LINGUISTIC CONUNDRUM

Germans Have A Word For Everything! Take A Look At These 10 Examples

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Languages are a curious thing: No matter how different they are, we humans always find a way to understand each other. Translation has come a long way in making sure of that. However, it hasn’t covered all its gaps; some words remain untranslatable. In the German language, words like sturmfrei and verschlimmbessern (yep, that’s a word!) have no direct translation, but that doesn’t mean they are not describable. So, we’ve put together a list of ten German words with their funny descriptions, do you feel like learning German? Read on then!

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Here’s a word you can learn, but sure don’t want your children or grandchildren to learn. Sturmfrei literally translates to "when your parents are away, and you have the whole house to yourself."

The word describes a feeling, and based on its literal translation, one can assume it is a feeling of happiness, excitement, and why not, freedom. Specifically, the kind of freedom a teenager gets when their parents leave the house to their regard.

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This is a rather long word, but that is not an uncommon thing in the German language. This is because multiple meanings can be attached to a base, forming more complex meanings. In this case, verschlimmbessern means "to make things worse by trying to improve them."

However, it’s not used in the most common scenario of facing a problem and trying to bring about a solution that backfires. It refers to the consequence of obsession with perfection, which can ultimately be counterproductive. Trying to improve things over and over only to make everything worse… Who hasn’t been there?

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The complexities of the modern world can easily bring us down and we need to work on our mental health to win the battle day after day. Now, in German, there is a word that describes the apathy caused by the comparison of the current state of the world with an ideal state: that word is weltschmerz.

It describes that melancholic feeling that comes from realizing how hard living in the modern world is. Moreover, it includes an idealist aspect, the kind that hopes to live in an ideal world. When confronted with the realization of the impossibility of achieving such a world, weltschmerz comes into play.

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Another long word, and who would think such a specific situation was worth putting so many letters together? If you’ve ever played in the snow, you can relate to that awful sensation that comes from picking up the snow with your bare hands.

Well, in German, when you’re not brave enough to do that, you’re handschuhschneeballwerfer. This term means you are too afraid to pick up the snow with bare hands and resort to a glove to do so. Now, its literal translation is "glove snowball thrower." Quite specific, don’t you think?

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Perfection and obsession with details don’t always end badly, like with the words we discussed before. You can just be an erbsenzähler and that’s it. This word, an adjective, describes someone who is obsessed with details and a bit of a control freak, according to its literal translation.

In this context, the person can’t stand even the smallest detail being out of their control. So, if you think you fall into this category, you might want to think again. "Erbsenzähler" is a compound word and, its literal translation includes the words "peas" and "count!"

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Speaking of German words, this term represents its essence perfectly. However cool it sounds, this word is part of this list because it has no direct equivalent in English. Here is what it means: Sprachgefühl refers to someone who loves learning a new language and is obsessed with fully grasping its grammatical nuances.

If you decide to study German after reading this article, then you could be described as a sprachgefühl: a unique word for a unique interest!

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If you thought the previous ones were weird, wait until you hear about this one! Dreikäsehoch when translated literally, means "three cheese high." And we’re sure you will never guess what it means, so here is the explanation.

The word simply describes an undersized child, that is, a child who is not tall enough for their age. It is an adjective used to describe that situation. Now, if cheese has nothing to do with it, how did it come to be part of the word? Think of it this way: The kid is not taller than three cheese rolls piled one on top of the other. Talk about untranslatable words!

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Have you ever been caught red-handed? You start sweating and your brain instantly tries to come up with answers for all those questions that are coming your way. Now, that is erklärungsnot. Having to explain yourself quickly.

Even if it lacks a one-on-one translation, this word is quite transparent. It is used to describe the immediacy of a situation in which you have to come up with answers to explain what you were caught doing.

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If we said that treppenwitz means, literally, "a staircase joke," would you understand its meaning? If not, let us enlighten you.

A treppenwitz refers, once again to a very specific scenario: Imagine someone makes a joke or a witty comment, and you are left speechless, unable to figure out what to say in response to sound just as smart or funny. Can you see where we are going? After the moment has passed, your brain comes up with the perfect response, but it is just too late to say it. That moment right there is treppenwitz. Frustrating, isn’t it?

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This word is indeed untranslatable, but we’re sure it’s not in your best interest for anyone to find a translation of it if they are talking about you.

Schadenfreude translates to "damage joy," and it describes the feeling of happiness that comes from seeing another person fail, or enjoying someone’s distress.

The German language knows that getting any joy out of another person’s misery is simply wicked. Good for them!

From France to your dictionary

Bonjour! Let's discover these 10 common English words with French roots

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Did you know that many of the words we use every day actually have their roots in French? English is part of the Germanic language family, while French is a Romance language. At first glance, one would think that they don't have much in common, right? But this is not the case; French has influenced our language in many ways, including our vocabulary. Today, we are going to discover 10 common English words that have origins in the language of love. Allons-y!

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While denim has been a part of our daily lives for many, many years now, the story of how this word came to us is quite interesting.

"Denim" originally came from the French term Serge de Nîmes. Nîmes is a city in southern France, and serge refers to a type of fabric with a twilled weave. Thus, the term Serge de Nîmes was originally used to describe this particular fabric made in the French city.

But how did we go from Serge de Nîmes to "denim"? Well, when the fabric gained popularity in other countries, English speakers had trouble pronouncing the whole term, so it was gradually simplified, first to something like "serge deNîm" and finally to just "denim."

By the 19th century, the English term we know today was fully integrated into our language.

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"Honesty," Billy Joel's beautiful song, might not be the same without the French contribution to our language.

"Honesty" comes from the Old French word honesté, which refers to something noble, virtuous, or respectable. In turn, the French word derives from the Latin honestus, which was used to describe something honorable.

Between the 12th and 15th centuries, the Middle English took the term honesté from the French, retaining its meaning. However, by the 16th century, the English word had evolved into "honesty" and broadened its meaning. It came to represent not just honor and good morals but also truthfulness, sincerity, and genuine intentions.

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We have all given and received advice throughout our lives, but do you know where the word "advice" comes from?

The English word "advice" has quite a long history, originating from the Latin advisum, which meant "considered" or "deliberated." This term evolved into the Old French noun avis, meaning "opinion" or "point of view."

The Old French avis was borrowed into Middle English around the 13th century, and the expression at avis (meaning "in my opinion") emerged. Over time, it transformed into "advice." By the 16th century, its meaning had shifted, evolving from simply an opinion to a suggestion offered by someone else.

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Personal care and beauty have been an important issue for people since ancient times. A very clear example of this is the word "manicure."

What's interesting about this term is how little it has changed over time. The Latin words manus (hand) and cura (care) came together to give rise to manicura, which was later adapted into French as manucure.

Around the 17th century, the tradition of hand care became more refined in Europe, especially among the privileged classes, making the term more widely known. By the 19th century, "manicure" was already present in the English language, without changing its form and retaining its meaning to this day.

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Today, the word "table" has several meanings: it can refer to the piece of furniture we use for dining, the flat surface where we chop vegetables, or even more abstract concepts like organizing data into rows and columns.

But to get to all this, the word had a long journey, starting with Latin. The term tabula in Latin meant simply "a flat piece of wood," "board" or "plank."

Tabula passed into Old French as table, maintaining at first its original definition. By the 12th century, Middle English adopted the term "table," preserving its form while expanding its meaning.

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In ancient times, armies and soldiers were a central part of life, so it's no wonder that many of our military-related words have their origins there.

The Latin word arma meant "weapons," plural. It was this form of the word that passed into Old French as armé, an adjective meaning "armed," referring to a group of people armed for war. From armé, the noun armée arose, referring to the military force.

In the 13th century, armée passed into Middle English as armye, retaining its meaning. With the passage of time, the term evolved into "army."

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The exchange of goods and money has been part of human interactions for as long as history can remember, and this is evident in the evolution of the language.

Moneta was Latin for "coins." This term was adapted in different ways to the Romance languages. For example, Spanish hardly modified the form, resulting in the present Spanish word moneda. The case of Old French was a little different, but not by much.

Moneta evolved into Old French as moneie, which then transitioned into Middle English as moneye around the 13th century. By this time, the word had expanded its definition, referring not only to coins but also to currency in general. Eventually, modern English modified the pronunciation of moneye, which ended up with the current "money."

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Solidus was a Latin word that designated a specific type of gold coin used in the Empire. But what do coins have to do with soldiers?

As we already know, Latin evolved into Romance languages, and this word passed into Old French as soudee, which specifically designated a payment given to a soldier. Over time, the French word changed in both structure and definition. Soudee transitioned to soudier, which referred to a soldier who fought professionally in an army, meaning he was paid for his service.

Middle English took that term from French, and its spelling eventually changed to "soldier."

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The word "debut" appears in many contexts: sports, cinema, theater, television, literature, and more. While this might surprise many, it has a very ancient origin.

What's more interesting about this word is that its meaning has not changed much throughout history. In Latin, debutare already meant "to begin" or "to start."

The term evolved into Old French as début, where its connotation shifted to something closer to a first performance or the first time in a particular practice. By the 19th century, the word was already in English as we know it today.

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If you are a fan of meat (or etymology), you won't want to miss the journey that the word "beef" took to become part of our language.

Latin used the word bovem to refer to cattle. Over time, this term evolved and was adapted to Old French as boef, which varied in meaning to specifically denote the meat from cattle.

In the 12th century, Middle English took boef and adapted it as befe or beef, refining its definition to refer to cattle meat prepared for consumption. By the 14th century, the word was well-established in our language.