Jan. 4, 2022
How about a number salad?
A salad (or, in German, ein Salat) is a good and healthy food.
However, the word has a second, usually sarcastic or humorous, meaning that you won't find in many dictionaries: "a mess". A "number salad" is a mess in the figures, or a mess in the statistics, whereas a "letter salad" typically means some absurd or illegible writing. If someone messes something up, it's possible to should out "Jetzt haben wir den Salat!" (now we have the salad).
In the German speaking area, Christmas and the New Year holidays have just passed and many employees in the government offices responsible for counting the cases of infections with the corona virus also took a few days off. As a consequence, figures were published that were too good to be true. So, the Swiss newspaper Tagesanzeiger writes that the new year starts with a number salad, and probably independently of that the German newspaper Welt comments that the government's number salad makes the tensions in connection with the prevention measures even worse.
This is my word of the day. If you are studying German, make sure to say a sentence with "Zahlensalat" at least once this week. And if you are a native speaker of English, let me know whether you have a similarly creative wording to mock the government.
<p>https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/das-neue-jahr-beginnt-mit-einem-zahlensalat-898852664714</p>
<p> </p>
<p>https://www.welt.de/debatte/kommentare/plus235739916/Corona-Zahlensalat-Politik-befeuert-die-aufgebrachte-Stimmung-noch.html</p>
How about a number salad?
A salad (or, in German, ein Salat) is a good and healthy food.
However, the word has a second, usually sarcastic or humorous, meaning that you won't find in many dictionaries: "a mess".
The first comma is used to begin a list of adjectives/descriptive phrases, therefore you do not need a second comma before "meaning".
If you were adding extra information (parenthesis), you would use two commas to offset this information.
E.g. "However, this word, which has more than one meaning, can be used to describe statistics."
A "number salad" is a mess in the figures, or a mess in the statistics, whereas a "letter salad" typically means some absurd or illegible writing.
If we are referring to specific figures or statistics, we can use "the". But as you haven't mentioned any in particular so far, it is better to just refer to "figures" in general (without "the").
If someone messes something up, it's possible to should out "Jetzt haben wir den Salat!"
(n"Now we have thea salad!").
Whether you use "the" or "a" depends on your focus:
If you want a direct translation, use "the".
If you want a more natural-sounding English sentence, I think "a" would be better.
In the German speaking area, Christmas and the New Year holidays have just passed and many employees in the government officemployees responsible for counting the cases of infections with the corona virus also tookcoronavirus infections have had to take a few days off.
I've jiggled around (moved around) a few words to try and make the sentence more compact and easy to understand. Feel free to change it more if you don't like the look of it just now - there is more than one option here.
I'm not sure you need the word "also". This would mean "government employees in addition to... (who?)".
As a consequence, figures were published that were too good to be true.
So, the Swiss newspaper 'Tagesanzeiger' wriotes that the new year startsed with a number salad, and, probably independently of that the German newspaper 'Welt' commentsed, that the government's number salad makes the tensions in connection with the prevention measures even worse.
I've changed your present tense (writes, etc.) to past tense (wrote, etc.) as it sounds a bit more natural.
Your sentence is a little difficult to understand. Can I check with you: "the government's number salad makes the tensions..." - who said this? Was it Tegesanzeiger or Welt? We'll need to tweak the commas depending on who said this.
This is my word of the day.
If you are studying German, make sure to say a sentence with "Zahlensalat" at least once this week.
And if you are a native speaker of English, let me know whether you have a similarly creative wording to mock the government.
Feedback
Nice entry! And thanks for explaining 'Zahlensalat' to us.
I'm not sure about a particular phrase relating to the goverment (perhaps some of our more politically-savvy friends on Langcorrect could help out), but there is the phrase "dog's breakfast" in English. It also means a "mess". E.g. "You've made a right dog's breakfast of these numbers. I can't understand a thing."
Jan. 4, 2022
A salad (or, in German, ein Salat) is a good and healthy food.
I forgot to comment, "ein Salat" should have quotation marks (" ") to offset the foreign language, as all of your other examples had.
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How about a number salad? This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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A salad (or, in German, ein Salat) is a good and healthy food. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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However, the word has a second, usually sarcastic or humorous, meaning that you won't find in many dictionaries: "a mess". However, the word has a second, usually sarcastic or humorous The first comma is used to begin a list of adjectives/descriptive phrases, therefore you do not need a second comma before "meaning". If you were adding extra information (parenthesis), you would use two commas to offset this information. E.g. "However, this word, which has more than one meaning, can be used to describe statistics." |
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A "number salad" is a mess in the figures, or a mess in the statistics, whereas a "letter salad" typically means some absurd or illegible writing. A "number salad" is a mess in If we are referring to specific figures or statistics, we can use "the". But as you haven't mentioned any in particular so far, it is better to just refer to "figures" in general (without "the"). |
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If someone messes something up, it's possible to should out "Jetzt haben wir den Salat!" This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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(now we have the salad). ( Whether you use "the" or "a" depends on your focus: If you want a direct translation, use "the". If you want a more natural-sounding English sentence, I think "a" would be better. |
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In the German speaking area, Christmas and the New Year holidays have just passed and many employees in the government offices responsible for counting the cases of infections with the corona virus also took a few days off. In the German speaking area, Christmas and the New Year holidays have just passed and many I've jiggled around (moved around) a few words to try and make the sentence more compact and easy to understand. Feel free to change it more if you don't like the look of it just now - there is more than one option here. I'm not sure you need the word "also". This would mean "government employees in addition to... (who?)". |
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As a consequence, figures were published that were too good to be true. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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So, the Swiss newspaper Tagesanzeiger writes that the new year starts with a number salad, and probably independently of that the German newspaper Welt comments that the government's number salad makes the tensions in connection with the prevention measures even worse. So, the Swiss newspaper 'Tagesanzeiger' wr I've changed your present tense (writes, etc.) to past tense (wrote, etc.) as it sounds a bit more natural. Your sentence is a little difficult to understand. Can I check with you: "the government's number salad makes the tensions..." - who said this? Was it Tegesanzeiger or Welt? We'll need to tweak the commas depending on who said this. |
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This is my word of the day. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
If you are studying German, make sure to say a sentence with "Zahlensalat" at least once this week. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
And if you are a native speaker of English, let me know whether you have a similarly creative wording to mock the government. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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