154 German Words That Don't Translate

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Does Not Translate

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154 German Words That Don't Translate

Fernweh·The opposite of homesickness.

Sondern?·A question meaning If that's not correct, then what is?.

Pasch·Rolling the same number on two dice.

Kampfbegriff·A loaded word that a certain group uses a lot.

Splitterfasernackt·Naked, but like really, really naked.

Doch·Double negative.

Totschweigen·Making something go away by never ever talking about it.

Heißhunger·A sudden appetite for something specific, often something sweet (literally means hot hunger).

Besucherritze·Visitors Crack.

Fressen·To eat (but only animals fressen).

Dreikäsehoch·A toddler, literally as high as three loaves of cheese.

Pustekuchen!·When something doesn't turn out or you don't get something as you expect.

Alkoholleichen·Drunk people wandering home late at night/early morning.

Notgeil·Being so horny it's an emergency.

Strohwitwer·Literally straw widow. Noun: A husband who's home alone while his wife is out of town.

Kummerspeck·'Grief Bacon', the weight you gain from overeating while upset.

Mahnmal·A specialised form of memorial, which would be Denkmal. mahnen means to remind, caution, urge, Mal is the -ial part. Hence why Holocaust memorial is a very, very fuzzy translation.

Schadenfreude·The pleasure derived from observing others' misfortune.

Bildungslücke·A gap in your education or your knowledge of pop culture.

Zwiebacksäge·A particularly loud moped.

Wegzehrung·Food you take with you to eat while travelling.

Mitdenken·To keep up with the cognitive flow of the present endeavor.

Schwarzfahren·The act of riding on public transport without a ticket.

Nachäffen·Repeating/Imitating what someone says in a mocking fashion.

Artgerecht·Describes appropriate living conditions for an animal.

Drei-Liter-Blutspender·A badass (literally three-liter blood donor).

Ebenda·Used to indicate that somebody died in the same place they were born.

Kuckuckskind·(noun) Literally cuckoo's child: A child who is not raised by their biological father, but is raised by another man who (wrongly) assumes he is the biological father.

Kopfkino·Lit. 'mind-cinema'. The unvoluntary thoughts of usually bad, disgusting or scary things or situation caused by hearing them mentioned or talked about.

Bespaßen·To render fun or entertainment onto someone, to make sure someone has fun or is entertained. Negative connotation, the word implies the activity is a chore and the person doing the 'bespaßen' isn't having fun themselves.