The problem with ‘Public Viewings’

This evening millions of Germans will be glued to their TV screens to watch the liebe Nationalmannschaft take on Portugal in their first game of this year’s World Cup. And many thousands more Germans will be watching with their friends and fellow countrymen at ‘Public Viewings’ – that’s big screens to you and me.

I was reminded of this annoying Denglishism while in Germany last week. The concept of ‘Public Viewings’ really caught on during the 2006 World Cup, hosted by Germany. Back then the term was reserved for large, open spaces – usually city squares – with giant screens erected in them (see the Stuttgart one to the right). Unsurprisingly, the idea was a massive success and now even German pubs have ‘public viewings’ in their beer gardens. But the term itself has always grated on me.

While the term ‘public viewing’ does exist in English, on both sides of the Atlantic, we tend to use it for more negative purposes – like the public viewing of a casket. Think of all those family tragedies in The Sopranos. As a Brit, it also brings to mind gruesome old tales of public hangings and the heads of traitors being displayed on spikes outside the Tower of London.

What Germans really mean is ‘public viewing area’ – which, in British English, still isn’t really right (we’ll stick with big screens, thank you). The US, however, seems to have plenty of public viewings areas at airports and construction sites, locks and dams – and even at some sports venues. Sometimes one little word really matters.

So remember, if you’re ever in Germany and you see a sign for a public viewing, please don’t let the horrible name put your off. They’re actually quite good fun.