{"id":10279,"date":"2018-11-02T01:59:31","date_gmt":"2018-11-02T01:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=10279"},"modified":"2019-05-23T14:34:48","modified_gmt":"2019-05-23T14:34:48","slug":"the-curiosity-of-the-word-spannend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/the-curiosity-of-the-word-spannend\/","title":{"rendered":"The Curiosity of the German Word “Spannend”"},"content":{"rendered":"

noAn interesting lecture that you would like to attend – let’s hope it is spannend<\/em>! A movie that you watched on Halloween –\u00a0spannend<\/em>! This German word has two different meanings: exciting, thrilling; and interesting. However, what baffles me is how it is used – for basically anything and everything! Let’s look at this word today.<\/p>\n

Click here for previous entries in the series on curious words in German<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Spannend as a word<\/h2>\n
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A Achterbahn<\/em> (roller coaster) – hochs<\/em>pannend<\/em>! (Image by Priscilla Du Preez at Unsplash.com)<\/p><\/div>\n

The word\u00a0spannend\u00a0<\/em>does not only refer to “exciting” things. It is also the adjective form of things on tension. For example, barely fitting pants can be\u00a0eine spannende Hose<\/em>\u00a0(though it could also be that you somehow find it mysteriously exciting, of course). You also use the verb\u00a0spannen\u00a0<\/em>to put tension on something.<\/p>\n

How is it used?<\/h2>\n
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A Lesung<\/em> (lecture) – spannend<\/em>?! (Image by NeONBRAND at Unsplash.com)<\/p><\/div>\n

Spannend\u00a0<\/em> was originally used to describe exciting, scary or thrilling things. Movies, books, sports events… you get it. However, it is nowadays used to describe close to anything. A mundane Lesung\u00a0<\/em>(lecture)? Spannend. <\/em>Your\u00a0Reise<\/em>\u00a0(trip) to South Germany? Spannend.<\/em>\u00a0Some would go as far as calling\u00a0Gem\u00fcse\u00a0<\/em>(vegetables)\u00a0spannend<\/em>.<\/a><\/ins><\/p>\n

So what is it about this word that makes it so ubiquitous?<\/p>\n

Vague<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Google Trends that show a decline in the use of interessant<\/em> (red<\/span>) and an increase of spannend<\/em> (blue<\/span>), starting at about the same time around 2011, 2012 (Screenshot from Google Trends)<\/p><\/div>\n

Spannend<\/em> is a great word to make something sound interesting\u00a0and exciting at the same time. So you could say\u00a0interessant\u00a0<\/em>– but why not use\u00a0spannend<\/em>, implying an enthralling story? That is where the word’s journey started and became popular. Where it is now almost identical to the word\u00a0interessant\u00a0<\/em>– yet it is no longer used to describe experiences as much as\u00a0spannend<\/em>.<\/p>\n

There have been critical voices on the increasing use of the word, such as this<\/a>, here<\/a> and here<\/a>. And they all have a common criticism: By using the adjective\u00a0spannend\u00a0<\/em>instead of other adjectives, any value that could have been conferred gets lost.\u00a0Spannend<\/em>, ironically, does not come with any emotion, such as a sad event.<\/p>\n

What do you think of using this word? Let me know what you think in the comments below!<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

noAn interesting lecture that you would like to attend – let’s hope it is spannend! A movie that you watched on Halloween –\u00a0spannend! This German word has two different meanings: exciting, thrilling; and interesting. However, what baffles me is how it is used – for basically anything and everything! Let’s look at this word today…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":10288,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[503854,504037,5655,180],"class_list":["post-10279","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-language","tag-curious-words","tag-excitement","tag-interesting","tag-people"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t