Once again on the subject of “east/west” or “anglicism affinity”…
It is actually not a purely American sport that we are discussing here. It is a variation of a sport invented in North America (namely FIBA-BB instead of NBA-BB), with differences in the rules and especially in the tactics. In my opinion, it would have deserved to emphasize the differences to the US version more clearly. Unfortunately, the opposite is happening. Everything is English/American, and the new hall in Munich is even called “Garden”.
In my opinion, “West Germany” had actually taken a somewhat bizarre development during the time of the two blocs. People not only practiced the correct anglicisms with joy, but far too many also – and this is specific to Germany – so-called “pseudo-anglicisms”, that is, English-sounding words that no native uses (“handy”, “home office”, “dressman”, “public viewing”, “talkmaster” etc. etc.). This is clearly “too much of a good thing”, or even a bit embarrassing. In a reunified country where not everyone has gone along with this nonsense, one could those who have done this or are still doing it, think about that.
Considering the independence of European basketball, I wouldn’t think a little more independence would be such a bad thing. And it would be interesting to find out how other basketball-loving countries view this.
ps Where the anglicisms actually have a detrimental effect in my opinion is with terms like “pick and roll”. How is a sports fan who has no connection to basketball supposed to understand that straight away? Unfortunately, this term has to be used throughout the FIBA world (on Wikipedia there are entries in 14 languages, everywhere it is called “pick and roll”, in Italy, in Turkey, in Poland, etc. etc.)
2024-06-25 15:58:57
#Anglicisms #basketball #replaced #German #words
