Kein Problem. Einmal den Mund öffnen, bitte.

The following two phrases appear in Play the Part  - A Perfect Smile

Kein Problem. Einmal den Mund öffnen, bitte.

Könnten Sie Ihren Mund einmal weit öffnen, bitte?

What is the function of einmal in these phrases and when should it be used?

Simon

Hi Simon

Was just looking at that lesson. Now you have set me wondering. I just took it as an idiosyncracy of any language.

Just listening to those conversations make me anxious, hate going to the dentit.LOl

Sharon

Yes I hate the dentist too. I am old enough to remember when they didn't use local anaethetic and that put me off for life.

I notice that we have seen this use of einmal before in level 2 - at the gas station.

Einmal Volltanken, bitte.

It never occurred to me to question it. I wonder if it could be translated as “Just a fill up please”?

That wouldn't really work at the densitist but maybe it's the same idea.

At the barber I might say “Just a trim please”

Simon

Hi Simon

As I said the idiosyncracies of language. People learning English must have many Huh? moments. In Singapore there is something called Singlish. When we first moved there I battled to understand Singaporean accents in English, phone calls were a nightmare, after awhile one adapted and used similar ways of speaking. 

I smile as my German friend from Hanover speaks high German and she is very verbal as to how people speak German in certain regions.

As for the dentist, I was terrified of needles as a child, so even though the dentist had local anaesthetic would opt no to have one. I still don't like needles, but have learnt to control that fear. As a small child and well into primary school spent a lot of time in an orthopedic office.

Medical treatments sure have changed and children are now treated with a lot more empathy and consideration. My kids have no fear of dentists. 

Keep well

Sharon

I found this explanation on stackexchange in response to a question about Einmal Volltanken, bitte.:

"The use of 'einmal' when ordering things is very common in German; the idea being that e.g. at a burger place, you're ordering one burger and that's it. The conversational implication is that "you can start processing my order now, because there won't be any more items".

At a gas station it's comparatively unlikely that you'll have a second car waiting around which you'd like filled up as well, so that this implication isn't really needed, but since it's so widespread in ordering situations, people will still say it even though the literal meaning isn't necessary."

I think my guess was not too far wide of the mark. It will be intersting to see what the tutor says.

Simon

Hallo zusammen!

It's a colloquial expression to mean “once” as in “can you open your mouth once/one time so I can have a look at your teeth?". It makes your request sound more polite as it suggests that you don't want to bother them too much with what you are asking them to do. It's very similar to making other orders, e.g. at a restaurant or when using services, for example:

“Einmal waschen und schneiden, bitte.” - “A wash and cut, please.” 

“Einmal Currywurst mit Pommes, bitte.” - “(A portion of) currywurst and chips, please.”

The currywurst example can also be altered to 

"Zweimal Currywurst mit Pommes, bitte.”  - (Two portions of) currywurst and chips, please.”

"Dreimal Currywurst mit Pommes, bitte.” - (Three portions of) currywurst and chips, please.”

Here, you're literally saying “2 x currywurst and chips” and “3 x currywurst and chips”. It's a quicker way of saying “Ich hätte gerne eine/zwei/drei Portionen…..” - “I would like one/two/three portions of….”.

Hope this helps!

Julia

Thank you Julia, so are you saying that einmal is funtioning like a modal particle here, making the request more polite, rather than a way of indicating your request is limited as sugested in the stack exchange post.

Simon

Hallo Simon!

It is a bit of both actually. “Einmal den Mund öffnen, bitte.” also indicates that the dentist wants you to open your mouth now and there are no other requests or other information (for now). At the same time, it is a quicker way of saying ”Können Sie bitte den Mund (jetzt) öffnen?" ("Can you open your mouth (now) please?)" and politer than just saying “Öffnen Sie den Mund bitte." ("Open your mouth please.").

Viele Grüße

Julia

Thank you for the further explantion Julia, that's very helpful.

Danke Julia

That makes perfect sense. It makes it so much easier when points like this are explained, as all language has short cuts and expressions and slang. My German friend lives near Hanover in a small town, and when she writes she often includes expressions and every day language which I enjoy getting.  I like the idoms that DW gives in their news letters.

I am a knitter and there is a German designer. When she was recently explaining her pattern I was thrilled that I could understand her. Her patterns are also in English, as following a complicated pattern in German would be beyond me. Her name is HInterm Stein and her patterns are lovely

Have a good weekend 

Sharon