[de > en] I'd like to know what a few of these words mean in this comic (mastodon.social)

submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by k0e3@lemmy.ca to c/translators@lemmy.ca

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I get the joke this time. It's that the child is asking for more allowance and the parent is asking them to try harder in school.

The kid promises and the parent says something like, "ok I'll give you 25¢ a day instead of 2€ a week!" Right?

I was wondering if someone could clarify a few things though.

Is "krieg" here "kriegen?" I see in the Cambridge dictionary that it's a colloquial form of "give." It's kinda neat that you'd say "gimme" instead of "can I have".

How "bad," is "Niete?" It says in the dictionary that it means someone/something that is a loser or a complete failure, but that sounds a bit harsh coming from a parent. Is it a little light-hearted like "dummy," harher like "dumbass," or even worse?

Thanks!

I'd also like to remind anyone reading this that if you need help with Japanese, I'm always here to help!

Edit to add: Thanks so much for the explanation! I won't be calling anyone Niete to be safe.

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[-] Lumidaub@feddit.org 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Yes, that's "kriegen". It's not "gimme" though, it's "can I receive" (only colloquialised). I don't know why your dictionary would tell you it means "to give", that's just wrong.

The "Niete" is made more soft by "du kleine". "Aw, you little dumbass" is the intention. But it is also part of the joke that the parent would actively exploit their kid's lack of knowledge to pay them less. Unless you're a shit parent, you wouldn't (shouldn't) call your kid a "Niete" to their face without making it very clear you're just teasing.

this post was submitted on 09 Jun 2026

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