abseiling
Abseiler/Abseiling Contractor. The word abseiling denotes rappelling by a rope. The Abseiler or Abseiling Contractor is a construction worker, who with the help of a rope, for example, trims trees or renovates high-rise buildings.

 

Sent in by Thomas Kraft, Pesch, Germany

 

Autobahn
Aside from Gesundheit and Lederhosen, the word autobahn is for Americans probably the best known and most popular German word. The reason may be that the autobahn is generally considered the symbol for speed and driving pleasure. Almost every American has a story to tell on the subject of the autobahn. For example, during his entire stay in Germany, an American thought that ausfahrt must be a very large city because everywhere there were signs with this word.

 

Sent in by Heidi Jakobi, Raleigh, U.S.A.

 

Beergarden
The word as well as the establishment of the Biergarten itself (an enclosed outdoor place where beer and other refreshments are sold) are imports from Germany.

 

Sent in by Andrea Klein, Astoria, U.S.A.

 

Blitz
The word blitz in American football is derived from the word blitzkrieg. It describes a play by the defense, which overwhelms the quarterback, the leader of the offense, so suddenly and quickly that he doesn't have a chance to throw the ball to a teammate.

 

Sent in by Monique Breithaupt-Peters, Offenburg, Germany

 

Burgher
Burgher is used to describe a citizen of a town or borough as well as a comfortable or complacent member of the middle class.

 

An editor from the New York Times used the term in his article about the good spirit around the 2006 Soccer Worldcup in Germany in the following context: "... and the entire city center had been closed to traffic by the authorities. These empty streets, however, were not enough to convince the good Bavarian burghers that it was appropriate or permissible, to ignore red pedestrian signals at crossroads. There they were, lined up in good order, waiting for a green light to sanction their crossing on a vacant road on which no car could possibly appear."

 

Sent in by Nada Martini, New York, U.S.A.

 

Doppelgänger
Sometimes spelled doubleganger; meaning look-alike literally meaning double-goer, originally in a ghostly sense.

 

Sent in by Victoria Larson, New York, U.S.A.

 

eigenvalue
The mathematical technical term Eigenwert has been adopted into English in partially translated form. This sometimes erroneously leads British and American students to think that a German mathematician by the name of Eigen introduced this value.

 

Sent in by Jens Putzka, Bonn, Germany

 

Ersatz
Comes from the German word Ersatz (ersetzen = to replace) and means a substitute. The word usually suggests inferior quality.

 

Sent in by Victoria Larson, New York, U.S.A.

 

Fußball
Instead of kicker, (soccer), American youth like to use the word Fußball.

 

Sent in by Moerowan Al-Chaabi, Princeton, NJ, U.S.A.

 

Gemütlichkeit
In the English-speaking world, the notion of Gemütlichkeit is often associated with the Oktoberfest. The English-speaking tourist expects a beer tent, beer, oompah music and Germans in traditional dress.

 

Sent in by Antje Rowe, Aalen, Germany

 

Gesundheit
In English one usually says, bless you, when someone has sneezed. Since in the U.S.A. many do not want to issue a blessing, Gesundheit is used in order to do this in a non-religious way.

 

Sent in by Toni Nezi, Erkrath, Germany

 

Hinterland
The word Hinterland describes the undeveloped countryside beyond a seaport.

 

Sent in by Jan-Michael Kutzner, Bremerhaven, Germany

 

kaffeeklatsching
English for Kaffeeklatsch machen in the sense of having a coffee break and chat as seen in a book from Kathy Reich.

 

Sent in by Ilselore Paschmann, Mühlheim an der Ruhr, Germany

 

kaputt
The word kaputt is used in America in the same sense as in the German language.

 

Sent in by Martin Faber, Bad Harzburg, Germany

 

Katzenjammer
Katzenjammer is used in the contexts of hangover, distress, depression, confusion, clamor and uproar. From the Washington Post: "The characteristic Grimm story has a katzenjammer irreverence and a narrative urgency; its characters are no better than they have to be, and are foxy, wild, lucky or unlucky, and utterly human."

 

Sent in by Benjamin von Engelhardt, Berlin, Germany

 

Kindergarten
In English, kindergarten has the same meaning as in German. In Canada there is a junior kindergarten for four-year-olds and a senior kindergarten for five-year-old children.

 

Sent in by Monika Holzschuh Sator, Kingston, Canada

 

 

 

 

Kohlrabi

Americans call the same plant Kohlrabi same as the Germans.

 

Sent in by Stefanie Saier, Berlin, Germany

 

Kriegsspiel
A game in which miniature characters and blocks represent armies, ships, etc., as they move around on a drawing of a battlefield, used to simulate war and teach military tactics. A form of chess where players see only their own pieces and an umpire keeps track of all the pieces on a third board.

 

Sent in by Benjamin von Engelhardt, Berlin, Germany

 

Leitmotiv
Lead motive, from leiten = to lead; motiv = motive
An expression originally taken from German literature or music, means a distinguishing theme or melodic phrase representing and recurring with a given character, situation or emotion, was first used by German musician Richard Wagner.

 

Sent in by Victoria Larson, New York, U.S.A.

 

Muesli
Muesli stands worldwide for a breakfast cereal consisting of oatmeal.

 

Sent in by Andreas Schwander, Bottmingen, Schweiz

 

OOM PAH PAH Music
Australians use the words "OOM PAH PAH Music"for brass instruments, which, in a somewhat derogatory tone, is called Humtata-Musik in German.

 

Sent in by Hans-Günter Schweizer, Fußgönheim, Germany

 

Poltergeist
The term poltergeist has been adopted by the entire Anglo-American parlance. Even Steven Spielberg's 1982 thriller runs under the same title in the USA, England and Germany, i.e., Poltergeist.

 

Sent in by von Andreas König, Karlsbad, Germany

 

Pretzel
A typical German beergarden snack in the shape of a knotted ring made of slender rolls of dough, dipped in hot lye and sprinkled with salt. The word pretzel is a variation of the German term Brezel.

 

Sent in by Victoria Larson, New York, U.S.A.

 

Schadenfreude

One can only feel, what can be expressed in words. Because the English did not want to admit that they harbor such ignoble feelings as Schadenfreude, they had to pin the blame on the Germans. Even in English, Schadenfreude means the feeling of pleasure one experiences when someone, whom one does not like, suffers.

 

Sent in by Colin Hall, Dundee, Great Britain

 

to schlep, to shlep
schlep(p) to schlep or to shlep comes from the German word schleppen and is in English used to mean to carry, to drag something around or to tow in a sense of complaining, as in "Oh man, I have to schlep (to shlep) my luggage all the way back to the hotel!"

 

Sent in by Nadia Hassani, Andreas, PA, U.S.A.

 

Also used as a noun for fool, bore or duffer (German: Trottel, Tollpatsch, Langweiler)

 

Sent in by Eva Mannes, Harsum, Germany

 

Schnapps
Schnapps describes any kind of strong alcoholic liquor. Sometimes also spelled schnaps, the word is said to have its origins in the word schnappen or schnapsen, meaning to empty a glass at once.

 

Sent in by Victoria Larson, New York, U.S.A.

 

to strafe
When a deep flying airplane shoots at enemy targets on the ground, this is called to strafe. The adoption of this word dates to World War I and was taken from the German slogan used at that time "Gott strafe England" ("May God punish England").

 

Sent in by Waltraut Lehmann, Shoreline, WA, U.S.A.

 

Teergrube
If British IT specialists use the word teergrube, they are talking about a technique which foils a spammer. It is a delaying tactic by the receiving computer in the hope that the sender will give up. The idea of making life difficult for spammers this way originated in the German-speaking world and this is probably why the English adopted the German word.

 

Sent in by Oliver Kirsch, Rüsselsheim, Germany

 

über/uber
In the lingo used by English and American youth, uber (pronounced oober) is a step up from super or mega. This modification of über came about because there are no Umlauts in the English language. All social classes of today's youth use this word while assuming they are speaking German.

 

The customary words used to intensify expressions – really, super, pretty, hella, totally and awesome – have been amplifying teenage speech for some time. Recently, über has entered into this grouping of words, which aid in proclaiming verbal exclamation and excitement.

 

Sent in by Robert Keeley, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

 

Verboten
Forbidden, the word is used the same way in both English and German.

 

Sent in by Victoria Larson, New York, U.S.A.

 

Wunderkind
In English, the word wunderkind is used in its original sense often in connection with art and music. This may be because there is no equivalent to the word wunderkind in the English language, and that only the German word expresses exactly what one wants to say.

 

Sent in by Christel Stripe, Kingswells Aberdeen, Great Britain

 

Zeitgeist
Because there is no equivalent word in the English language, which expresses that particular meaning in an equally short and apt manner, Zeitgeist was imported without further ado. This German export hit has even advanced to the adjective zeitgeisty.

 

Sent in by G. Toldy, München, Germany