Multilingual variation and commodification: to go in the German semiotic landscape

The English-origin phrase to go, as used in the German multilingual semiotic landscape, e.g. on public signs in cities, has developed meanings beyond its literal semantic meaning and with glocalised social connotations. This analysis shows that while it can be used at times almost equivalently to German zum Mitnehmen (‘to take away’), to go appears on written signs in Germany in new and playful localised ways. In addition, the connotation of to go (i.e. in contrast to zum Mitnehmen) is that of a modern, cosmopolitan image for businesses using it to advertise their goods and for consumers who consume them. It has thus grown to be used emblematically, creating a positive effect connected to the products and the shopping experience. We discuss this in terms of commodification of this English phrase to sell an image along with the good, and as glocalisation of a loanword into the German cultural context.