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The "xylo" is greek for wood (slrpnk.net)

submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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A lone figure at a party reflects that the rest of the revelers don't know that "xylophones" with metal bars are actually glockenspiels.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago (2 children)

This always messed with me as a kid because for no reason I can come up with, xylophone made sense as the metal one and glockenspiel made sense as the wood one

It took more effort than it should to unlearn this

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

Xylo=wood in Greek

Knowing this made this even more confusing though!

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

German Glocke = English bell = made out of metal

Literally Glockenspiel = bell game

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Chiming in for clarification: Literally it's "bell game" but the word's meaning is more like "bells that play" or "bells to play with".

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Oh yah, play with mein bells

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

Aw man I just spieled on mein glock

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

And this is why it is good advice not to think too much about that word as a German speaker.