Re: Names that have been ruined
[ QUOTE ]
Adolf is really a prime example. It'd be interesting to see how many Germans, since '45, have given their kid that name. Similarly, "Der Fuehrer" was a pretty common term in German before WWII (it just means "the leader"). That term has been almost completely stricken from common usage because of the associations.
[/ QUOTE ]
Adolf is a name that you hardly ever see in Germany or Austria except old people from about that time. I only know 1 or 2 persons who still have that name and then you really think "that's weird. How could his parents name the boy 'Adolf'?". It's completely burned.
But "Führer" is still used in some kinds of circumstances. As you stated correctly, it means "leader". But another important meaning is "guide". So the dude who shows you around a museum is a "Museumsführer" or a book about travel can be a "Führer". In legal language, someone who is driving a car is the "Führer" of the car. It's not a title or something created for Hitler. It's something or someone who guides or leads. But it is used in very few cases other than the ones I stated above, as far as I can see from my everyday-life perspective.
|