...unless you're German, of course. Taken from
this article. I must say, there are a few words I've never heard of or used, so I'm only posting the ones I know and use. In cases like this, being fluent in two languages really is a lot of fun!
1. Ohrwurm (Ear worm)
Have you ever listened to a song on the radio while driving to work
only to find yourself still humming the same tune by lunch time?
Congratulations, you’ve had an ear worm. The beautiful German word
Ohrwurm describes the fact of having a song stuck in your head as if it wriggled itself into your brain through your ear.
2. Fernweh (Distance pain)
This gem describes the feeling of wanting to be somewhere else. It’s kind of like a reverse homesickness (
Heimweh in German), a longing for a place that isn’t where you are right now.
Fernweh is also a frequent reason for people in Germany to go on holiday.
3. Kummerspeck (Grief bacon)
When a relationship ends or during other times of sadness, anger, or worry, it’s common to put on a few pounds of
Kummerspeck.
What it means is the excess weight put on by emotional overeating. So
when you find yourself on the couch watching ”Bridget Jones’ Diary” with
a tub of ice cream, you are in fact feeding your grief bacon.
4. Innerer Schweinehund (Inner pig dog)
Can’t get up in the morning to be on time for work? Too lazy to go to
the gym? Homework remains undone until the last minute? Don’t worry,
it’s not your fault. The blame lies with your
inner pig dog.
That’s the tiny voice in the back of your head which is trying to
convince you to live a life of inertia and which you will have to
overcome to rid yourself of
Kummerspeck.
5. Fremdschämen (Exterior shame)
For those of you who cringe in phantom pain when others make a fool
of themselves, this is your word. It describes the feeling of shame when
seeing someone else in an uncomfortable or embarrassing situation. It’s
a real thing for the more empathetic folk and has kept more than one
person from watching “the Office
.” the translation isn't quite accurate, as 'Fremd' means strange, alien, unpersonal, but you get the idea
6. Lebensmüde (Life tired)
This word literally means being tired of life and was used to
describe the dramatic and soul-crushing emotional agony of young
Romantic poets (see also
Weltschmerz and
Weichei). Nowadays
lebensmüde is
what you call your friends when they are attempting something
especially stupid and possibly life threatening. Most people in fail
videos on YouTube suffer from latent
Lebensmüdigkeit.
7. Weltschmerz (World pain)
The world isn’t perfect. More often than not it fails to live up to what we wish it was.
Weltschmerz describes the pain we feel at this discrepancy. It can be one of the main drivers for
Kummerspeck.
8. Weichei (Soft egg)
No,
Weichei isn’t what you order in the hotel when you want a
three-minute egg for breakfast. In fact the waiter might look at you
slightly disconcerted for accusing him of being a wuss. A soft egg, in
German, means someone who is weak and cowardly. The same is also
conveyed by calling someone
Würstchen, the diminutive of sausage. Apparently Germans like to name wimps after foodstuffs.
9. Erklärungsnot (Explanation poverty)
Erklärungsnot is a state shared by cheating spouses, lying
politicians, and school children without their homework alike. It’s what
you find yourself in when put on the spot without a sufficient
explanation or excuse for something you have done or failed to do. Most
often used in the form of
in Erklärungsnot geraten or
in Erklärungsnot sein.
'Not' is more like 'need' or even 'crisis/emergency', but again, you get the gist
10. Sitzfleisch (Sit or seat meat)
As much as it sounds like it,
Sitzfleisch isn’t a recipe of German
Hausfrauen that
involves tenderizing meat by placing it under your buttocks. Instead,
it describes a character trait. Those who possess a lot of seat meat are
able to sit through and weather something incredibly hard or boring.
It’s like carrying your own personal cushion around with you.
11. Purzelbaum (Tumble tree)
This tree is so common in Germany that every child knows it. However,
if you are about to take out your big German botanical dictionary, let
me stop you right there. Fespite the name, a
Purzelbaum isn’t
part of the kingdom of plants. Instead, it describes a somersault on the
ground, a favorite way of children to get their clothes dirty.
12. Dreikäsehoch (Three cheeses high)
This sounds like it would make a great name for a pizza. However,
what it describes is a person who is vertically challenged, implying
they’re only as tall as three wheels of cheese placed on top of each
other. Usually this label is reserved for small children, together with
Zwerg or
Pimpf.
13. Zungenbrecher (Tongue breaker)
While it sounds like a medieval torture instrument, the nature of the
Zungenbrecher is
much less gruesome. It is the German equivalent of tongue twister, a
phrase that’s very hard to pronounce even for native speakers due to its
sequence of letters. A very common one in German is
Blaukraut bleibt Blaukraut und Brautkleid bleibt Brautkleid. Yeah, practice that for a while and say it 10 times fast.
I still can't do it very fast, and not even close to 10 times
14. Kuddelmuddel (???)
I know, great final word right? Don’t even start guessing its English meaning.
Kuddelmuddel describes an unstructured mess, chaos, or hodgepodge
. Alternatives which are equally awesome include
Tohuwabohu,
Wirrwarr,
Mischmasch, and
Kladderadatsch.
I know, some of these just sound too far-fetched to be true. Well, they
are far-fetched – gathered in the distant land of Germany. If you’re
still convinced I’m making up words, go ahead and look them up in the
dictionary!
They really do exist & I use all of them
