Hello friends,
best motivation to all of you. After short break I am back on track and today I will share small portion of Service Desk experience. From the beginning of my blog I wrote corresponding post about my work in IT.
The idea of the given article is based on true story. I will focus on specific keyword and as a result we will read one short German text related to it.
The word “Kabelsalat” I heard for the first time during my work as German Service Desk agent. Our team was sitting at the round table with numerous IT equipment placed: displays, computers, keyboards, mouses, smart card readers etc. Not to forget about network cables:) So, coming back to the topic. Once my colleague faced small connection issue and had to reconnect the cable. As all wires were cluttered together, she didn’t manage to recognize the right one. After few unsuccessful attempts she exclaimed with slight irritation: “Was für einen Kabelsalat gibt es hier!“. Then she turned to me and asked: “Do you know what cable salad means?”
As I had no clue about it, she explained me the meaning and I have searched for additional info online. That’s how the below-given text was found. Original source
Let us read it in German and English and note few practical words.
Der Kabelsalat
Eisbergsalat, Römersalat, Kabelsalat, Kopfsalat – welcher Salat wohl am besten schmeckt? Einer davon schmeckt überhaupt nicht!
Salate haben im Deutschen manchmal komische Namen: Der Eisbergsalat wächst nicht auf eisigen Bergen. Der Kopfsalat besteht nicht aus Köpfen. Der Römersalat wird nicht ausschließlich von Menschen aus der Hauptstadt Italiens gegessen. All diese Sorten klingen zwar merkwürdig, können aber bedenkenlos gegessen werden. Wem aber Kabelsalat angeboten wird, der sollte dieses Angebot entschieden ablehnen. Denn beim Kabelsalat handelt es sich um Stromkabel, die durcheinander geraten sind. Genau wie bunt gemischte Salatblätter liegen sie auf dem Boden und niemand erkennt mehr, wo das Kabel anfängt oder aufhört.
Warum man hier von Salat spricht und nicht von Kabelspaghetti? Nun, seit Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts wird Salat in der Bedeutung von „Durcheinander“, „Unordnung“ gebraucht. Bei Kabelsalat hilft nur eins: Geduld – und die Vorfreude auf einen leckeren gemischten Salat.
Cable salad
Iceberg lettuce, Romaine lettuce, cable salad, Head lettuce – which one tastes the best? One of them doesn’t taste of anything at all!
Salads have sometimes strange names in German: Iceberg lettuce does not grow on icy mountains. Head lettuce doesn’t consist of heads. Romaine lettuce is not eaten exclusively by people from Italian capital. Although all these varieties sound strange, they can be eaten without hesitation. However, anyone who is offered a tangle of cables should definitely reject this offer. Because the cable salad consists of electrical cables that have become tangled up. Just like a colorful mix of salad leaves, they lie on the ground and nobody can tell where the cable begins or ends.
Why are we talking about salad here and not about cable spaghetti? Well, since the middle of 19th century, the word salad has been used as “mess“, “disorder”. When it comes to cable salad, one thing that helps: patience – and the anticipation of a delicious mixed salad.
Handy reference words:
klingen – to sound
Das klingt toll. Das klingt verwirrend. – That sounds great. That sounds confusing.
bedenkenlos – without hesitation
Diese Pille können Sie bedenkenlos ausprobieren. – You can try this pill without hesitation.
durcheinander geraten sein – to become messed up, tangled up
Die Zeichnung ist ein bisschen durcheinander geraten. – The drawing has become a bit messed up.
anfangen – aufhören. – to begin – to end (stop). -> verbs with separable prefixes
Wir fangen unsere Schulung morgen an. Ich höre mit dem Rauchen auf. – We start our training tomorrow. I end (quit) smoking.
Durcheinander (das) – mess
Mein Kopf ist ein einziges Durcheinander. – My head is a complete mess.
With that we have reached the end of the article, my dear friends. Das klingt schlecht, I know. Still we need to refresh our mind and not to make a “Durcheinander” at once. Our main rule says: we never give up and stop (mit Deutch nicht aufhören) our German learning. Mit freundlichen Grüßen.
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