Das Klopfen kommt aus den Hörsälen der Universitäten. In einer Hand hat man noch den Stift mit dem man Notizen während der Vorlesung gemacht hat, mit der anderen Hand klopft man Beifall.

The Brits don't even know "Dinner for one" ! The movie was produced in Germany with english actors !

The TÜV tests many things, e. g. children's playgrounds, roller coasters in amusement parks, sports equipment, etc. Mainly where safety is concerned. But the fact that certain websites are tested by the TÜV (which of course costs the operator something) makes sense too. They test, for example, whether payment is secure or whether there are any security gaps, etc.

I think the "explaining by saying it louder and slower" comes from the German dialects... Other Germans do understand most words, but might not have understood it the first time due to dialect difference. So we tend to repeat the word slowly, as this usually clears it up - but that obviously doesn't help in all situations.

The story behind 'looking in the eyes while saying cheers' is from the medieval times. Back then the knights invited each other to their castles to declare peace but sometimes it was a trap and they tried to poison their enemy. So it became a habit that they banged their goblets so hard that some of the wine from each spilled over to the other one's. In addition they looked into each other's eyes because even for the most evil guys it was a taboo to betray someone while looking in the eyes.

It's Sunday afternoon in Australia and I've just come across your shows. Enjoying each video and find that I'm still very familiar with it all, although as a young child, we left Germany 57 years ago. Traditions and sayings haven't changed. Although my daily language is english, your videos bring back sweet memories. Best wishes to both of you.

"Birkenstock" and "fashionable" aren't to be used in the same sentence :D

My dad gets a present for Father’s Day. And the guys with the Bollerwagen mostly aren’t a father.

English people are totally unaware of Dinner for One. They started to show it in the last two years but only like one time on that evening. It was produced or ordered, I don't totally remember by the NDR (a German TV channel). So although the whole show is in English, it is a German thing through and through.

Fathers day is at Ascension Day. When I was a kid in the seventies, it was more a family day, in my area a lot of families did a tour in their bycicles, which were often decorated with birch branches. In the late 70s, early 80 more and more mobile drinking booths poped up and slowly the young men became more and the more drunk people were at the streets, the less families were seen. And almost suddenly the day was named "fathers day", though most of these men aren't fathers

Haha the bear opening thing is funny. I was traveling a lot and I had this situation a couple of times already that I just casually opened a beer with some random item or another bottle or something without even thinking about it and people were just staring at me like I was a wizard or something 😂😂 that's realy kind of a German superpower 😂

I can totally relate to the "Nacken" story. Reminds me of something I witnessed at the Costa Brava a couple of years ago: A German family of five, huddling in front of a market stall, discussing which spanish expression to use to get the meat they wanted. Discussion heated up a bit, until at some point the oldest member of the group boldly took the initiative, and ordered in broadest Rheinhessian-Spanish "Uno kilo von denne da ovve da" (while pointing at it).

dinner for one ist einfach eine Sylvester-Tradition - ich freu mich jedes Jahr wie blöd darauf ;-)

The TÜV stands for Technical Monitoring Association, actually originated from testing steam engines. At that time they had the tendency to explode ^^ From there it became a business and they checked everything. For example, the manufacturer of the belt says that holds up to x kilograms that tests the TÜV and confirms that. Its actual task, however, is the safety of devices; in passenger lifts, for example, you will always find a sticker with a date that has been checked.

Miss Sophie has been a tradition in Sweden at new year as well. Not so weird after all?

I found Jen when I was looking for "right for left" driving rule and now I subscribed and binge watching all of your videos. You both rock! 👏

There's also the German idioms "Ich mach mal so." (I'm just doing that.) followed by two knocks as a goodbye or "Klopf auf Holz." (Knock on wood.) followed by three knocks to wish someone good luck or rather to get rid of bad luck. I guess it has something to do with the superstition of banishing bad spirits or to check the wood on ships, in houses and mines for parasites. The knocking on the table as applause was originally a student thing 200 years ago. But some say it had a different meaning back then. It was rather a sign of protest. But just like whistling it changed it meaning over time from disapproval to approval.

I really enjoyed your video guys 🎉 you seem like very cool people and I really enjoyed the conversation and laughed a lot with you 😁 keep it up and keep posting 🙌🏽

your smoothly gesture is kind of addictive🤣

Ja man sagt nicht vorher Alles Gute zum Geburtstag weil das Unglück bringt! Das ist ein Aberglaube hier in Deutschland. Deshalb wird nur nachträglich gratuliert aber niemals davor! :D

Knocking on the table is something only students do. It comes from ancient university times, where students had many quirky behaviour.

Crack me up so much!! 😂😂😂😂shoe opening the beer!! The effort into the video is apprecited😂🎉 it is so fun n helpful to see it as u just talked abt it 😅

Fun fact, Dinner for One was recorded in Germany 1961 for the NDR and was unknown in the UK. There it was shown for the first time on television in 2018

Hi you simple germans, thats a lovely video! Here a short comment to the knocking on the table-thing: Knocking on on the table is simply an approving signal, depending on the situation. It can be an applause (e.g. after a good lecture in university) but it can be also a greeting as well. Example: I´m going to a meet some friends in a pub. Some of them are already there. So I don´t interrupt their conversations by greeting them verbally, instead I knock one, two or three times on the table, wich means "greet you all at the table". They would knock back. If possible, I make a short eye contact with all of them when knocking. BTW making eye contact (also when raising the glasses) is a question of respect by paying attentiion to a person. This knocking is short and convenient. It´s just an informal greeting of friends. Sometimes I enter a pub and knock on the bar counter to greet the bar keeper - if I know him. Also: knocking on wood brings luck, so sometimes I knock on my head :). I´m used to knock on these occasions and I´m now a almost 70 years old grumpy and cold german. Please go on vlogging! Dettmar

Fun video. One more thing that many foreigners find weird: Mettbrötchen 😋 BTW: Knocking on the table is an academic way of showing appreciation and respect in universities. It has spilled over into business life. I’m surprised that you think the rest of the world is unable to open a beer. My Danish husband can open a beer with a wet newspaper 😂 And in Denmark people always look each other in the eyes when toasting, bring cake to work on their birthday and watch “Dinner for One” on New Year’s Eve 🥳

I am not sure when it happened, but basically "the guys" kind of kidnapped the public holiday (Ascension) and repurposed it as "father's day".

I stumbled upon this video and loved it! As a German who used to travel a lot, I can relate to most of the "weird things". I love the vibes in this video keep it up!

Most german thing on this video was how she correct her from 8.1 to 8.5 - I thought 8.5 too in my head xD

By the way, the Panama Canal is not that big. The North East Canal (In Germany) is 98 km long, the Panama Canal only 80 km.

The beer opening is really a kind of national ability. I can open bottles on ledges, with lighters, my phone, or even twigs. One time I was hocking in England, a group asked me if I gad a bottle opener, I took the bottles and opened them with each other, the last one, I opened with a twig. They stared at me, like I used a spell to open them. So yeah, it's kinda a German superpower.

A very German thing is when you arrive somewhere with a bigger number of people being there like at a party or a meeting is that instead of greeting each person single wise you knock on the table and just make a over all greeting. And a comment to the Birkenstock shoes: Birkenstock is the name of the company that produces these shoes and their shoes are so well known by the Germans that the company name is used as a synonym. Other examples are Tesa-Film and Tempo-(Taschentücher)

i love all your videos ! just THANK YOU for sharing them 🤗

Birckenstock is also expansive. My family has any kind of houseshoe, but no Birckenstocks, coz they are fancy (expansive)

As for birthday: You cannot celebrate your birthday in advance. That is like celebrating that you've won the race ten meters before the finishing line. You can only celebrate an achievement *after* you have achieved it. And as you are the one who want to celebrate it, of course you pay. You cannot expect that other people have to pay something you want to celebrate, like "Hey, I want to make a big party, so you all have to organize and pay for it". They will usually bring presents for your birthday and if you throw an expensive party, the presents may actually be (or at least include) some money, so they will support you paying for it but that way it's up to them how much they want to pay for it. Also at work your employer may have a gift for you but other than that, you want to to have your birthday celebrated at work? Then you bring the cake, as it's your desire getting fulfilled here and some people juts don't want to have a celebration at work which is also fine. If people around you decide if to party, where to party and how to party, you could even offend someone who doesn't want to party at all or not that way or not with that people or not that big.

LOL for the beer opening clip, sitting here in my Adiletten^^

And the TÜV does not give out quality certificates but safety certificates. The task of the TÜV is to ensure objects are safe to use (like your car is safe to be drive for you and other road users around you). Certain facilities are required to be checked by the TÜV by law (e.g. elevators), in other cases that is voluntarily and then it may be used as a quality seal (our products are so good/safe, that even the TÜV things so). Note that TÜV (which means "Technical Inspection Agency") is the name of a category of agencies and there are several TÜV agencies in Germany (like TÜV NORD, TÜV Rheinland, etc.) Also note that other organizations can also get approved as a comparable inspection agency in specific areas. E.g. to get your car certified, you don't have to visit a TÜV, you can also go to the Dekra, the GTÜ, the FSP, the KÜS, and so on.

11:25 Dinner For One is much funnier when you had a few drinks... because that's actually what that little movie is all about ^^

In the 19th century many steam engines exploded, causing deads and damages. So, the TÜV was invented to look if the steam engines are okay and work well. During the centuries the TÜV looked for everything "technological" and is also a sign for quality.

😂😂 had a good laugh.. thank you Jen and Ivan...❤

On the TüV, Americans have something similar called the UL (Underwriters Laboratory) but it is not required for the roadworthiness of cars.

11:00 just nailed it.... perfect explanation. I totally agree!

Opening a beer bottle: it’s not about the tool. It about your knuckle game and leverage. Cheers: it’s believed you have to cheer without looking, so that the drinks could spill and mix a little, so nobody at the table would poison them, as you would die as well. That’s why you cheer everyone individually. I don’t know where the seven years of bad intimate luck came from though. I just think it’s amusing that Sex is something we bring up when a total stranger won’t look us in the eyes :D

Wie schön Euch zu zuschauen :-) Das war ein erfrischend schöner Talk ...

In Australia one cashier spoke sloooowly and in a LOUD voice when she heard I was from Germany.

That story about Fathers Day is brilliant 😂😂😂.Im Scottish and have a German friend and I remember her telling me about Dinner for One and I was like “Whats that?”.She told me and also told me about the New Year tradition surrounding it.I watched it and was like “Why are you all watching this daft wee film?I couldnt understand it then and still dont now 😂😂

That cruise ship story was great 🤣. Also, I want to learn to open bottles with anything. That looks like fun 😃

The key of opening these bottles is actually the grip on the left hand with which you hold the bottle and where you position the lever. You have to grab it very high and with pressure. Through this pressure the muscle becomes harder at the contact point with your hand there and then its easy. And the lever has to be very tightly fit in there. With a spoon its more difficult because its so thin. But if you know how to open with a lighter you know how it works.

You guys have such a lovely vibe together!

Didn‘t know the „cheers“ thing, looking in the others eyes… very funny video

Danke,für euere erfrischend andere Art die " Macken" der Deutschen auf netter Weise zu erklären.👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍Ps. Zwei Videos von euch gesehen und schon bin ich ein Fan dieses Kanals, besser Euch zwei😀😀😀

I am laughing like a loon over here. "Dinner for one" is soooo classic. WHY?! I never did understand that. (I now live back in the states, but was married to a German for several years, and lived in Munich.) Really enjoying your videos.

I would say the knocking on the wood makes sence with: "Auf Holz klopfen" as Idiom for brings you luck, to make a good sale... So instead of applause - we knock on wood

Weird things #5: Yes, I can confirm this. It's part of our culture to learn how to open beer bottles! *lol* (Best accomplishment so far: With the newspaper!) *lol*

I never really realised the knocking thing until I started University. It has an other dimension when there are 400-500 people knocking than 20 in a class in school or something.

TÜV monitors the safety of equipment and the security of digital services. It monitors compliance with legal standards. Although it is understood as a "seal of quality", quality itself is not what is being tested or approved. "Dinner for One" - I first saw this in 1980 in Germany. It was completely new to me (from the UK) at the time. I seem to remember reading somewhere that the film was actually made in Germany by two English actors who were on tour in Germany at the time (probably entertaining British troops). Anyway, it is not known in the UK at all. In Germany, the reason people find it funny is that they've seen it since they were children, they know it off by heart and are laughing more in anticipation of when the bulter is going to stumble over the tiger's head than anything else. Asking people to explain: Instead of saying "Das habe ich nicht verstanden" you have to say "Was bedeutet das"?

Eine Freundin war als Jugendliche in den Niederlanden mit einer Freizeitgruppe oder Ähnlichem und sollte da mit einem Bekannten zusammen Dill für das Abendessen kaufen. Leider wusste keiner von Beiden die englische oder niederländische Bezeichnung für Dill und so standen sie ebenso wie diese Frau vor den Verkäufer_innen und wiederholten einfach immer wieder " we are searching for Dill". 😂

love this video and just will catch more of youse!

Concerning TüV approval: if you strap down goods on a trailer and the straps break on the 'Autobahn', you know why they should have decent quality. Same thing with accessibility of websites for impaired people.. it immediately makes sense if you think about it :-) event if it's not that obvious in normal situations.

We had to wait for theTÜV for the climbing wall from our school before we could use it for sports last month

It's a sign of respect and I it's carried down from medieval times. Kings swapped the glasses in case the other tried to poison them and when cheering looked into each other's eyes to reassure themselves they could trust them.. It is also considered bad luck to overcross the arms of other people when cheering with multiple people.

Even in the States Christmas was on the eve of the 24th of December for me. Also missed Julklapp and and Adventskalender. Always had a real Xmas tree and real candles.Hardly anybody jaywalks either, not wantig to be a bad example for the children.

What the hell is an expat? Brits and Americans call themselves this when they emigrate but call immigrants in their own country "foreigners". Now, that is weird.

TüV approved is a quite reasonable label, because it usually concerns savety and security issues - you will find it on technical equipment like elevators or play playground equipment.

It depends on the party. I was on a lot of biker parties and there were no songs from BSB or Spice Girls played.

No 7 21:00 it is actually very short, but since we watch it several times that eve, we collectivly "feel" it must be longer^^ It is so funny, I only realized after expats pointing it out AND not doing it for a year, to see how weird it is.

"Dinner for One" is a production from Hamburg/Germany🥂

So Funny .. macht Spaß euch zuzuhören!

Towards the end of the 18th century, people also hit the table with their fists. Since the "scratching" and "hissing" were already known as signs of displeasure, the knocking on the table seems to have turned into an applause for the lecturer. Today's form of "Father's Day celebrations" came up at the end of the 19th century in Berlin and the surrounding area, probably brought into being by brewery entrepreneurs for economic interests [3], and has since enjoyed great popularity with men. Ascension Day has been a public holiday in Germany since 1934. In the GDR the day was only a public holiday until 1966 and in 1990; There various possibilities were used to still be able to do a “men's day game” on this day. For example, members of religious communities had the right to celebrate their festive days, provided that this was or could be granted by the employer. Even though in Germany, in the meantime, celebrating Father's Day has replaced the perception of Ascension Day as a Christian-religious feast day in large parts of the population and the media, criticism is still expressed in view of the special German customs of the “men's day party”. So opening beer bottles is actually based on a single physical law of the long lever and if you know that you can use anything to pry open the bottle cap! The owner can forbid you to visit again and to enter for a certain time, so a "house ban"(Hausverbot).

Here in the US we have UL (Underwriters Laboratories) for TUV. You can find it on all kinds of products. Have a closer look next time, and you will find a sticker on the item.

Wieder was gelernt! Kielkanal! bisher auf sämtlichen Karten, Wanderführer, Tourismusbroschüren, Navis... immer Nord-Ostsee-Kanal (Kaiser Wilhelm-Kanal) gelesen!

I as a German don't actually have birkenstocks. The only time I would actually use them, is at work, because some of them are able to discharge electrostatic differences. (ESD-conformity)

TÜV also just certifies that the manufacturer runs a certified quality system with auditable procedures. It applies to every quality system and does not have to do anything with cars. I.e. a webstore owner can have such a quality system as well. It is definitively not unnecessary.

Tolles Video 💙 Danke..I am a german living in the USA..and you are right on all points..when I come back to Germany for a visit I have reversed culture shock 😂

I am 50 from USA, been wearing Birks since I was around 16 years of age. I got my house Birks and my outside Birks. I have never participated, but Father's Day is done right in Germany. I think the beer opening is a man thing not German thing, because tons of friends back home always open their beers with cigarette lighters. But same way, just the pressure between the finger and cap. Culture is great and funny, I lived in South Korea 20 years ago. If I remember correctly after a cheers(geonbae) you actually turned away and do not look the oldest person at the table, because it's considered rude to look at a elder in the eyes in this situation. The fact that you have German Friends only after living here a few years is great. I can tell you are in a bigger city. When I 1st got here I went out several times when I arrived here, I started giving out my phone number to people, and they all looked at me like I was crazy.

My Dad explained to me that the knocking instead of clapping started long ago with students so they could applaud the professor while still having a hand free to takenotes in a lecture. It spread from the across society. I don't know how true it is but he was very insistent of this origin

Father's day in the form you describe it is a relatively new thing. I emigrated from Germany 30 years ago, and it was not quite like that back then, certainly not groups of men going out together getting wasted - that happend as a pre-wedding tradition, but not (yet) on father's day.

The tüf approved seems to be like a similar thing we have here.... it just means that it meets the standards set out for different things, be it mechanical, food or whatever... so basically it's a good thing

I always watch dinner for one with my mom on new years eve.

I (portuguese/german) live in the uk. Ive asked people about "diner for one". No one knows what im talking about. Its watchable once a year (just once, def not on loop)

The story of your friend is really funny!! 🤣🤣

It's super interesting, I'm Irish, married to a German guy, living in Berlin. I totally have the same view as you about birthday thing, it makes sense to celebrate earlier sometimes and I feel German people are otherwise absolutely not superstitious and more practical. I also feel cheated with having to pay on my birthday, in our culture we get treated instead too..I like your videos!..oh yea, dinner for one, I had only heard of it when I came here and it wouldn't be considered funny from an Irish perspective. It's all too obvious, maybe it's just nostalgic for German people because they like the tradition of watching it together on NYE, but someone stumbling because they're a bit drunk is just too slapstick and generally not considered funny...I've read that it was actually produced in Germany from a play that once aired in England, it's therefore relatively unknown in English speaking countries from what I can gather...one new subscriber 😃

I likethe part of bringing gifts to your guests at birthday parties. It's in the book The lord of the ring by JRR Tolkien (albeit not the film), but that was just hobbits, of course, but perhaps Tolkien mixed up Germans with hobbits a bit :)

Loved you guys..so funny... I'm English living in Germany, everything was soo true!! Saw that film for the first time this year...never heard of it in England before ever . 😄

Had so much fun!

New Zealanders can open beer with anything too. I think it's probably the same for Australians too.

What’s super funny/crazy is my German friend and I have a mutual friend and she always wishes our German friend happy early birthday every year (she doesn’t know it’s bad luck) and my German friend literally doesn’t care and doesn’t believe in the bad luck even tho every year either her or someone in her family has almost died after her birthday, and me as the American is always the one freaking out like “omg no!!! 😳” whenever our mutual friend tells her happy bday lol. It’s become a running gag between us 🤣🤣

excellent! thanks for this video!

I visited München and Saarbrücken to get German safety certifications for my company's electronic equipment, which we planned on selling to German banks, restaurants, and stores. We needed that TUV approval months before our manufacturing facilities could start building the product. In Germany, there's only one government-approved certification lab. [It's much easier in the US, as we can use any of the many UL offices.]

I'm Italian and we do the slower & louder thing as well

If that is so surprising for non-Germans with Father's Day, then we can increase it in the north, more precisely in the Bremen and Oldenburg area! The cabbage-tours in January and February are almost a must here. An often self-built Bollerwagen with a music system on it (mine now even has an electrical auxiliary drive). A dozen people, women and men, and then it starts. Walk a few kilometers, stop at every intersection with a drink break, and at the end a few hundred people meet in a large restaurant where they can eat ´Kohl and Pinkel´. For the restaurant you pay around 50 euros after pre-ordering, and this includes food and all drinks until midnight and also a live band that plays music all the time. Then they celebrate and dance in a large hall, and at the end of the day, a pre-booked bus takes you back home. You can get 2 cabbage tours a year, and now the trend in my area is to have a similarly structured asparagus-tour a few months later :-D

You clap in the theatre/movies/airplane/bus and you knock in school/the job/Uni. Knocking is more official i guess ^^. In Saxony/Leipzig the girls party on fathers day as well. The beer bottle opening thing is just a survival skill xD. I don't carry a bottle opener with me all the time but i can get a beer bottle anywhere so i have to make do with what i have. (Ok a lighter is just a bottle opener that can produce fire so i technically carry a bottle opener all the time)

You guys are super awesome! 👍🏼

I‘m afraid to say that especially in Mallorca a lot of germans assume that every person in Mallorca has to understand german.

Well-presented content keep doing that girls :)

Indian people do the same birthday tradition - usually requires taking chocolates to school to share with your classmates and as adults sponsoring dinner for family

Hmm, read some comments about "Knocking". My first time is see/hear it was as a child in a restaurant (Kneipe) where a lot of people sit an a big desk and someone leave. He knocks on the table (2 times) to "say godbye" to everyone sitting there without disturbing conversations from others. Quick notify too all ;) Uh, forgot this was in the late '60.

The Musical topic reminds me of Christmas time, when you can find the Last Christmas lovers or haters ;-) and people kind of betting when to hear it again for the first time on the radio. And, no Christmas market without Last Christmas! 👍

On Mother’s Day we meet for coffee and cake of course 😍 🥧☕️🌷. Yvonne I am totally with you! Except of having Birkenstock, I have Puschen because I am always freezing ☺️ and as I am always freezing I sleep with the window closed and the heating on. I know that at that point I am a very untypical German 😃 Unfortunately I am not made for the German climate 🙈 Waiting for spring to finally arrive.... 🌸 I also say what I think but always very politely ☺️ Honest and polite answers are almost always possible I think 🙂 I really like your videos!! ❤️

I love that everything has a safety standard here (TÜV approved), especially after im a father😊. The cheers looking in the eyes, I also found it weird 😅

#1 Knocking on the table is a university thing. It is very old and nobody really knows why it exist. But it seems to be a fraternity quirk. #2 Quality Certificates are something good. #3 I've lived in Germany all my life and I don't know anyone who wears Birkenstocks at home. #4 It is believed that this bevaviour on Father's Day is made by the brewing industry in the region of Berlin. It started around 150 years ago. #5 It is youth culture to open a beer in many ways. When germans drink beer, they're young, often younger that the legal age of 16 for drinking beer. It's mostly showing off. #6 I have nothing to say to it. #7 Nobody knows why we love it, but it's a habit. #8 Why should you celebrate something before it happened? If you're unlucky, you won't make it to your birthday. #9 I have nothing to say to it. #10 The repeating of words depends on acustic misunderstanding. I know nobody who would repeat a word that you doesn't know. It makes no sense, not for you, not for us.