English Translation
There are no girls among us.
Is this an idiom? Why is it not the literal translation of “under”?
One of the usual meanings of “unter” is “among”, especially but not exclusively with “sein”.
Nobody would understand this sentence as “There are no girls under us.”
That could be understood as politically iincorrect, to say the least.
If you change the verb, it is possible.
“Es wohnen keine Mädchen unter uns.”
(You live on the 2nd floor and on the 1st floor there are only boys,
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I wonder if unter is cognate with Latin inter? That would make perfect sense.
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Interesting idea.
I had to look it up; it seems that “under/unter” are Germanic; “inter” und “unter” have similar but not identical Indogermanic roots.
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