Do you vuvuzela?
17.06.2010
Have you been watching the football games at the World Cup in South Africa? Have you also noticed a strange sound that seems to accompany every game? The World Cup will hopefully be remembered for lots of good things - for great goals and for the spirit of competition. It will definitely be remembered for the incredible vuvuzelas.
Many people are calling these plastic trumpets the world's most annoying instrument. But the name "vuvuzela" is supposed to come from the Zulu language, although no one can agree on what it means exactly - some say it means "making noise", which seems like a good name to me.
As I'm writing this blog, the Facebook group "I hate vuvuzelas" already has almost 5,000 members. But I won't be joining it. What about you? Do you love or hate the vuvuzelas? You can't be indifferent towards them because they are impossible to ignore. Reaching about 130 decibels, the vuvuzelas are louder than the referee's whistle or a chainsaw at full throttle. And as you can see, we've got our own vuvuzela here in the office! We tested it the other day, believe me – they are LOUD!
For the South Africans, the World Cup is a reason to celebrate and they love to party at high volume. The vuvuzelas are a part of their culture, although again no one can say for sure where the instrument actually comes from - popular theories include Mexico, the Middle East and African villages.
Vuvuzelas have been popular at sports events in South Africa for the last 20 years, and soon they will be coming here too. You can buy them on Amazon and other shopping websites. I've already heard a few of them on the streets in Munich. So stock up on earplugs because love them or hate them – we're going to hear a lot of people blowing their own trumpets.
begleiten
Tore
unglaublich
hier: nervtötend
soll
gleichgültig
Schiedsrichter
Pfeife
Kettensäge
voll aufgedreht
lautstark
eigentlich, tatsächlich
einen Vorrat anlegen
Ohrenstöpsel
auch: sich selbst loben
COMMENTS
Hey everyone!
I'd like to comment on Richard's blog about vuvuzuelas.
To start with, I'm not that huge football fan, but I feel okay about it. With everyone talking about the World Cup, I'm interested in it, too. However, I didn't watch the first game when Germany played against Australia because there were an awful lot of other thing I had too so. After having done all those, it was quite late and I just wanted to go to bed being really tired. This is why I wasn't that delighted about Germany won the game (I listened to the radio and heard my brother and Dad watching it)- I just wanted to sleep. However, this wasn't what I was able to because of, you know, some crazy sound, an awful sound on the streets. You might guess where it came from... Exactly. It's about nothing but vuvuzuelas and the moment I started hated them. How can you make that loud noise at that time?
In addition to that I watched the second game of Germany on Friday against Serbia. Having gone to public viewing, I felt really comfortable that those vuvuzuelas are forbidden in lot of town in Germany such as in Tübingen, too. Anyway, there were some guys blowing their own trumpets nowhere but there - exactly next to me! I didn't care that much about Germany losing- but about these noises. Everyone would forbid someone to use a chainsaw at full throttle next to someone's ears...but what about vuvuzuelas? They don't care... However, I will be watching this "important" game against Ghana this evening. And I'm going to turn down the volume until I can't hear anything anymore!