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What does a German actually need to be happy? According to a study from 2020, the job is the most important factor—how could it be any different?
If you haven’t had an idea of what “verschlimmbessern” means—just think about the introduction of the Video Assistant Referee in soccer that wiped out a lot of the emotions without really making the game any more fair after all.
I still get mail once a year from the dental clinic I last visited about 10 years ago. For this doctor’s office, I am a typical Karteileiche today.
For such a precise-sounding term, the word Heimscheißer is remarkably versatile. On the most basic level, it simply describes what it says: a person who prefers to do their number 2’s at home.
Cannonball jump: the diving style that gives chubby people some bragging rights during summer season.
If there was just one German word that should be stripped from all dictionaries rather sooner than later: “Fremdenverkehr” should be the one.
Klugscheißen is a true national sport in Germany. To be honest, it is hard to have a conversation with a German without them correcting you every 10 seconds.
The expression is born of a joking idea that generosity is not a matter of character, but of the pants you are wearing and the tailor who created them.
To many people, Germany is synonymous with diligence and productivity. Yet we don’t work any more than other Europeans—at least when calculated by time.
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.
Don’t be fooled by dictionaries that try to tell you that Gemütlichkeit is merely a translation of the English word “coziness.” There’s much more to it than sitting on the sofa in your comfy clothes.
The term probably goes back to the fact that in the past, robbers often used this method to try and reach low openings in buildings, such as windows.
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.
This blog is a love letter to the curiosities of the German language that give it its poetic and, at times, oddly humorous qualities.
The “German Is Weird” book is now available: order here!
