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Geoyo Posted 13 years ago
Vocabulary

Verboten

I read this on a web site:

"However, cationic surfactants have been shown to damage the mill-applied protectants on carpet, and are therefore strictly verboten in carpet products."
I know that English borrows some German expressions, but this one seems quite strange to me. How common is that word? Would the average English speaking person understand it? Couldn't you just replace it with "forbidden", isn't it the same?
  

Top answer

Correct. Verboten is German for 'forbidden'. I'm not sure how many Americans are familiar with it, but I think that most would recognize it in context.

— Philip

  • Correct.
  • Verboten is German for 'forbidden'.
  • I'm not sure how many Americans are familiar with it, but I think that most would recognize it in context.
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8 Answers
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Correct. Verboten is German for 'forbidden'. I'm not sure how many Americans are familiar with it, but I think that most would recognize it in context.
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When used, it is usually for slightly humorous emphasis in casual conversation.

Clive
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Thank you. I wouldn't have thought it to be in a dictionary. It just seems weird to me, as I have encountered it for the first time.

(another question, is it "the first time" or "for the first time" in my last sentence?)
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geoyo(another question, is it "the first time" or "for the first time" in my last sentence?)
For the first time.
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geoyo"the first time" or "for the first time"
This summer I went to Paris for the first time. The first time I went to France I didn't have time to see Paris.
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geoyoI know that English borrows some German expressions, but this one seems quite strange to me. How common is that word?
I've heard it enough to use it comfortably myself. Perhaps it came into English from the great wars.
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