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Saftladen

Learn a funny, quirky German word each week with DW's Word of the Week feature. This week: Saftladen.

https://p.dw.com/p/Rl7x
Image: picture-alliance/ dpa

In the 19th century, pharmacies were jokingly called "juice shops," due to the rows of bottles and icky-tasting concoctions mixed by the pharmacist himself. The term "juice shops" was later used to describe stores that sold different kinds of less-medicinal (but not necessarily better tasting) liquids: Liquor stores. Since they didn't have a particularly good reputation, the phrase "juice shop" also took on a negative connotation. Nowadays, any disreputable business can be called a "Saftladen," regardless of whether or not it's a juice shop.

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