# bessere dich



## dressageangel

Hallo,

Bitte, was bedeutet "bessere dich"? A friend used this in an email as a "ps", and although I find many references to it on the Internet, I cannot get the exact meaning. They laughed and told me to keep looking when I asked them what it meant!

I am just learning German - es tut mir leid this is not in Deutsch!

Vielen dank!


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## Schwichtenhövel

dressageangel said:


> Hallo,
> 
> Bitte, was bedeutet "bessere dich"? A friend used this in an email as a "ps", and although I find many references to it on the Internet, I cannot get the exact meaning. They laughed and told me to keep looking when I asked them what it meant!
> 
> I am just learning German - es tut mir leid this is not in Deutsch!
> 
> Vielen dank!


 
I found: >to improve, >to better oneself.

In german, this is very often used in an ironical way, not as much as an explicit imperative. So one must not overlook that slight wink which is hidden. _ Get your manners mended...


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## Henryk

It means that you should amend your behaviour. (sich bessern)

Is it possible that he meant "verbessere dich"? That'd mean "improve" in English.


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## heidita

I think the best translation for this is the typical :

Be good!

Really, verbessern means improve. But I suppose he wanted to say the equivalent of the above.


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## dressageangel

Thank you for the replies!

He told me that he knew I wouldn't understand it when I read his email and laughed when I asked him what it meant. Thank goodness for this forum! 

I was thinking along the lines of "toe the line," "straighten up", "behave", but I'll bet "be good" is what he meant.

Vielen dank, jetzt ich verstehe!


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## Whodunit

I guess "behave" would be a very reasonable translation.


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## englishman

dressageangel said:


> Thank you for the replies!
> 
> He told me that he knew I wouldn't understand it when I read his email and laughed when I asked him what it meant. Thank goodness for this forum!
> 
> I was thinking along the lines of "toe the line," "straighten up", "behave", but I'll bet "be good" is what he meant.
> 
> Vielen dank, jetzt ich verstehe!



In BE at least, you may jokingly put "Don't do anything I wouldn't do !" at the end of a letter or email, which although pretty much untranslatable, means something like "don't do anything too naughty/shocking/illegal, but have a good time nonetheless". I suspect the German that you posted has a similar meaning.


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## illuminaut

englishman said:


> In BE at least, you may jokingly put "Don't do anything I wouldn't do !" at the end of a letter or email, which although pretty much untranslatable, means something like "don't do anything too naughty/shocking/illegal, but have a good time nonetheless". I suspect the German that you posted has a similar meaning.


I don't think that's the same here. "Bessere dich" implies that the writer refers to some behaviour which wasn't quite so acceptable in the past, so "behave" and "be good" capture that sentiment better. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do" is more of an encouragement than a friendly warning.


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## englishman

illuminaut said:


> I don't think that's the same here. "Bessere dich" implies that the writer refers to some behaviour which wasn't quite so acceptable in the past, so "behave" and "be good" capture that sentiment better. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do" is more of an encouragement than a friendly warning.



You could be right. In that case, I guess that it may be a humorous warning along the lines of "you'd better clean up your act, or you'll be in trouble !" written in a half-admiring/half-admonishing tone. Unfortunately I'm linguistically out of my depth here, so I'll leave to the bilingual members to make more sensible comments.


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## dressageangel

illuminaut said:


> I don't think that's the same here. "Bessere dich" implies that the writer refers to some behaviour which wasn't quite so acceptable in the past, so "behave" and "be good" capture that sentiment better. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do" is more of an encouragement than a friendly warning.



Hmmm, yes, past, um, naughty behaviour might be targeted here! 

So can anyone please suggest a good comeback/reply to this for me, especially considering that the "bessere dich" comes from someone who has occasionally been an instigator/co-conspirator when I've gone a little wild?

(Right now my German is on the level of ordering food/drink, going shopping, taking taxis and subways, asking for directions, the time, about one's health, etc. Past tense is riii-ght around the corner, though, and I anticipate that a whole new world will open up to me.  I'll be so happy when I can actually say in German what I want to say!)

Vielen dank!


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## illuminaut

dressageangel said:


> Hmmm, yes, past, um, naughty behaviour might be targeted here!
> 
> So can anyone please suggest a good comeback/reply to this for me, especially considering that the "bessere dich" comes from someone who has occasionally been an instigator/co-conspirator when I've gone a little wild?


"Das sagt der Richtige" = "look who's talking"

that's if it's a guy. "Das sagt die Richtige" works for a girl.


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## heidita

illuminaut said:


> "Das sagt der Richtige" = "look who's talking"
> 
> that's if it's a guy. "Das sagt die Richtige" works for a girl.


 
I have not heard this personally. I would sugggest:

*Das musst du gerade sagen!*

 (The stress is on the du)


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## dressageangel

illuminaut said:


> "Das sagt der Richtige" = "look who's talking"
> 
> that's if it's a guy.


 
 That would be perfect, actually. 




heidita said:


> I have not heard this personally. I would sugggest:
> 
> *Das musst du gerade sagen!*
> 
> (The stress is on the du)



  Can you please give the English translation?  Es tut mir leid, mein Deutsch ist schlect.   (that's probably grammatically incorrect, too.  Argh.)

Thanks again.


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## beclija

I personally prefer "das sagt der/die Richtige" which is idiomatic. "das musst DU gerade sagen" means literally "is it you who has to say that" and supposedly has the same semantics. But for me the second sounds like a second choice if you don't know the idiomatic expression. "Das sagst gerade du" would be somewhat better. Personal opinion.

P.S: Your German was perfect, except for a typo (I suppose): it's schlec*h*t.


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## heidita

Das musst Du gerade sagen.

das musst du gerade sagen [ugs.] you should talk! [coll.] [Am.]

Das musst du gerade sagen! [ugs.] Look who's talking! [coll.]You are a fine one to talk! [coll.] 

http://www.dict.cc/deutsch-englisch/Das+musst+du+gerade+sagen.html


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## Whodunit

heidita said:


> I have not heard this personally. I would sugggest:
> 
> *Das musst du gerade sagen!*
> 
> (The stress is on the du)


 
"Das sagt der Richtige" is what we usually say. The expression you suggested sound better if the "gerade" is stressed as well (at least, the second stress should fall on "gerade").


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## heidita

*Das musst du gerade sagen!*

That's what _we_ usually say.


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## Whodunit

heidita said:


> *Das musst du gerade sagen!*
> 
> That's what _we_ usually say.


 
It depends on who you call "we." I was referring to teenagers in general. The word "gerade" is always shortened to "grade" and gets the second stress in this expression.


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## dressageangel

beclija said:


> P.S: Your German was perfect, except for a typo (I  suppose): it's schlec*h*t.



Danke!  Leider, es war nicht ein  typo.  Mein Fehler!  Aber das wird in der Zukunft richtig sein. 



heidita said:


> Das musst Du gerade sagen.
> 
> das musst du gerade sagen [uqs] you should talk! [coll] [Am.]
> 
> Das musst du gerade sagen! [uqs.] Look who's talking! [coll.] You are a fine one to talk! [coll.]
> 
> 
> (dict.cc URL snipped... it wouldn't let me post the URL since I don't have 30 posts yet)


 
 Das website (dict.cc) ist wunderbar - danke. 

Thanks to all for the help! PS my friend is Austrian - don't know if that makes a difference sometimes, but a friend of mine who teaches German at a university here told me when I've asked for translation help that sometimes his German is "unlike any German I have ever seen."  She understands it, but the construction or word usage is different.

Anyway, thanks to you all, I understand this one.


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## Lykurg

Returning to the thread's origin, I must say I disagree with anybody...





dressageangel said:


> Bitte, was bedeutet "bessere dich"? A friend used this in an email as a "ps", and although I find many references to it on the Internet, I cannot get the exact meaning. They laughed and told me to keep looking when I asked them what it meant!


I read and used "bessere dich" as a PS in some of my e-mails from and to my friends, but surely not as a remark on behaviour (though it sounds like that), but to express "Gute Besserung!" (Get well soon!) in a humorous way. So, I wouldn't use it if somebody is seriously ill, and also not to somebody of an elder generation.


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## dressageangel

Lykurg said:


> Returning to the thread's origin, I must say I disagree with anybody...I read and used "bessere dich" as a PS in some of my e-mails from and to my friends, but surely not as a remark on behaviour (though it sounds like that), but to express "Gute Besserung!" (Get well soon!) in a humorous way. So, I wouldn't use it if somebody is seriously ill, and also not to somebody of an elder generation.



This is good to know - thanks for the information!

As an aside, how is "bessare" pronounced?  "BESS-ah-ruh?"

Thanks again.


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## Whodunit

dressageangel said:


> This is good to know - thanks for the information!
> 
> As an aside, how is "bessere" pronounced? "BESS-ah-ruh?"
> 
> Thanks again.


 
You can use this site to listen to the German pronuncation. Please choose "Eva (deutsch) - neutral - sehr langsam" and enter the text "bessere dich."


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## dressageangel

Whodunit said:


> You can use this site to listen to the German pronuncation. Please choose "Eva (deutsch) - neutral - sehr langsam" and enter the text "bessere dich."



Thank you for the "bessere" correction... !

RE: "Eva (deutsch) - neutral - sehr langsam" - which page on this site do I find that on? I have looked and I can't find it. I'd love to have another pronunciation source; I tried entering "bessere" and also "bessern" on both h t t p://dict.leo.org and h t t p:// dict.tu-chemnitz.de (the Board won't let me post URLs yet!) but they didn't have the pronunciation. 

Thanks again.


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## dressageangel

Whodunit said:


> You can use <this site> to listen to the German pronuncation. Please choose "Eva (deutsch) - neutral - sehr langsam" and enter the text "bessere dich."



Thanks for the link! I couldn't figure out how to edit my other post to take out my question after you posted the link. Vielen dank.   Great resource site!


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## Schwichtenhövel

dressageangel said:


> Thanks for the link! I couldn't figure out how to edit my other post to take out my question after you posted the link. Vielen dank.  Great resource site!


 
This might also and quicker be done by one of my popular transciptions:

_As an aside, how is "bessare" pronounced? "BESS-ah-ruh?"_

Beassure - just as 'pleasure', but not with a soft _sh/j_. With a hard _double-ss_!

To this Beassure (just as 'pleasure' in the beginning!) you join a simple 're'.
Ruff, ruff! - So, that _"BESS-ah-ruh?"_ from above was not too bad!

In the end we have:
Beassure* (just as 'pleasure') +
*re (just as a simple 're', but not like a 'ree'!)

Stress on Beassure (just as in pleasure). - 

It was quite a bad example...  
Perhaps better transcriptions later...


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