What do you think of this fact?
When someone from Leipzig or Rostock orders “half a Broiler”, people in Cologne may look a bit lost. Yet this typically East German word is borrowed from English: “Broiler” comes from the verb “to broil”.
From the grill to the dictionary
“To broil” means to cook on a grill or under high heat. The German dictionary DWDS traces it back to the Old French “brûler”, to burn. So a broiler is literally a chicken for grilling.
The German dictionary Duden lists two meanings. Regionally, a “Broiler” is a roast chicken. In technical language, it’s a chicken raised for meat. The DWDS marks both meanings as “often GDR” and links them to the northeast and the central east of Germany. According to the DWDS, the word has been used there since about 1960.
English in East Germany?
At first that sounds like a paradox, because East Germany took a different route with other fast-food classics. According to the German history site Zeitklicks, the hot dog became the “Ketwurst” and the hamburger became the “Grilletta”. The chicken, however, kept its English name. Especially juicy, crispy roast chickens were even called “Goldbroiler”.
“Ketwurst” is a blend of ketchup and Wurst, the German word for sausage. According to Zeitklicks, the sausage in it was thicker than in a hot dog.
In English, “broiler” goes back to the 14th century. According to Merriam-Webster, one meaning is a young, small chicken for broiling. In southern Germany and Austria, people say “Hendl” or “Backhendl” instead, and elsewhere mostly “Brathähnchen” or “Grillhähnchen”. So Germany has several words for the same dish, and one of them is English.
Anyone in Germany who says “Broiler” is speaking a little bit of English, whether they mean to or not.