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Tag Archives: untranslatable german

Christmas & New Year In Untranslatable German Words Posted by on Dec 19, 2018

Guten Tag and, since it’s almost time, Frohe Weihnachten (Merry Christmas)! Weihnachten (Christmas) and Neujahr (New Year) is the time of the year when people experience a whole range of emotions, from excitement over receiving presents to annoyance about being in the company of certain family members, from feeling nostalgic and reflective about the year…

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The German Word ‘Sitzfleisch’ Posted by 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…

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Untranslatable German Words: Der Saftladen Posted by on Jul 24, 2018

In our series on untranslatable words, we look at words in German that have no direct English equivalent. Today, we look at the curious, but enjoyable Saftladen. What does Saftladen mean? According to the Duden, a Saftladen is a: “schlecht geführter Betrieb; schlecht geführter, schlecht sortierter Laden” (badly managed establishment; badly managed, badly assorted establishment) So basically, a Saftladen Nichtskönner is a place…

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German Words For All Seasons Posted by on Jul 4, 2018

Guten Tag! So if you’re not already aware, German is full of amazing words for concepts we would need several words to describe in English. This is because of the German language’s ability to create compound nouns. Today I’d like to show you a few words for concepts that do exist in English, but which…

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Untranslatable German Words: Der Nichtskönner Posted by on Jun 26, 2018

What does Nichtskönner mean? The Duden gives us a straightforward definition: “jemand, der sein Fach nicht beherrscht; Stümper” (Someone that has not mastered their discipline; bungler) So that would give us a definition straight away! Done! Well, not quite. Nichtskönner is a word you could hear here and there, whereas bungler is not really used a lot. It…

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German Similes To Make You Smile Posted by on Jun 13, 2018

Guten Tag! After what feels like a lot of grammar and vocabulary posts from me, it’s time for something a little more light-hearted. Today I’d like to bring you a quirky German phrase. The phrase is: grinsen wie ein Honigkuchenpferd. Grinsen wie ein Honigkuchenpferd This phrase translates to ‘To smile like a honey cake horse’…

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Untranslatable German Words: der Schickimicki Posted by on May 3, 2018

A friend of mine told me this week: “Schickimicki is one of my favorite German words!” It made me realize, it is quite a cute word! It also made me wonder: How would you accurately translate it to English? It is harder than you might think. Let’s go! Click here for previous posts in this series of…

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