"Hotwords"
The fact that certain words are strongly influenced by culture and cultural practices is shown by the intercultural-orientated semantic approach of the so called „Hotwords“ (Heringer 2007). These are words that are nearly untranslatable and even L1-speakers can hardly explain, because they contain many culture-specific components of meaning or connotations. A “hotword” can be based on collective memory (with a deeper meaning of national identification), but it can also refer to everyday social practices that also concern encounters in professional contexts. By using the words in the way how a person has experienced the social meaning in a given culture, the potential for misunderstanding for culturally and semantically explosive (or „hot“) words is predictable (cf. Kühn 2006: 27 for a list of German hotwords).
A good example for such a culturally shaped „hotword“ is the German „Feierabend“ – often translated by „end of work“, but which also includes the feeling of „after work leisure“. At the same time there is a hidden concept linked to one very specific cultural German standard of interpersonal distance/task orientation that separates personal from professional conversation or relationship. The awareness of different or non-existing concepts for social practices in one´s language is strongly linked to linguistic meaning in cultural contexts.
In German you can find the following “hotwords” in different fields. Try to find an analogical collection and more examples for your own language/culture. Do these “hotwords” also concern professional contexts, especially in border regions? Please highlight some of these!
Other examples:
Frühschoppen, Gemütlichkeit, Weltschmerz, Mauerfall
Now try to find representations in your language/your culture:
categories of „hotwords“ |
representation in your language/your culture |
everyday language |
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sightseeing features |
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manners |
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mentality and national character |
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historical/political incidents (events) or institutions |
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