Tag Archives: loan words
Curious German Words: Der Föhn Posted by Constanze on Feb 19, 2020
Guten Tag! Today we’re looking at a very interesting German word. This word is related to the weather, and is also the subject of Alpine folklore. It has made its way into the English language, and is also the German word for ‘hairdryer’. Today we’re looking at the word Föhn. Föhn, Fön, Foehn/foehn? Throughout this…
French Loan Words In German Posted by Constanze on Jul 31, 2019
Guten Tag! We have talked before about loanwords in the German language. There is quite a big crossover of both English words used in German, and German words used in English. However, did you know that there are many French words used in the German language, too? And many of these are everyday words we…
The German Dish Labskaus Posted by Constanze on Jul 29, 2019
Guten Tag! I’m coming at you today with a word you may not have realised is German in origin. We’ve talked several times on the blog about English words that are actually German, including angst, wanderlust and rucksack, to name but a few. If you’re interested, there are posts on these here, here and here…
The German Word ‘Sitzfleisch’ Posted by Constanze on Oct 31, 2018
Guten Tag! Today I’d like to talk about another ‘untranslatable’ German word, namely: Sitzfleisch. This is a word that has been adopted by the English language, too, and which some think explains the German people’s efficient and productive nature. But before we get into that, let’s look at the word in more detail. Das Sitzfleisch…
The German Colour Eigengrau Posted by Constanze on May 23, 2018
When you walk around in pitch dark, you only see black in front of you, right? In German, you see a colour called Eigengrau. Eigengrau, which literally means own grey or intrinsic grey, is the shade of black seen by the eye in complete darkness. On the Hex colour chart, where black is #000000, Eigengrau…
Six German Words That’ll Change Your Life Posted by Constanze on Mar 22, 2017
Guten Tag! Ich hoffe, es geht euch gut. Today I’m bringing you six German words that are all somehow related to feelings you get before, during or after a period of change: The excitement and nervousness of new beginnings, the fear of having run out of time to change your life, the exhilarating feeling of…
Denglish: The English loan word “adden” in German Posted by Sandra Rösner on May 16, 2012
Some days ago, I posted a note on our Facebook-Page, saying that the German language has a new English loan word for the verb “hinzufügen” = to add, which is “adden”. The opinions about English loans in German were divided. Some were happy about this progress in the German language because now it is easier…