Slang "no brainer" -- a challenge for translators

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

  The German borrowing that still has me wondering is "das Baby" (taken from English with the exact same pronunciation).  I understand the need to borrow technological terms (e.g., der Computer) or other terms for concepts that aren't yet present in one's language.  But babies?
Why did the Germans find it necessary or desirable to introduce this word from English?

Gerald Cohen

________________________________

From: American Dialect Society on behalf of Wilson Gray
Sent: Sat 10/28/2006 9:00 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Slang "no brainer" -- a challenge for translators



When I was in the Army in Germany in the early 'Sixties, I was
surprised to hear Germans say, "Das ist nicht _fair_!" Like, they
don't have a word for "fair"? Apparently not.                                                                                                                                                                                            <snip>

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