Hello everyone
and welcome to our German Word of the Day, Summer, Sun, Vocab Fun Edition. And this time with a closer look at the meaning of schicken:
schicken
And that’s not only useful by itself because it’s something most of us do every day. It also some really surprising relatives.
I mean soap opera “lost sibling plot reveal” level of surprising.
So let’s jump right in :).
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The meaning of “schicken”
schicken itself probably isn’t a new word for many of you.
It’s the German word for to send and it works of course for mail and digital communication, as well as in a more figurative sense for sending people to places.
- Weil Maria zu faul zum Schreiben ist, schickt sie eine Sprachnachricht.
- Because Maria is too lazy to type, she sends a voice message.
- Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop
- “Kennst du die große, magische Eiche? Da bin ich auf der Bank.”
“Nee, schick’ mir mal einfach deinen Standort, das ist glaub’ ich am einfachsten.” - “Do you know the big magic oak tree? I’m on the bench there.”
“Nah… just send me your location, that’s the easiest, I think.” - Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop
- Ich habe dir eine E-Mail geschickt.
- I sent you an email.
- Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop
- Die Einhornkönigin schickt mich.
- The queen of the Unicorns sends me.
- Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop
And there’s a whole bunch of prefix versions of schicken that are all ab… oh… hold on… I see we actually have a call here. Dustin from Arizona, welcome to the show.
“Hey man, I have a quick question.”
Sure, go ahead.
“So, I was wondering about senden. I’ve seen that a lot in messenger apps and so on. Does it mean the same? And which one should I use?”
Great question, let me put a headline here real quick.
“Sure.”
Schicken vs Senden – The Difference
So, senden does roughly mean but it sounds a bit technical and stiff in spoken German. You do find it, as you said, in online prompts quite a bit, because they are about the “technical” side of senden.
And there’s a few related words about mail that schicken just doesn’t have.
- Ihre Nachricht konnte nicht gesendet werden.
- Your message could not be sent.
- Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop
- Auf dem Brief steht kein Absender.
- There’s no sender address on the letter.
- Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop
- Mit dem Super-Giga-Diamond-Prime-Abo sparen Sie die Versandkosten.
- With the super-giga-diamond-prime subscription you save the shipping cost.
- Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop
Oh and senden is also used in the context of broadcasting. A TV or radio station is called der Sender for example and a show is called die Sendung. But that’s really only for the “classic” types of broadcasting as in radio and TV, NOT for Youtube or Podcasts.
“Oh, so Joe Rogan would not be a Sendung…”
No, that’d sound weird to me.
“And what about Netflix?”
Nah, I wouldn’t call that a Sendung either. The better word for an average Netflix show is: boring.
“That is some truth right there! Thanks a lot for taking my call.”
No problem, it was a good question.
So yeah, schicken is the standard word in everyday life for sending and of course, there’s a whole bunch of prefix versions.
Prefix Versions of “schicken”
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What is the difference between
Schicken AN + akk
Schicken ZU + Dat
Danke
Thanks for another great article. If “Sendung” is not for TV/Netflix/Youtube shows, what is the word for these shows?
For a series it is “die Serie” and for a “show” it is…. die Show. For Youtube, it depends on the type of content… mostly I’d just say “Video”.
I always thought that “schick” (fancy, stylish) was the German version of the French world “chic”. Was I wrong
Kind of. It was a German word, then the French imported it, modified it, and then we imported it back and didn’t notice it had been ours originally.
You know, I thought of Geschichte being made up of Schichte with the accumulative “Ge” prefix. That would give the meaning of layers (of events) i.e. history.
Btw, could you banish the newsletter, night mode, and the top navigation bars? They all eat up screen space, making reading your fun posts tiresome.
I’ll think about it, but the newsletter banner being gone is one of the perks of the premium membership :)
Your logic for “Geschichte” is great by the way, makes perfect sense. Nice mnemonic.
Hello,
I also just joined, for now it seems really good to learn here (there should be more beer jokes), but i noticed that night mode is kinda bugged, have to be on light mode, cuz otherwise I don’t really see the tests
Great feedback. Night-mode is indeed kind of a stepchild I am working on. I never give it my full attention because I have so many other things I want to do.
But it should be at least readable so I’ll give it a look over the weekend.
Thanks for that!
Hello everyone,
I just joined this community and It was made possible through those of you who were kind and generous souls to make it possible for people in need to have the opportunity to study German.
I am thankful to each and everyone of you.
I am happy that I got a chance to be a member of this community.
Thanks a million.
Welcome :)
Makes me think of schick razors in the US. Something you definitely need dexterity with;)
Haha, nice mnemonic :)!
Hi Emanuel,
Thanks for your detailed explanations for the etymology of “schicken” …. to Geschichte. Das ist sehr interessant.
I have no idea why I can’t hear the voice of your examples, even I pressed the button ▶️
I would like to listen to more real German pronunciations for practicing my listening.
What browser and device are you using? And is that the case only for this article or in general?
Hi, My name is Shaunak. I am a Freelance French Language Teacher. I’d like to immensely thank the entire German Learning Community on this website for your kind help & support.
Regards & Best Wishes,
Shaunak
If any of you are learning French, hit the man up :)!
This edition had some particularly fun phrases and words to practice with the little microphone option, with words like Sprachnachricht and Geschicklichkeitspiel!
Haha, great to hear that.
And I never noticed that “Sprachnachricht” could be a problem, but now that you said it, I totally understand :)
Hi Emanuel,
Ohh, I always thought (or assumed) that “schick” meaning fancy was a homophone from the French “chic.” Was I wrong for all these years?
I assumed that German “schick” came from French “chic”. After all, English borrowed the word from French, so German would too. And French is often associated with style and fashion, so that made sense. But I looked it up and, while I was right about English getting it from French, French got it from German.
So according to DWDS.de, the eytmological source I am using for the German side, it came from German in a sense of “proper work, good work”. That then moved into French (from the Elsass) and there, the meaning shifted to “fancy” and then German imported it back in the second half of the 19th century, not really realizing it had originally been German. Most Germans do think it’s a French word, and in a way, it is because we’re using it “their way”.
You’re 100% correct :)!! Good catch, danke!
Mildly interesting here that we use “schmick” to mean “stylish/elegant”, where “we” means speakers of Australian English. It’s often a single word exclamation, along the lines of “(Mmmm), schmick!”.
“schmick”? That sounds soooooo strange to me.
– Yo mayte, let’s göou to tha schmick bah.
My attempt at Australian accent in writing… I’ll see myself out!
Not bad, not bad… :-) I’m wracking my brain a bit here, but I think you can only use it predicatively: “this bah is unbefreakinloivably *schmick*”, or “Man, Jonno’s new car is *schmick*”. You should occasionally preface its use by forming that hand sign where the thumb and first finger form a circle, and bringing it briefly up to your pursed (ü-forming!) lips. Pretty much Italian-style! Bonus points are also available for appending an “o” every now and then. “Wow! That is really *schmicko*!”
If that’s too much work you can just stick to the word “schmancy”, which is similar, but a little more versatile, more widespread (seems to have arisen from Yiddish), and more derisive/mocking. Often used in the combinations “fancy-schmancy” or “schmancy-pants”, but also happy to be deployed on its own. “So. Freakin’. Schmancy.”
But “schmick” is much more fun.
Oh fancy shmancy is definitely common in the States as well. I’ve heard that a lot. I even use it in German sometimes, but “schicki-Micki” is more homegrown.
That list of prefix verbs that should be only used with people / messages is super helpful! I’d like to try to incorrporate a few of these in my active vocab… Also interesting about french taking this word from german, i’d always assumed it was the other way round – one phrase I encountered fairly early on living in germany that uses this sense of schick is “schicky micky”…… I suppose one thing i’ve wondered now is about using the verb senden in relation to people but perhaps you cover that elsewhere ; )
Short version is… you don’t use “senden” for people.
There might be some official/formal phrasings, but generally it sounds odd/wrong.
cool thanks!
Is “sich anschicken” the kind of word you’d see in a story or newspaper, or is it something you would use in a conversation?
And then in this example:
Would it work to say “schick mir einfach mal deinen Standort”? Or is “mal einfach” the right or better sounding option here?
“sich anschicken” is pretty much only used in novels, mainly fantasy or historical settings. You do NOT use that in conversation :)
“mal einfach” sounds smoother, but “einfach mal” also works and is correct. Might well be personal preference.
Hallo,
Ich schicke dir Feedback über Typos!!
“used in the context broadcasting” (used in the context of broadcasting)
“That is truth right there” (either “there’s truth” or “that’s true”)
“When you see them in context, you should have a problem” (you mean we shouldn’t, right?… although most likely we will…)
“My boss send me outside” (My boss sent me outside)
“with the idea of sending of we think” (with the idea of sending if we think)
“we’d need to be a proper mind contortionist” (we’d need to be proper mind contortionists)
“Take what you like, leave what we don’t” (Take what you like, leave what you don’t)
Can’t think of any questions today…
Bis bald!
Ein spätes, kurzes, knackiges Danke :)!
Hallo lieber Emanuel,
Ich wusste nicht dass französisches Chic , kommt aus Deutsch aus ! Aber bedeutet das eher Elegant als Wünsch ( Fantasy/fancy) , meine ich im Französich .
Ich wünsche dir den guten , angehnemen Urlaub .
Danke dir, aber im Moment ist noch keine Zeit für Urlaub :)