danke: Please, thank you...and bitte also
means You Are Welcome. Bitte comes from bitten,' to ask
for'. Joe explained about
dankeshoooon (pronunciation) to
mean Thank ya kindly. from schön, which means pretty.
Bremse: brake
Frühzündung: (spark
advanced). F
dot or Z
marking on 1981+ bikes). The mark is seen (via spark triggered strobe light
aimed at the timing port near the oil dipstick)
by raising the rpm
slowly until the timing no longer continues to advance, this point is
about 2000 rpm on the early stock /5 models, and 3000 on
models after the /5 changes.
There are a number of mechanical
advance versions, so if your /5 maximum occurs at 3000, don't be
alarmed.
Farben: colors. color
legends are included, with English translations, on BMW
schematics. NOTE that for paint jobs, HELL
means light and DUNKEL means DARK.
Fernlicht:
high beam. Fern meaning something far or being far away.
Getriebe: transmission
Gummikuh:
this is often seen in conjunction with a description of handling
of old BMW airheads...it means rubber cow.
H:
as used in parts catalogs: Hinterrad meaning rear wheel.
Heiß:
means HOT
Kalt: means COLD.
Kurbelwelle: crankshaft
lampe,
licht: lampe is light device that shows
or indicates, such as a LAMP BULB, but licht means the light
itself.
Links, Rechts: left, right. As marked
on some valve covers, as an example: L, or R
Nockenwell; Camshaft
OT:
means Top Dead Center for the piston(s), that point, exactly,
when the pistons are fully outwards. OT, in German,
is Oberer Totpunkt, more correctly translated as the top dead
point.
Rad:
is wheel, so motorrad is motorized wheel, but wheel can mean
cycle, so hence motor-cycle.
Reifen: tire
S: this
mark is the Static timing point, that is, no rpm or low rpm, and
the S stands for Spaetzündung (minimum advance; that is, late or retarded).
Scheisse: feces, but means more like we would use the
word SHIT, in exclamatory talk.
Schraube:
screw
Speichen: wheel spokes
Über: means OVER
Unterbrecher:
(fully: unterbrecherkontakt) literally means under-breaker,
or interrupter, and for us it means the mechanical ignition
points in the old mechanical points systems.
Impulsegeber
would be used for the electronic pickup device (Hall element,
etc) in the more modern ignitions.
Ventil:
valve, as in cylinder head types, also for the valve in the tire
or wheel.
V: as used in parts catalogs: Vorderrad, meaning
front wheel
Vorn, often shown as V in parts catalogs: means FRONT as an adjective; whilst Vorderansicht is as noun.
Z: marking, 1981+ bikes; is seen (via spark triggered strobe light) by raising the rpm until the timing no longer continues to advance, this point is about 3000 rpm. See F marking
Zeit: time
ZU:
found on some petcocks. It means
CLOSED (OFF) . See AUF
Zündung:
means ignition
Zündkerzen:
means spark plugs
Zündzeitpunkte:
ignition points or timing. confusion? see Unterbrecher and Impulsegeber
Rev:
01-26-2008: minor clarifications
02/04-2008: edited, updated, thanks to Hans-Jürgen of
Germany
02/29/2008: edited to reflect sources for this article
06/06/2011: Clean up a bit
03/29/2012: Expanded section on AUF
03/30/2012: add dual explanations in some translations, re-arrange the
order of some commentary
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