Many German words are created through compounds. That is when two or more words are placed together to form a longer word. Compounds allow really long German words to be formed (If you haven’t read about long German words yet, you can find it here).
Compounds also allow objects to be described clearly (and sometimes quite exactly!) in German, meanwhile making non-German speakers giggle a bit.
In this article, we’re going to cover 12 funny German words and what they actually mean in English (with three bonus words). Get ready to be entertained and educated.
Note: Following each German word, you’ll get a hint. Try to guess what the word means before reading on. Let us know how many you guess correctly!
Let’s begin, shall we?
1. Nacktschnecke
Hint:
nackt means naked
Schnecke means snail
Oh no – there’s nothing more embarrassing than a snail finding out it’s forgotten to get dressed…
Can you guess what Nacktschnecke could be?
Well, nothing other than a slug!
2. Nasenfahrrad
Hint:
Nase means nose
Fahrrad means bicycle
What could a nose riding a bicycle mean? Or is it a bicycle riding a nose?
This one is pretty tough. In fact, you might even be able to fool some Germans. Nasenfahrrad is another word for glasses.
Can you picture it now?
3. Glühbirne
Hint:
glühen means to glow
Birne means pear
You just might be able to guess this one.
Did you guess that a Glühbirne is a lightbulb? Pretty clever imagery, isn’t it?
4. Faultier
Hint:
faul means lazy
Tier means animal
No, it’s not a nickname for your friend or sibling – although you could use it that way…
A Faultier is a sloth. It is the perfect description of the adorable animal if I do say so myself.
5. Feierabend
Hint:
feiern means to party
Abend means evening
Despite what you may be thinking, this word doesn’t mean an evening out with friends partying the night away.
Feierabend is the end of the workday.
I guess we know how the Germans feel about work, and even more, how they feel about after-work.
6. Schnapsidee
Hint:
Schnaps means Schnaps (the alcohol)
Idee means idea
Since we’re on the topic of partying – what do you think a Schnapsidee is?
A Schnapsidee is a crazy idea.
Some people get ideas when reading books while others get them from being in nature. Maybe the craziest (best?) ideas come when drinking Schnaps.
7. Warmduscher
Hint:
warm means warm (of course)
Duscher means someone who showers/showerer
Who doesn’t love a warm shower? Well, unless it’s 30 degrees outside.
Do you have any idea what or who a Warmduscher is?
A Warmduscher is wimp or a coward. So, be careful when you tell a German that they’re a warm showerer. They might take it personally.
8. Fremdschämen
Hint:
fremd means foreign
schämen means to be embarrassed/feel ashamed
First of all, I think this kind of word displays the beauty of the German language because this term describes a feeling that I’m going to assume you’ve had before.
Can you understand this feeling from the photos? Fremdschämen is when you feel embarrassed for someone else.
Now, how brilliant is it that there is a single word for exactly that feeling in German?
9. Jein
Hint:
Ja means yes
Nein means no
Speaking of brilliant words – For those of us who can’t make up our minds, this is our word.
Jein means exactly what it means: yes and no!
So, the next time you’re not really sure you want to go to that birthday party, you can just answer with jein.
10. Schildkröte
Hint:
Schild means shield
Kröte means toad
Okay, this one actually makes some sense! And it’s a great example of how descriptive German nouns can be. You might get it if you can imagine what reptile looks like it has armour?…
Schildkröte is a Turtle or Tortoise! German uses the same word for both animals, although you can be more specific by saying Wasserschildkröte for Turtle, literally a Water Turtle, or Landschildkröte for Tortoise, literally a Land Tortoise.
11. Kabelsalat
Hint:
Kabel means cable
Salat means salad
Another one where translating the individaul words isn’t too hard, and when combined they describe an all too familiar modern problem.
Kabelsalat unsurprisingly means literally cable salad, or that annoying situation when cables become tangled, like when behind a computer or TV. Sure, you’d probably be understood in English using cable salad as a metaphor, but it’s great that the phrase has it’s own entry in the German dictionary!
12. Sprachgefühl
Hint:
Sprache means language
Gefühl means feeling
I bet you can guess what this word means using your Sprachgefühl. Still, it wouldn’t be appropriate to end this list any other way.
Sprachgefühl indeed means a feeling for languages. Unfortunately, English doesn’t a word for this concept, although Chinese does. Is there a word for this in your language?
Bonus Round
As promised, I will leave you with three words that I consider to be potentially quite useful in everyday life.
Heiliger Bimbam!
- You can use this just like you would use the exclamation holy cow!
Example Sentence: Heiliger Bimbam you’ve gotten so tall!
Kuddelmuddel
- This word is used to describe a mess or something being jumbled (jumbo mumbo).
Example Sentence: You’ve made quite a Kuddelmuddel here. What are we going to do now?
schnabulieren
- What do you do when watching Netflix? Du schnabulierst – what is movie watching without snacks and munchies. Schnabulieren means to munch.
Netflix and Chill was so last year. It’s now Netflix and schnabulieren.
Example Sentence: What do you want to schnabulieren for our Star Wars marathon?
Heiliger Bimbam! We’re done already.
We hope you got a Schapsidee from this article, but try to avoid creating a Kuddelmuddel. However, given your Sprachgefühl, we’re certain no one will be fremdschämen you.
How did you score out of 10? Let us know in the comments below!
Are there unique or funny words in your language? We would love to hear your thoughts.
Funny words aside, German business content needs precision. See our German translation services, or our technical translation services for manuals and engineering documentation.
Why German has words English does not
German builds new words by joining old ones, so a single noun can carry a whole idea that English needs a phrase for. That is why funny German words are so hard to translate: the humour is in the compression, and the moment you unpack it into English the joke slows down.
This matters beyond word lists. In technical documentation a German compound often names a part, a process and a condition at once, and an English translator has to decide which of the three the reader actually needs. Getting that wrong produces manuals that are accurate and unusable.
More on the same theme: how long German words are built. For the professional version, see our German translation services.
More German words English has to borrow or explain
These are the words that show up in every list, and for good reason: each packs an idea English needs a whole clause for.
| German word | Literally | What it describes |
|---|---|---|
| Kummerspeck | grief bacon | weight gained from emotional eating |
| Backpfeifengesicht | a face that invites a slap | someone who looks irritating |
| Fernweh | far-sickness | longing for places you have never been |
| Verschlimmbessern | to worsen-improve | to make something worse by trying to fix it |
| Torschlusspanik | gate-closing panic | fear that time is running out |
| Fremdschämen | foreign-shame | cringing on someone else’s behalf |
| Treppenwitz | staircase joke | the clever reply you think of too late |
Why English ends up borrowing them
English borrows when a concept is common enough to need a label and no native word has settled. Schadenfreude and Zeitgeist made the jump; Backpfeifengesicht did not, because the idea is vivid but rarely needed.
The pattern is not that German has more feelings. It is that German can name one with a single noun, and once a name exists the concept becomes easier to talk about.
Frequently asked questions
Are these words actually used in Germany?
Some are everyday, such as Fernweh and Fremdschämen. Others, particularly Backpfeifengesicht, are known to everyone but used rarely, mostly for effect.
Why does German have so many of these?
Because compounding is productive. Any speaker can join two nouns and be understood, so precise labels form naturally and then stick if they are useful.
Can you translate them properly, or only explain them?
In running text you translate the function, not the word, and accept a longer phrase. In a glossary or a subtitle, where space is fixed, the usual answer is to keep the German and add a brief gloss on first use.
See also how long German words are built, and our German translation services.
In Romanian we have:
1. A duce cu zăhărelul. Hint:
a duce means to carry on
cu zăhărelul means with sugar
A duce cu zăhărelul actually means cheating.
2. a se uita ca mâța în calendar . Hint:
a se uita means to look
ca mâța în calendar means like the cat in the calendar
a se uita ca mâța în calendar actually means to know nothing in a field.
3.a călca pe bec . Hint:
a călca means to step on
pe bec means the light bulb
a călca pe bec actually means getting pregnant while unmarried
4. a avea o piatră pe inimă. Hint:
a avea o piatră means to have a stone
pe inimă means on the heart
a avea o piatră pe inimă actually means being heartless.
There are also words that cannot be translated exactly into English:
5. cuminte meaning good.
6. When you are missing someone, you say: mi-e dor.