If you’ve ever walked down a street in Germany, chances are you’ve chuckled at a hair salon’s name. German hairdressers have turned naming into a creative art form … often cheeky, sometimes groan-worthy, and always memorable.
From clever wordplay to pop culture references, salon names in Germany showcase a flair for humor and linguistic inventiveness. More often than not, wordplay combining German and English is used. Examples include: 'Hairforce One', 'The Hairport', or 'Kamm Inn', the latter of which is pronounced like the English phrase 'come in'. Kamm means 'comb', by the way.
The name of the hairdresser in the German short story 'Gut Ding will Weile haben' is 'Da-schau-Hair'. It was my own idea and I am really proud of it 😊. Although I’m quite sure it already exists somewhere. Otherwise, I promise, I will someday become a hairdresser and open a salon by this name.
'Da schau her!' is a Bavarian or southern German expression meaning 'Look at that!' It’s used to express surprise or admiration. 'Da-schau-Hair' on the other hand sounds like the original German phrase, but swaps in the English word 'hair' to fit the salon theme. So in our story one could say with regard to Herbert's wife: 'Look at this hair!' … with a wink and a pun. I know: jokes always get funnier when you explain them … not.
Be that as it may. The name 'Da-schau-Hair' is a typical example of the light-hearted, multilingual wordplay beloved by small businesses in Germany … especially in the world of hairdressing, where creativity isn’t limited to scissors and colour, but starts right at the front door.
So 'Hairzlichen Glückwunsch'(Herzlichen Glückwunsch = congratulations) if you happen to pass a salon called 'Love is in the hair' (also my own idea :-)), 'Hairy Potter' or 'Hairzog von Dingensdorf'. This will be 'Hairlich' (herrlich = delightful). Just take a moment to enjoy the linguistic style then … before you step in for your own new style.
See also: Further explanations about the story
'The German short story 'Gut Ding will Weile haben''
'The Difference between schaut, sieht aus and schaut aus'
'The German Expression 'Um die Ecke''
'The Difference between German and English quotation marks'
'The German Hairdressers‘ Wordplay Competition'