A pickled herring rolled around a cucumber pickle, fastened with funny wooden picks. That’s a rollmops! I just pulled one from a jar of brine, cold from the fridge…
While enjoying what I consider to be a quintessential German snack, I wondered if the name (a mashup of the German roll, as in the verb “roll,” and Mops, as in “pug”) has an English translation. Turns out they are loved by some in the English-speaking world, but the English name for rollmops is simply “rollmops.”
Update: this just in!
Days of Deutsch, a fantastic Berlin blog on language and local culture, was inspired by my Word of the Day to whip up this amazing comparison collage. Rollmops vs. Mops. Can you tell them apart?
My briniest, dill-garnished thanks to Polly! Folks, do follow @daysofdeutsch. Your German (or your English) will surely grow in new ways.
Thanks to Flickr user Alpha for making the great photo at the top — a Rollmops in England! — available via a Creative Commons License.
