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what's an alter
Alter, wo is mein Auto
A northern oida.
From what I looked up it means something like dude or mate. It's also used when expressing suprise? If native speaker has better insight I'd appreciate it.
It's pretty much just "dude", vor talking with friends. Other widely used versions include "Digga" and "Bruder"
Omg you just can’t go say the d word. /s
Ok digga dann eben nicht
The literal meaning is a really informal "old one" but can also mean "age" in another context. It is used exactly like you described.
So Germans colloquially call each other "old man"? That's kinda hilarious
It is one way to do so, german youth also use several english terms or "Digga" which is a modified form of the word "Dicker" meaning fat. Although I am no linguist I would assume that Alter and Dicker were used in combination with Freund (friend) first since those are valid phrases that still are in use.
As much as English speakers call each other "male sibling" or "canine".
Technically correct, but no one makes that association in everyday language.
Alter, das kann doch jetzt nicht wahr sein.