Category: Life & Leisure

Feierabend

Feierabend ("celebration evening"): This is how Germans describe the “end of the working day” in one beautiful word. I honestly have no idea how other languages get by without a term like this.

This beautiful word does not have its origins in the German after-work party culture, but was originally used for the evening before a public holiday, until it was reinterpreted in the 16th century.

Flurfunk

Flurfunk: German has an extra word for “the informal gossip and office buzz that spreads quietly among coworkers, until everyone knows about it even though it’s not official, but turns out to be true in the end”

“To know something from the Flurflunk” is roughy the equivalent of the (equally great) English expression “to hear something through the grapevine.” It describes the “in-official” flow of communication inside a company or an organization.

Korinthenkacker

Korinthenkacker: If you are overly pedantic and always insist on absolute precision, Germans will call you a “raisin pooper”

Germans are said to be quite small-minded people who will break out in sweat if everything is not in perfect order. This is reflected in a plethora of German words for people with this character trait.

Elefantenrennen

Elefantenrennen ("elephant race"): That’s how Germans refer to a lengthy overtaking maneuver of two or more trucks on the Autobahn

German LKW just don’t look as badass as American trucks. Plus, they tend to block the roads with lengthy and completely out-of-place overtaking maneuvers just when I want to get home quickly because I have Flitzkacke. 

Balkonien

Balkonien: The proverbial destination you are traveling to when, in reality, you are spending your holidays at home.

While others fight for sun loungers in Mallorca, you’re mastering the art of sunbathing on a foldable Aldi camping chair between the laundry rack and the basil plant.

Drehwurm

Drehwurm: When you feel dizzy after riding a carousel, Germans will say you have a ‘spin worm’

Drehwurm may sound like one of these jolly modern neologisms. But, in fact, the word has a serious and somewhat sinister background. There is actually a species that is popularly called Drehwurm – and it’s not a nice one…

Elefantenrunde

Elefantenrunde ("elephant round"): Germany’s election-night ritual: A panel discussion with all party leaders where winners bask in glory, losers grumble, and at least one candidate refuses to accept reality

Like everywhere else in the world, politicians in Germany are often compared to animals—and not always in the most flattering way. But every four years, when we call the grandees of the political parties “elephants,” it’s not meant as an insult.

Sesselfurzer

If you have a well-paid office job and hardly have to move at work, Germans like to call you an “armchair farter”

About 14,8 million Germans work in offices. That’s more than a third of all Germans who have a job. That’s one of reasons why many Germans already have quite a pronounced backside in their 30s. 

Nullachtfünfzehn

Germans use this word to describe something that is downright boring due to its plainness and really doesn’t lure anyone out from behind the stove.

Galgenfrist

Galgenfrist ("gallow’s deadline): That’s what Germans call a final delay before an unpleasant event. Like an exam, an operation or your mother-in-law’s visit.

The word has been around since the 16th century and originally referred to the final reprieve given to a delinquent before his execution…