German question!

[annathepiper]

Hey, Germans and German speakers on my Friends list, is it true that the language has 30 different kinds of words referring to kissing? This came up in conversation on the MurkMUSH today, and I was naturally curious, since this wasn't anything I'd known about the language before. Specifically the word 'Nachküssen' got mentioned, referring to 'all the other kisses that haven't been named', or, 'kisses making up for the kisses that have been omitted'. I know German makes compound nouns right and left, I just hadn't heard of this one...? Inquiring minds want to know!

Comments

Not exactly an answer to your question, but....

[me-fein.livejournal.com]

If the Germans can have over 150 names for "dragonfly" (my favourite - also my alter-ego elsewhere on the web - is wasserhexe), I think they can have at least 30 different kinds of words referring to kissing.

Just an observation. :D

Re: Not exactly an answer to your question, but....

[annathepiper]

150 names for "dragonfly"? I hadn't heard that at all... but 'Wasserhexe' is a pretty cool word. :)

[janne.livejournal.com]

Hmm... My first suspicion was that nachküss would be a misspelling for nachtküss (as in, a good-night kiss). It could also be nach in the meaning after, thus the last in a series of kisses. Google found several german pages using 'nachküss', most of which seemed to fit with either interpretation, so I'm holding my options open. (Of course with a language that practices compound nouns such as german or norwegian one can have almost any number of words for the same thing, but using the same root :)
Google for 'nachküss' with the umlaut, but I suspect not all of those pages are worksafe :D

[silme711.livejournal.com]

um... nachküssen? It could be meant as eine Spur nachküssen, you know? But um...how should I say that in english?
(5 minutes of thinking later): Maybe kissing a track of tears? Do you get what I want to say? *ponders* to keep track?
But for example etwas wegküssen=kissing away something is more popular. Or jemanden wachküssen=kissing someone awake.

[annathepiper]

The page that got quoted by stickmaker actually used 'nachkussen', I believe, which if I understand it correctly would actually be incorrect usage--since the plural of Kuss is Küsse, not Küssen, and not to mention that nouns in German are capitalized anyway. But 'küssen' is a legitimate verb. Very confusing. :)

I did see 'nachkuss' show up on several German pages, yeah. I Googled for it. But since I read German at the rate of about one word every five hours (snicker), I couldn't exactly tell what I was looking at in context, not without my dictionary on hand!

[annathepiper]

I think I get the gist of what you're saying, yeah. At the very least, 'nachküssen' is a legitimate verb? The impression I had gotten from the web page that stickmaker had quoted was that that page, at least, thought it was supposed to be a noun.

[kohaku1977.livejournal.com]

I had to look it up in a dictionary. Nachküssen is an oldfashioned word for to kiss belatedly. It's... when society demands a certain behaviour, as kiss a persons hand, and you run up and hug them, and then remember and kiss their hand. That's nachküssen then. It's not used anymore. At least, no one around me uses it anymore!

[annathepiper]

Okay! This seems to go with what silme711 also said, and it sounds a lot more like a verb than a noun. Thank you!