13

Doch

11/12/09

The English language has no word which is specifically a contradiction.

If we want to argue with a statement, we say “no, it’s not” or “yes, it is” or even “on the contrary”.

The German language has “doch“. So for example:

A: Well, I’m not paying for this.

B: Doch. (“Oh, yes, you are.”)

Inevitably, this is both a consequence of a national character and a factor in its creation, because that’s how language works (ooooh! Mama lookee! Hermeneutic reinsertion! OOooohhh!)

It’s also the reason pantomime is kinda different in German-speaking countries.

A: Doch.

B: Doch.

A: Doch.

B: Doch.

And so on.

(All right, that bit’s a lie. Probably.)

I just wanted you to know about “doch”. It can be quite heroic. It can mean “Hell if I will.” When Christoph Meili said “doch” he really meant it.

Anyway. Just remember: the doch option exists.

13 Comments to “Doch”

  • Jean said on December 11th, 2009:

    ‘Doch’ alone made my five years of school German lessons worthwhile, along with ‘wohl’.

  • Lija (writer's pet) said on December 11th, 2009:

    This reminds me of a semiotics prof I had back in the day who liked to talk about concepts with no English words. eg. the hole between the coffee cup and the handle.

  • Nick Harkaway said on December 11th, 2009:

    The whole teacup thing shades into topology! I love that.

  • grant said on December 11th, 2009:

    Here, you should get a copy of this:

    They Have A Word For It.

    It’s a dictionary of untranslatable words. I loved that book in college.

  • Nick Harkaway said on December 11th, 2009:

    I will get it – but I glanced at the html and thought the title was “They Have Word Light-hearted Untranslatable” which would almost have been better…

  • Rebecca said on December 12th, 2009:

    Hi Nick

    I loved your mention of the word “doch”. As a native German, I have come across similar situations a number of times — I’d encounter an English word and would be unable to find a German equivalent for it.

    But this has brought back a few fond memories. My single-most prominent association with “doch” ist that of a child .. heels dug in, arms folded before the chest, chin jutted out in defiance. And then you utter one word only and tear down the other side’s reasoning. Doch.

    @Grant, that books look very interesting. Added it to my Amazon shopping list.

  • Camilla said on December 13th, 2009:

    Norwegian has two: neida and joda (negative and positive contradiction, respectively). Does this make us doubly cool?

  • Blaine Cook said on December 13th, 2009:

    I actually hadn’t considered the negative powers of the word before, but often find myself wanting for it in situations where I want to assert a negative statement made by another person. For example, “You’re not going to buy that book?!” How to respond? “Yes! I (am? am not?) going to buy the book.” or “No, I (am? am not?) going to buy the book.”

    The correct approach should be “Doch! (I am going to buy the book.)” or “No (I’m not going to buy the book.)”

    I think English should assimilate Doch. It just needs a viral mutation…

  • Tim said on December 16th, 2009:

    We do have such a word. It is: “bollocks”. The American variant is “bullshit”.

  • Tim said on December 16th, 2009:

    Also, if we’re getting into books about words for things English has no word for, I must plug The Deeper Meaning of Liff by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd. They realised that there are hundreds of things, concepts, states of mind etc. that have no word for them, and hundreds of words lounging around on signposts doing nothing. So they decided to match them up. Britain’s array of weird and wonderful place names finally put to good use!

  • Nick Harkaway said on December 16th, 2009:

    Tim – ‘bullshit’ doesn’t have nearly the number of meanings “doch” has, alas. Not to mention it’s a touch aggressive in many of the ‘doch’ situations…

  • Colin said on December 20th, 2009:

    Well, we’ve more or less adopted ‘schadenfreude’, and ‘doch’ is, uh, slightly easier to spell.

    The closest I can think of in English is ‘Really?’ said in a sarcastic tone.

    It’s important to remember that the concept is translatable, even if the word itself is not.

  • Sean O'Connell said on January 8th, 2010:

    Also, Nick! Nicht doch!
    (Can you find an English expression for it?)

Add your comment: