Langenscheidt's Power Dictionary of Denglish

Dear Mr. Langenscheidt,

I am writing to you from England. I am proud of our English language and notice with great surprise how our beautiful English language is being abused and misused by the German public. I had a good look at your website and I am extremely surprised that a prominent and famous provider of dictionaries is misusing the English language as well.

For example, as an English speaking person I have no idea what you mean by "Power" Woerterbuecher or "Flirt Fun" fuers Handy. Power Woerterbuecher would translate into "Kraftwerkbuecher" but definitely not into "word power dictionary". You, of course, have a big problem in Germany wih the English language and many words are totally misunderstood and misused. The word "power" is a classic example. To most Germans a power breakfast would mean "Kraftfruehstueck" and a powerful person a weightlifter or strong man rather than a powerful politician or powerful businessman. The lack of understanding and confusion of words such as "power" is truly amazing.

It is very sad that a company like Langenscheidt is adding to the confusion and misuse of the English language and the German language alike. There has been a terrible development in the German language in the last few decades and I do not have to point out that the German language has almost become a mongrel language of ugly sounds and expressions. Of course one has to accept certain modern developments of a language, especially in the IT world but this development has to be closely monitored with reference to its correctness and usage in everyday German language. Germany has almost created a monster language and many expressions and words have no meaning whatsoever in a global context of the English language and its true meaning.

I would like to point out that it is your responsibility to make sure that this awful trend is not getting out of hand but actually every effort should be undertaken by your company to reverse this trend and correct the many mistakes which have been made by the German public and media and by your company especially. I know it is too late for the word "handy" but that is possibly the most ugly word in the German language.

Observing these linguistic activities from outside, one can only say Germany has made itself the laughing stock of the world and young people especially have lost interest in studying the German language and its literature and culture. People are interested in the German language, not in a corrupted style called Denglish. I would be pleased to hear your opinion on the above subject and am looking forward to your reply.

Fredrick Stehr.

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