Well...Fremdschänen is kinda wrong here. Fremdschämen means to cringe or to be embarressed for something someone else does. If a person is so awkward YOU feel the shame he should
@@OK75 Fremdschämen are two words as well, just put together. That‘s exactly the same. In German you tend to write words together, that’s why there are ridiculous long words in german. In English you usually write the words separately even if they belong togehter.
@@markus8484 Yes and no. You are right, but the composite word sometimes gets an extra notion, an extra meaning. The composite word sometimes means more than the two words alone or put side by side.
@@markus8484 There is for example the „goalkeeper“ - 2 words put together, so they exist in English too. And fremdschämen describes the feeling you have, when someone does something embarrassing and another person notices it. The feeling is stronger, the better you know the person or if you are involved in it and how embarrassing it actually is. It works in TV shows as well.
Some other Words for you :) Sturmfrei = _(Storm free)_ As a child, it is THE time for you when your parents leave the house for a certain time and you can throw a party, for example Ohrwurm = _(Ear worm)_ You probably know when you have a song that you can't get out of your head and you keep humming or singing Erbsenzähler = _(Peas tally)_ This is someone who takes it very seriously or wants to do it very precisely. Can also be used for someone who is just stingy verschlimmbessern = _(worse improved)_ That's when someone tries to fix or improve something, but only makes it worse Pantoffelheld = _(henpecked husband)_ This describes a man who shows off in front of his friends and pretends to be a tough guy, but doesn't dare open his mouth to his wife
„Earworm“ can be used for exactly the same thing in English (although in my experience, it is used rarely). An „Erbsenzähler“ is a „bean counter“ in English. Why Germans count peas and Anglo-Americans count beans escapes my knowledge. ;-)
@@michaelmedlinger6399 The German expression origins in the simplicissimus. The Anglo-American one is the translation...maybe they picked beans because they favour bean based dishes?
In Dutch these would be: Stormvrij Oorworm Erwtenteller Verslechtbeteren Pantoffelheld (the only one that's exactly the same), otherwise known as "held op sokken" (hero on socks).
@@embreis2257 No ... its Legolanguage... not Compound Words.... "Compound words" is an anglospheric view of language... If you tried harder you would have ended up with "Compoundwords"... tho my friend here seems to try to meet you "halfway" or "half way"...
"LEGO language" made my day 🤣..., aber du hast absolut recht. Man kann in der deutschen Sprache wirklich glaublich viele Substantive zu einem neuen Wort verbinden, das dann eine komplett andere Bedeutung hat. Für Leute, die Deutsch lernen, kann das dann echt verwirrend sein.
German also has a more complex grammar then most. And that makes it possible to be very precise in what you say. I am Norwegian and German and there are many things I simply cannot say in Norwegian. So user manuals I always read in German, because it is crystal clear in what order things have to be put togther. I often have asked myself if German engineering has produced our language or if the language has produced so good engineers 😀😊
@@JohnDoe-xz1mw I think I need to have a talk with my former eglish teacher - generally I agree and would not have pointed that out, but the sweet, sweet irony - I could not hold back.
The best part is, new ones of these words keep popping up in everyday usage. The last ones that really made me laugh were: *"Turnbeutelvergesser"* ("gym bag forgetter" - someone who always intentionally forgot their sports gear at school so as not to have to take part in physical education classes. So it`s someone who is constantly trying to shy away from something strenuous or uncomfortable). And *"USBstickabmelder"* ("USB-stick outlogger" Someone who is annoyingly overly cautious)😂
the great thing about this concept is that you can invent new words anytime and they will be understood immediately. e.g. Arschkarte, Dickschädel, Partylöwe, Rampensau, Stubentiger etc.
I had to laugh at a couple of your examples. I have read (one must always be careful about such explanations) that “die Arschkarte ziehen” comes from football. Many referees (most, I would say) carry the yellow card in their breast pockets and the red card in their back hip pockets. You can often tell that a player is about to be shown a red card because the referee reaches for his back hip pocket. “Rampensau” is very much an expression from theater (especially opera). It’s a singer who, when the big aria comes up, breaks out of the production to go downstage center and sing to the audience, breaking the dramatic flow of the production.
@@michaelmedlinger6399 You did forget to say that the Arschkarte thing came from the Black & White TV time, and they did it that the TV audience can tell which card was pulled.
“Futterneid” is a term taken from behavioral science and it is often used in context of animals or - small children - being envious of the food others (such as siblings) eat, too. So, it is not just applied to envying someone else’s choice/quality of meal but may also refer to the feeling of coming out short in communal meals, especially among siblings - of getting the short end of something good (such as the classic of giving two kids three cookies to share and both scrutinizing the evenness of the one cookie that was broken in two to accomodate two eaters)….! Addition: it also implies that siblings eat - as a consequence of food envy - more when they eat together than they would if they were alone …
Exactly. I totally associate family mealtimes with the word "Futterneid". It triggers memories of whenever we had meat for dinner and my stepbrother got a larger piece of meat than me. 😂 Waaarrrr!!!
This is my new thing now: whenever I feel down about having moved back to Germany from the US, I come here to remind myself of how awesome it is to be German. What a genuinely likeable channel and German fanboy. 💗
Hi Joel ... Englishman here, I came to Germany in Sept. 1969 and I wanted to learn German so I just mixed with the locals at the bars and Disco's (back then it was the only way to meet girls). It took me about 2 years to be able to speak it without first translating it in my head to English. I was completely self taught, no schooling what so ever. Been living here now for 53 years German is now more or less my native language because I have noone to speak English with. The only English I hear is on UA-cam, watching you and others.
18 million? Please give a source for your claim! I'm pretty sure this is not correct. A quick Wikipedia search gives completely different numbers, highest being ca. 500,000. de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wortschatz#Deutscher_Wortschatz en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocabulary My 1990s DUDEN says for "Wortschatz" -/ vocabulary (without technical terms): English 240,000 --- German 180,000 --- French 140,000. Of course, if you create nonsense words like Wasserbaumtasse or Himmelsdorfjägerknopf I can imagine 500 million German words...
@@rosshart9514 Actually, the 18 Million is correct, but it contains just everything that ever came into existence. The present vocabulary contains about 400.000 words, most people will regularly use only between 10.000 and 20.000 words but will be able to understand about 50.000-80.000 words even if they never heard it before.
Words for you - Treppenwitz (Staircase-joke). Coming up with a good response to an insult / disrespect when its too late to tell it. Like you get insulted, dont have a response, take the L, leave the party and as you go to your car you come up with the best counter that you should have used but cant now. Schnapsidee (schnaps / alcohol - idea) - an idea you think is brilliant when totally drunk but actually is a really really bad idea that you just dont realise to be bad cause you are drunk Notgeil (emergency-horny) - when you are so starved for sexual intercourse that you are willing to do anything to get some, usually allowing yourself to be abused, amnipulated or just embarrasingly begging
Flachwitz (flat jokes) yeah it falls flat, that joke, nobody or not many ppl will laugh about it. (Cause it is overused or not good) Maybe you call them Dad Jokes. Not sure about it.
My personal favorite is "Treppenwitz" (staircase joke). This word is used for a situation, where you hade a discussion or you talked to someone you like but do not find the right words, but the moment you have left and the situation is over you remeber exactly what you should have said like its a sick joke.
When I play Scrabble with my husband, I often create new words that don't make much sense or make no sense at all. First he notices, but then he joins in because it's fun.
even normal things are compound words in german. Hanschuhe - Hand shoes - Gloves Kühlschrank - cooling closet - Fridge Ferseher - far seeer - the TV (as you see things from somewhere else, also TV is a german invention) Schildkröte - Shield Toad - Turtle Fahrzeug - driving thing - Vehicle
In English there are some similar compositions of nouns like "homesickness". That also comprehends a huge feeling in one single word by combining two nouns. While there are only a few such expressions in the English language, there are many in German. But to be honest I (German) have never heard "Ruinenlust".
I have also never heard of Ruinenlust, and due to... Reasons, it is hard for me to take words with Lust in in seriously sometimes. It means the same in English as it does in German, might be more modern/common in the English language though, not sure. Maybe not. Edit: Lust also just means longing or desire in a more child-friendly, general way, but the other meaning is hard to ignore for me personally. 😂😅
Hey, I never heard about the word "Ruinenlust", but I definitively know you use "Schadenfreude" in your own language and with the exact same meaning. Keep on, bro. 😎 Greetings from Aachen/Germany
Same here, never heard of Ruinenlust. I think Schadenfreude is used in English though not as often as in German. However, I even once heard it in an English pop song (Pet Shop Boys, Love is a Bourgeois Construct) the lyrics are: I'll be taking my time for a long time with all the Schadenfreude it's cost, calculating what you've lost (...)
I also didn't know Ruinenlust. But I have it, too. On vacation I need to look and walk every old castle or church on the way. But they don't need to be ruins 🙂.
7:28 There is an infinite number of words "like that". In german, you can construct any compound word which you like, and as long as you manage to get the combination gramatically correct and your compound describes something, that people can identify, it is just another german word. That is also the way, in which we get our ridiculously long words. Let me construct an example: "Hundeschullehrersteuerberatungsgesellschaftsvorstandsvorsitzendenbüro would be the office (Büro) of the head of (Vorsitzender) the leading gremium (Vorstand) of a company (Gesellschaft) which gives advice (Beratung) about taxes (Steuern) to teachers (Lehrer) of dog schools (Hundeschulen). Such a Bandwurmwort ("tape worm word") is perceived as a bit silly and would typically emerge in a burocratic context, but it is still correct. But whenever somebody comes up with a compound, which other people can emotionally relate to or of which people think, that it is useful, it becomes fashionable and the potentially implied nuances are appreciated. There are no limits, except, that you run the risk, that nobody will be able to understand, what you were about to say, if your construct gets too weird and abstract. But combinations with a feeling attached to a substantive are usually an easy win, as long as it is plausible, that this feeling is commonly linked to that thing. On the other hand, in english the basic words are much more nuanced then in german, because, historically, it was a merger of two separate languages. Words, which existed in both languages were usually kept, but used a little different (ask a linguistic specialist for details, a few decades passed, since I learned about that at school). Without compound words, german would have about half the vocabulary, as compared to english).
In German you can create the weirdest words and everyone knows the meaning of it. Like Warmduscher ( person who showers with warm water), Weichei (soft egg), Badehosenduscher, Dünnbrettbohrer, Feinrippunterhosenbügler, Badehosensaunierer, I can not really translate this. But it makes so much fun to create some.
Its also pretty easy to come up with new words in german due to their modular nature and people fluent in the language will usually be able to understand what u mean without extra explanation, so its tough to really put a number on how many of these words exist. It also depends on the area, different states here usually have their own words for some things. It sometimes can make it harder for us to phrase english sentences when u are thinking in german as u often have to find a different way to explain something and often a lot of the depth gets lost.
Yeah, this has the effect that during the Corona crisis, a number of new words were invented to describe the situation, around 600 of them, from "Alltagsmaske" to "Zwangsimpfung". Only a few of them will be around permanently though.
"I want to learn all of the words." is a really funny thing to hear as a German as there are so many of them that even Germans could only dream of knowing them all.
As someone mentioned before, there are loads of (compound) words to describe a concept, or simply to illustrate a word's meaning, esp. Animals, Blitzkrieg, Reiselust, Faultier (lazy animal - sloth), Fledermaus (Flying Mouse - bat), Staubsauger (dust sucker - vacuum cleaner); Kaffeeklatsch or simply look - complicated (Streichholzschächtelchen). "Wanted Adventure" has some funny videos about Germyn words and sentences that she learned here in Germany. Another one by NALF, where he compares his experiences in Germany with the feelings expressed in these words 18 Weird German Words You Won't Believe Exist
I have seen several reactions to the video you reacted on. Basically, there is (or at least used to be) the same option in english, yet for some reason, native speakers of English tend not to use it: For example, a ship powered by a steam engine, is a steamship in English. It´s just the same in German: "Schiff" means "ship", "Dampf" means "steam", so a ship powered by a steam engine is a "Dampfschiff". However, I must add, that the Germans really evoled the idea of compund words to a whole different level. My teacher had a favourite example: "Dampfschifffahrtswitwenrentenantragsformular" (a form sheet for the applications for thepension of a widow of a steamship captain) may take even a native speaker a moment to decipher, however, once deciphered, any German will immedeatly know what is meant. There is even a special set of rules for creating new compound words. Just another thought that came to my mind: did you realize, that every example given in the video has some negative or depressing connotation? That is kind of a part of the German mentality.
At 1:37 i can see many other words: - Schattenparker (guy who parks in a shadow) is a soft man who dont want to endure something. Another word with the same explanation is "Warmduscher" (a guy who takes a warm shower) - Lebensmüde (tired of life): A person who dont want to live anymore. - Sitzfleisch (sit meat): The back - Treppenwitz (stairs joke) : A joke thats quite complex so the listener understands it very late (he understands it, when he leave the flat, walking down the stairs and than he get it. But to late, he cant continue with communication with the other people) - Kopfkino (head cinema): A scene which comes up in your mind and it is that intense, that you think its real (more or less) or you "see" something (can imagine) after somebody tells you a crazy or very funny story. - Frühjahrsmüdigkeit (early year tiredness): beeing tired and not quite powerless at the start of spring because of clima (i think ;))
I enjoyed your genuine reaction. In this video they showed some good (and bad) examples of German compound words. To understand better, why Germans can say things, others can’t, I am going to elaborate on that. I keep it simple: German compound words are build from two or more words and the first word usually discribes the second (last) word better. Some examples: Handschuh (Hand shoe - a shoe for your hand) = glove, Faultier (lazy animal) = sloth, Fahrvergnügen (driving enjoyment - the enjoyment someone gets while driving a vehicle). And the second thing is the pronounciation of «ei». In English you would pronunce the: Stein (stone) = steen, but if you want to pronounce it the German way, you must pronounce the I in Stein, like: Stine. That is a simple rule that will improve your German pronounciation a lot. And it is nothing too bad, in my opinion. A very simple example: free (English) = frei (Deutsch)
I love your excitement and amazement at what the world outside the US has to offer. I feel the internet is your Yoda and u are a young Luke Syywalker now getting a real education in life
This was absolutely fascinating Joel! These words could save a lot writing for writing essays in English. A book of these words would be useful. John in Canada
the eky about german words is that you can make anything and people will understand you. it's a huge part of the language to make shit up as you go. just choose 2 or 3 words that describe something you don't know or have forgotten the word of and people will probably get what you means easily
The title of a song by the German band Die Ärzte is titled "Backpfeifengesicht" but many such words have entered the German language. That's the good thing about the German language, you can create new words so beautifully. The word "Backpfeifengesicht" is always in English Videos used as an example but it's not used colloquially, at least I've rarely heard it that way.
You are really getting it! Bravo!! You are right! In German languages, for example German (of course!), Dutch and Danish, we often put words together... like Luftschloss which is 'luftkastel' in Danish , and for instance 'forklaringsproblem' when you a problem of explaining something .. and so on. You can so easily make new words in a German language just by putting words together.. either directly or with an extra letter as a bridge between the two 'old' words. Like playing Scrabble!
"Not" (read as a very narrow, British "naught") as in "Erklärungsnot" means urgency or emergency aswell as shortage. It is when you are (deperately or urgently) in need of something. Actually, thinkingnabout it now, I wouldn't be surprised if "need" and "Not" had the same orgin. The vowel changed and the last consonant became hard vs. soft repectively. So, being in "Erklärungsnot" means, to be urgently on need or in shortage of one or several explanations.
Ruinenlust-- never heard, but Weltschmerz is really often to be heard. But, let me tell you another word, i recently stumbled over. It is in Plattdeutsch ( Low german) a dialect of north and has similarities with dutch and english, and is nearly not understandable by normal germans, and has oftentimes very funny words, and even curse words sound never vulgar , but oftentimes cute or funny. Now, the word is "Plüschmors" It is made of Plüsch, wich is french originated and means those very soft and furry imitating fabrics, used for blankets , furniture or inner outfit for boots or winter jackets. And the second, Mors, is the Plattdeutsch word for ass or butt and in no way vulgar, even used in formal situations, which would be impossible in normal german. What is it then together? Plüschmors is the bumblebee!!! So cute!!!!
Well, being Dutch, I know we have some weird and inexplicable word combinations, too 🙂 And I'm not sure if the Germans stole it from us or the other way around, but the Dutch word for 'Luftschloss' is an exact translation of 'luchtkasteel' 🙂 Where word combinations in English often use hyphens, the Dutch and Germans just combine them to create a whole new word 🙂
No one stole it.... dutch an german are almost the same languages. Some hundred years ago, before the first vowel shift, they sounded even more similar (as low german near the Netherlands still does).
I'd wager they both evolved alongside each other. My grandparents used to/ my granny still does speak Westphalian Lower German and that's eerily close to your beautiful language, dear neighbour :) Even so close that I took a semester of Dutch at my uni when I got the chance to :3
@@LunaBianca1805 Oh, back when I was in high school, German was obligatory for the first two years, as was French 🙂 Dutch and English were obligatory for all six years.
once you learn a language you will encounter that things will be expressed in different ways. There are different concepts established and used. That is why translating texts correctly and readable is somewhat an art. That is true for all languanges.
I did not know "Ruinenlust". But a "Weichei" does not allways follow the crowd, this would do rather a "Fähnchen im Wind" or "Fähnlein im Wind". A "Weichei" just avoids inconveniences, efforts and often disharmonies. Another word for a "Weichei" is a "Warmduscher", somebody who has warm showers instead of the more healthy cold water. The opposite of "Fernweh" is "Heimweh" (homesickness), when you are away from home and missing it heavily.
There is by now an English term for "Fremdschämen" - "second-hand embarrassment". Seems English language saw the need to add that. ^^ In general, the composite nature of the German language allows the combination of parts into a new term. It is like a sandbox language. Technically any word could be created in German, and it would technically not be wrong.
Great, Joel, time to start learning German! 😆 Actually, these things come up in all languages all the time. For various reasons, there will be concepts in any language that are almost impossible to translate. Some of the words you saw in this video (including the narrator’s use of the German word “Angst” and “Weltschmerz”) come from philosophy or psychology. They are used in English because there is no direct translation and they have acquired specific meanings. I’m a translator for German/French -> English. These things can be real headaches.
As a german i can't stop laughing. Those little sketches are simply genius. Normaly i don't like "!react to" videos but yours are very interesting and funny to watch. Many others are only silly.
I find it weird that everyone seems to forget 'malicious glee' as a translation for 'Schadenfreude'. It might not be completely spot-on, but it comes pretty close, I think. 🤔
Tell you a funny one, when I got pregnat 45 years ago, I had an English friend. And when I wanted to talk to her more specifically about the ins and outs at that time . And with little experience in English, I just translated the facts I wanted her to know about, from the words we use one to one in your language. She was irritated and had no idea what I was on about,talking about eggjump (ovulation) and mothercake (placenta). ,We still sometimes rember this and have a good laugh. These words are used within all day life, and they are normal and accepted. And when I explained my older children everything about becoming pregnant and the development of the baby inside the womb,my youngest son (loves sweets) asked me:" Did I have had a cake as well?" You see even with native speakers language can be complicated. Have a nice day.
@Emilie. A tale about having a bun in the oven? If I said "that takes the biscuit", or "that's the way the cookie crumbles", would it seem funny, or would I end up with egg on my face?
Actually english allows the same thing, like in sunglasses, wallpaper or bodyguard. It's just not used in such an extent. Like bodyguardsunglasses. (the glasses for the sun for the guard of an body). And as you see, you can invent such words on the fly and they will be understood. But you will never find them in a dictionary.
"schadenfreude" oder "wer den schaden hat muss für den spott nich sorgen" (who has the probelm doesnt need to worry about finding ppl willing to make fun of you) in school back then when we started english in the 5th grade, i was convinced that it would be better to speak the same language everywhere!, *but* now that i know english as well as germen, i see that german is soooooooo damn precise, i wouldnt want to miss it in my brain tbh!
Great idea for a new video. By translating these German words and reacting to them you show that Ludwig Wittgenstein`s sentence is correct: "Die Grenzen meiner Sprache bedeuten die Grenzen meiner Welt." ("The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.").
Joel, some of these compound words are used very rarely and came from literature. So "Weltschmerz" , I guess, is a word from the period of romanticism like "Ruinenlust" as well. I've never used it in a talk or conversation nor in writing.
The word lust for ruins(Ruinenlust) fits well into German history. Germany has so many castles and palaces distributed within north to south Germany, that you can also find old ruins with their associated history.
@@blondkatze3547 I never heared this word before. But I rather associate the romantic idea to build ruins just for decoration. Some 200year old historic parks have such buildings. It's part of romanticism.
I'm a Kiwi, and this is why German is my favourite language. It's such a wonderfully expressive language. Even though I've got a very basic German vocabulary, I could listen to it all day.
My biggest Luftschloss would be my profile picture. Dang, they have gotten expensive :( Nobody uses Ruinenlust. I wouldn't say "Weltschmerz" is a common word, but the feeling is certainly there.
To be fair, we don't use many of these words on a regular basis, and a lot of very young people don't know these words anymore because they don't come in contact with them a lot on social media (or other media they consume).
The whole thing is actually even more exciting. Because meanwhile we even create words that have an apparent Anglicistic basis. Handy, is probably the most famous example of this. On the other hand, we also invent terms based on English words to fool Anglicisms. German is an incredibly variable language that adapts to the zeitgeist while remaining incredibly precise. It doesn't matter whether we incorporate a lot of words from French, as we used to, or from English, as we do now...
Kopfkino (head movie theatre) = The moment someone mentions something and it launches an avalanche of images and (often either hilarious or nasty, or both) associations in your head. It's not like imagination, but more the moment when your imagination shows you things you DON'T want to think of. Sesselfurzer (chair farter) = A person who doesn't do anything more substantial than sitting in their comfy chair and farting. Often used for people of considerable power but insignificant competence or impact. Kindskopf (child's head) = a person who is very childish and often acts as impulsive and joy-focused as a child. Schafskopf (sheep's head) = a dumb person who can't think straight. I don't know if it's a thin other than in my household: Politikersitzung (politician's session) = when you go to the toilet urgently, only nothing substantial happens but hot air, not even sh*t.
I like "Mutterseelenallein (Mother soul alone)" or "Habseligkeiten (to own things that make you happy) ". "Lebensmüde (tired of life) " "Frühlingserwachen (springtime awakening)", "Blütenzauber (flower magic)", "jein (yes and no connected in one word)". "Pustekuchen", "Quadratlatschen", "sternhagelvoll (stars hail full = be drunken), " Geschmacksverirrung", "Fingerspitzengefühl", "Zugzwang" ...
To the question of how often weltschmerz is used the last years arround : probably slim to none. Its such a rare word you would see in a piece of literature.. but nowhere else. Barely any german has used the word at all in their whole life.
oh English has that too. English can take any noun and turn it into a verb or an adjective by adding the suffix -ing or -ly.... this doesn't work in most languages and you end up with a mile long phrase in the translation to describe it... like "horse" and "horsing around"... the translation ends up using the word "riding" instead but that's not really the same... other examples are "to google"... and an endless list of words that don't officially exist but everyone understand the meaning intuitively
or they are scientific terms from psychology, philosophy, politics..... But You can compound not only substantives but verbs and adjectives too, like bittersweet or lauwarm (not hot, not cold, something in-between)
But before party... you have to "Vorglühen", (pre-burning) means you drink at home or even at the parking lot in front of the club to get just a bit dizzy, but not to much, just to safe money buy drinking the (mostly) same alcohol drink outside the club, so you have not to drink the way more expensive drink inside the club. ^^
When I took German back in HS, I used to find the compound words "auf Deutsch" to be endlessly humorous. So one day I told my German teacher that I was having problems with my "typfahlermachine" which she thought was actually pretty funny :D :)
@@zapster252 It was meant to be a joke.... I was making fun of complex German words by inventing a "typewriter mistake-making machine." At least my high school German teacher got a laugh when I wrote it in one of my assignments! ;)
It's cool to see such positive reactions to Germany and German culture from you. In terms of lack of German national pride, it's sometimes really satisfying. Here's another one of those German superlatives. First, the largest airship shipyard was supposed to be built, but an airship was never built in it. Instead, they implemented what felt like a crazy idea for Germany: ua-cam.com/video/41yGr6ktaBE/v-deo.html
Fernweh (distance pain) is a longing. I wish I was somewhere else, experiencing something new. (Basicly the opposite of homesickness) Wanderlust is the wish to take a stroll outside (mostly to experience nature). Comeon, let's go out, walk around, experience the world.
English has the same ability, it just is under-used. Old English literature had a special feature, called the Kenning. The most famous of Old English literature, Beowulf, features a kenning right in its title: the Bee-Wolf, meaning the bear. Typical for the kenning is a base-word (wolf) or head word, and a determinant (bee), which conjure up the whole meaning: a wolf-like predator fond of bees. The kenning usage was two-fold. Originally it was used to avoid a taboo word, one, that could conjure up the thing or event it was describing. Beowulf tries to avoid calling the bear by name, and replaces it with the kenning. Maybe you remember Rumpelstiltskin, which you could bane by saying its name. It's the same principle, just in reverse. Later, the kenning was mostly used poetically, finding new words for known things to make your lyrics more interesting. In Beowulf, you find other examples, for instance the seġl-rād (sail-road), the sea, and heofon-candel (sky-candle), the sun.
Hello Joel. I believe "overthink" is a good old English word. Being a Yorkshireman, I am rarely accused of this. Sometimes it might be better to "seh nowt an' get cracking". As for the pauses in translation, there are different words for "the" in German for example and word order is time, manner, place. Verbs are often at the end of a sentence, making a pause on translation to English unavoidable. Still, it is good to learn.
According to "Verbs are often at the end of the sentence". Well that is only in combination with an auxillery verb...which takes the place of verb. According word order..that is actually quite interchangebable. for instance the sentence "I´m driving with my car to Berlin today" I can say Ich fahre heute mit dem Auto nach Berlin. or Heute fahre ich mit dem Auto nach Berlin. or Mit dem Auto fahre ich heute nach Berlin. or Nach Berlin fahre ich heute mit dem Auto. even Nach Berlin fahre ich mit dem Auto heute. only the verb has here its constant place which is the second place..and when there is an auxillery verb then the auxillery verb gets that 2nd place and the Perfect participle has then a constant place at the end of the sentence. Of course not everything is possible there are still rules in behalf of what goes and what does not. Those who learn German as a second language just got taught one way...to learn/teach German is complicated enough so it is done "the easy way" so to say. To be able to switch word order the right way like that is then just "advanced eloquency" and not "basic subject matter" not even at C2 level. For me as native German speaker it is natural obviously.
@@michaelgrabner8977 Sometimes I am glad the Danes settled my bit of England and made it necessary to simplify what became English from the old Anglo-Saxon. I got better grades at French than German, even though I tend to understand German better, because all of the rules made it harder to get a good exam result. You are right in saying that for a foreigner it makes it tricky to get it perfectly correct, if it is a second or third language and it is just one part of your studies.
@@alansmithee8831 Well I might should have mentioned that those variants of word order are also changing the notion of the meaning a bit although it is always the same fundamental meaning...Sorry when that sounds a bit weird now but it is hard for me to articulate that in English as I would do in German...but it is generally about Semantics Basically the first one is a neutral statement. the second one emphasizes "today" ...(in the sense of "today and not tomorow") the third emphasizes "the car" ..(in the sense that I usually don´t take the car when I go to Berlin) the third emphasizes "Berlin" as destination and the last one emphasizes "Berlin"as destination + it happens "especially today" And that is also to hear in the way I would accentuate the sentence in speech.
the thing is, if a compound word doesnt exist, we germans just invent new ones. ^_^ right now we have several hundredthousand compound words in the german language. its hard to tell, because new ones are generated constantly.
the power of the word "doch" ....
Well...Fremdschänen is kinda wrong here. Fremdschämen means to cringe or to be embarressed for something someone else does. If a person is so awkward YOU feel the shame he should
There is an English expression for that - it is called vicarious embarrassment
@@OK75 Fremdschämen are two words as well, just put together. That‘s exactly the same. In German you tend to write words together, that’s why there are ridiculous long words in german. In English you usually write the words separately even if they belong togehter.
@@markus8484
Yes and no.
You are right, but the composite word sometimes gets an extra notion, an extra meaning. The composite word sometimes means more than the two words alone or put side by side.
@@markus8484 There is for example the „goalkeeper“ - 2 words put together, so they exist in English too.
And fremdschämen describes the feeling you have, when someone does something embarrassing and another person notices it. The feeling is stronger, the better you know the person or if you are involved in it and how embarrassing it actually is. It works in TV shows as well.
Zum Beispiel in Bezug auf Lauterbach oder Baerbock.
Some other Words for you :)
Sturmfrei = _(Storm free)_ As a child, it is THE time for you when your parents leave the house for a certain time and you can throw a party, for example
Ohrwurm = _(Ear worm)_ You probably know when you have a song that you can't get out of your head and you keep humming or singing
Erbsenzähler = _(Peas tally)_ This is someone who takes it very seriously or wants to do it very precisely. Can also be used for someone who is just stingy
verschlimmbessern = _(worse improved)_ That's when someone tries to fix or improve something, but only makes it worse
Pantoffelheld = _(henpecked husband)_ This describes a man who shows off in front of his friends and pretends to be a tough guy, but doesn't dare open his mouth to his wife
Thank you. I think most of us have had an 'Ohrwurm' every now and then!
„Earworm“ can be used for exactly the same thing in English (although in my experience, it is used rarely). An „Erbsenzähler“ is a „bean counter“ in English. Why Germans count peas and Anglo-Americans count beans escapes my knowledge. ;-)
@Liath Danke.
@@michaelmedlinger6399 The German expression origins in the simplicissimus. The Anglo-American one is the translation...maybe they picked beans because they favour bean based dishes?
In Dutch these would be:
Stormvrij
Oorworm
Erwtenteller
Verslechtbeteren
Pantoffelheld (the only one that's exactly the same), otherwise known as "held op sokken" (hero on socks).
Nice reaction video! I am German and never in my life I've heard the word "Ruinenlust"
Me neither!
Same here. But maybe it's a newer one, because discovering lost places became a real trend in the last years?!
„Kopfkino“ - „Head Cinema“ 😂
When someone tells you something and you imagine it in this exact way 😂
German is a LEGO language. It can put various terms together, such as world ( Welt) and pain. (Schmerz) The new word gets a completely new meaning.
the concept is called _compound words_
@@embreis2257 No ... its Legolanguage... not Compound Words.... "Compound words" is an anglospheric view of language... If you tried harder you would have ended up with "Compoundwords"... tho my friend here seems to try to meet you "halfway" or "half way"...
Same in finnish.
"LEGO language" made my day 🤣..., aber du hast absolut recht. Man kann in der deutschen Sprache wirklich glaublich viele Substantive zu einem neuen Wort verbinden, das dann eine komplett andere Bedeutung hat. Für Leute, die Deutsch lernen, kann das dann echt verwirrend sein.
Wirklich schön ausgedrückt. ;-)
I get a sense that JP's college essays will be taking on a whole new depth and meaning. A zufriedenstellendes Erfolgserlebnis
German also has a more complex grammar then most. And that makes it possible to be very precise in what you say. I am Norwegian and German and there are many things I simply cannot say in Norwegian. So user manuals I always read in German, because it is crystal clear in what order things have to be put togther. I often have asked myself if German engineering has produced our language or if the language has produced so good engineers 😀😊
If you are lucky, and German was not computer-generated. German language might more be the reason to produce so many philosophers.
speaking of grammar - more comlex grammar thAn most ;)
@@CaptainFirefred since we are being erbsenzähler, grammar and spelling is not the same thing and in my opinion nowhere close in importance.
@@CaptainFirefred 😂
@@JohnDoe-xz1mw I think I need to have a talk with my former eglish teacher - generally I agree and would not have pointed that out, but the sweet, sweet irony - I could not hold back.
The best part is, new ones of these words keep popping up in everyday usage. The last ones that really made me laugh were: *"Turnbeutelvergesser"* ("gym bag forgetter" - someone who always intentionally forgot their sports gear at school so as not to have to take part in physical education classes. So it`s someone who is constantly trying to shy away from something strenuous or uncomfortable). And *"USBstickabmelder"* ("USB-stick outlogger" Someone who is annoyingly overly cautious)😂
Lol..Turnbeutelvergesser. What the heck did you put in your Beer dear Neighbours ?
the great thing about this concept is that you can invent new words anytime
and they will be understood immediately.
e.g. Arschkarte, Dickschädel, Partylöwe, Rampensau, Stubentiger etc.
That's not totally right, we also often need an explanation or an example first, you just can't remember you did get one in one way or another.
I had to laugh at a couple of your examples. I have read (one must always be careful about such explanations) that “die Arschkarte ziehen” comes from football. Many referees (most, I would say) carry the yellow card in their breast pockets and the red card in their back hip pockets. You can often tell that a player is about to be shown a red card because the referee reaches for his back hip pocket. “Rampensau” is very much an expression from theater (especially opera). It’s a singer who, when the big aria comes up, breaks out of the production to go downstage center and sing to the audience, breaking the dramatic flow of the production.
@@michaelmedlinger6399
You did forget to say that the Arschkarte thing came from the Black & White TV time, and they did it that the TV audience can tell which card was pulled.
@@raistraw8629 Interesting! I was not aware of that.
germans writing in english to each other nice
“Futterneid” is a term taken from behavioral science and it is often used in context of animals or - small children - being envious of the food others (such as siblings) eat, too. So, it is not just applied to envying someone else’s choice/quality of meal but may also refer to the feeling of coming out short in communal meals, especially among siblings - of getting the short end of something good (such as the classic of giving two kids three cookies to share and both scrutinizing the evenness of the one cookie that was broken in two to accomodate two eaters)….! Addition: it also implies that siblings eat - as a consequence of food envy - more when they eat together than they would if they were alone …
Exactly. I totally associate family mealtimes with the word "Futterneid". It triggers memories of whenever we had meat for dinner and my stepbrother got a larger piece of meat than me. 😂 Waaarrrr!!!
This is my new thing now: whenever I feel down about having moved back to Germany from the US, I come here to remind myself of how awesome it is to be German. What a genuinely likeable channel and German fanboy. 💗
One of my favorite is "verschlimmbessern" - the try to desparately make something better, to fail by that and make it even worse...
As a linguistic enthusiast, this was fun and the narrator was very funny and didn’t mince their words.
Hi Joel ... Englishman here, I came to Germany in Sept. 1969 and I wanted to learn German so I just mixed with the locals at the bars and Disco's (back then it was the only way to meet girls). It took me about 2 years to be able to speak it without first translating it in my head to English. I was completely self taught, no schooling what so ever. Been living here now for 53 years German is now more or less my native language because I have noone to speak English with. The only English I hear is on UA-cam, watching you and others.
Greetings from 🇩🇪!
Just for the record:
The German language comprises around 18 million words.
The English language has around 1 million words.✌️
18 million? Please give a source for your claim! I'm pretty sure this is not correct.
A quick Wikipedia search gives completely different numbers, highest being ca. 500,000.
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wortschatz#Deutscher_Wortschatz
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocabulary
My 1990s DUDEN says for "Wortschatz" -/ vocabulary (without technical terms):
English 240,000 --- German 180,000 --- French 140,000.
Of course, if you create nonsense words like Wasserbaumtasse or Himmelsdorfjägerknopf I can imagine 500 million German words...
yeah, mostly because you can combine many words, and then combine those with more words
"Das Dudenkorpus hat nach heutigem Stand (Frühjahr 2020) einen Umfang von über 18 Millionen unterschiedlichen Wörtern (Grundformen)."
@@rosshart9514 Actually, the 18 Million is correct, but it contains just everything that ever came into existence. The present vocabulary contains about 400.000 words, most people will regularly use only between 10.000 and 20.000 words but will be able to understand about 50.000-80.000 words even if they never heard it before.
@@Baryogenese Yes., this is a good summary of the object (if you exclude numerals). Do you have matchable numbers for English?
Words for you - Treppenwitz (Staircase-joke). Coming up with a good response to an insult / disrespect when its too late to tell it. Like you get insulted, dont have a response, take the L, leave the party and as you go to your car you come up with the best counter that you should have used but cant now.
Schnapsidee (schnaps / alcohol - idea) - an idea you think is brilliant when totally drunk but actually is a really really bad idea that you just dont realise to be bad cause you are drunk
Notgeil (emergency-horny) - when you are so starved for sexual intercourse that you are willing to do anything to get some, usually allowing yourself to be abused, amnipulated or just embarrasingly begging
For a Schnapsidee you don't even need to be drunk xD
I have had countless stupid ideas while totally sober.
Flachwitz (flat jokes) yeah it falls flat, that joke, nobody or not many ppl will laugh about it. (Cause it is overused or not good) Maybe you call them Dad Jokes. Not sure about it.
My personal favorite is "Treppenwitz" (staircase joke). This word is used for a situation, where you hade a discussion or you talked to someone you like but do not find the right words, but the moment you have left and the situation is over you remeber exactly what you should have said like its a sick joke.
When I play Scrabble with my husband, I often create new words that don't make much sense or make no sense at all. First he notices, but then he joins in because it's fun.
There are also interesting sayings like "everything has and end, but the sausage has two".
even normal things are compound words in german.
Hanschuhe - Hand shoes - Gloves
Kühlschrank - cooling closet - Fridge
Ferseher - far seeer - the TV (as you see things from somewhere else, also TV is a german invention)
Schildkröte - Shield Toad - Turtle
Fahrzeug - driving thing - Vehicle
Efficiency in language is key.
In English there are some similar compositions of nouns like "homesickness". That also comprehends a huge feeling in one single word by combining two nouns. While there are only a few such expressions in the English language, there are many in German. But to be honest I (German) have never heard "Ruinenlust".
I Know ist as Ruinenromantik: Seeing the Beauty in decay
I have also never heard of Ruinenlust, and due to... Reasons, it is hard for me to take words with Lust in in seriously sometimes. It means the same in English as it does in German, might be more modern/common in the English language though, not sure. Maybe not.
Edit: Lust also just means longing or desire in a more child-friendly, general way, but the other meaning is hard to ignore for me personally. 😂😅
@@naseimwind1 That sounds more beautiful and elegant to me
falsches Jahrhundert in welchem du lebst...lol!
@@phoenix72999 what about Lebenslust? never said that seriously?
3:51 It’s quite an elaborate visual. Great job, animators/illustrators.
Hey, I never heard about the word "Ruinenlust", but I definitively know you use "Schadenfreude" in your own language and with the exact same meaning. Keep on, bro. 😎 Greetings from Aachen/Germany
Same here, never heard of Ruinenlust. I think Schadenfreude is used in English though not as often as in German. However, I even once heard it in an English pop song (Pet Shop Boys, Love is a Bourgeois Construct) the lyrics are: I'll be taking my time for a long time with all the Schadenfreude it's cost, calculating what you've lost (...)
I also didn't know Ruinenlust. But I have it, too. On vacation I need to look and walk every old castle or church on the way. But they don't need to be ruins 🙂.
That's because Ruinenlust doesn't exist in German.
I for one encourage Jps to start learning german.
7:28 There is an infinite number of words "like that". In german, you can construct any compound word which you like, and as long as you manage to get the combination gramatically correct and your compound describes something, that people can identify, it is just another german word. That is also the way, in which we get our ridiculously long words.
Let me construct an example: "Hundeschullehrersteuerberatungsgesellschaftsvorstandsvorsitzendenbüro would be the office (Büro) of the head of (Vorsitzender) the leading gremium (Vorstand) of a company (Gesellschaft) which gives advice (Beratung) about taxes (Steuern) to teachers (Lehrer) of dog schools (Hundeschulen). Such a Bandwurmwort ("tape worm word") is perceived as a bit silly and would typically emerge in a burocratic context, but it is still correct.
But whenever somebody comes up with a compound, which other people can emotionally relate to or of which people think, that it is useful, it becomes fashionable and the potentially implied nuances are appreciated. There are no limits, except, that you run the risk, that nobody will be able to understand, what you were about to say, if your construct gets too weird and abstract. But combinations with a feeling attached to a substantive are usually an easy win, as long as it is plausible, that this feeling is commonly linked to that thing.
On the other hand, in english the basic words are much more nuanced then in german, because, historically, it was a merger of two separate languages. Words, which existed in both languages were usually kept, but used a little different (ask a linguistic specialist for details, a few decades passed, since I learned about that at school). Without compound words, german would have about half the vocabulary, as compared to english).
And the good thing: Germans can always create new compound words. Not all will survive, but those who are useful will.
In German you can create the weirdest words and everyone knows the meaning of it. Like Warmduscher ( person who showers with warm water), Weichei (soft egg), Badehosenduscher, Dünnbrettbohrer, Feinrippunterhosenbügler, Badehosensaunierer,
I can not really translate this. But it makes so much fun to create some.
Den Sitzpinkler nicht zu vergessen.😂
I am Belgian and my language (Flemish/Dutch) is the same , it also gives me the ability to speak (5) languages without any accent!
"Schadenfreude" is actually only felt towards someone who you think deserves his misfortune. Not to random people.
My sister invented a nice Dutch word during COVID times. "Hoestschaamte" (to feel ashamed for coughing).
Its also pretty easy to come up with new words in german due to their modular nature and people fluent in the language will usually be able to understand what u mean without extra explanation, so its tough to really put a number on how many of these words exist. It also depends on the area, different states here usually have their own words for some things. It sometimes can make it harder for us to phrase english sentences when u are thinking in german as u often have to find a different way to explain something and often a lot of the depth gets lost.
Yeah, this has the effect that during the Corona crisis, a number of new words were invented to describe the situation, around 600 of them, from "Alltagsmaske" to "Zwangsimpfung". Only a few of them will be around permanently though.
"I want to learn all of the words." is a really funny thing to hear as a German as there are so many of them that even Germans could only dream of knowing them all.
As someone mentioned before, there are loads of (compound) words to describe a concept, or simply to illustrate a word's meaning, esp. Animals, Blitzkrieg, Reiselust, Faultier (lazy animal - sloth), Fledermaus (Flying Mouse - bat), Staubsauger (dust sucker - vacuum cleaner); Kaffeeklatsch or simply look - complicated (Streichholzschächtelchen). "Wanted Adventure" has some funny videos about Germyn words and sentences that she learned here in Germany.
Another one by NALF, where he compares his experiences in Germany with the feelings expressed in these words 18 Weird German Words You Won't Believe Exist
not forgeting the longest german word "Rinderkennzeichnungsfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz"
I have seen several reactions to the video you reacted on.
Basically, there is (or at least used to be) the same option in english, yet for some reason, native speakers of English tend not to use it:
For example, a ship powered by a steam engine, is a steamship in English. It´s just the same in German:
"Schiff" means "ship", "Dampf" means "steam", so a ship powered by a steam engine is a "Dampfschiff".
However, I must add, that the Germans really evoled the idea of compund words to a whole different level.
My teacher had a favourite example:
"Dampfschifffahrtswitwenrentenantragsformular" (a form sheet for the applications for thepension of a widow of a steamship captain) may take even a native speaker a moment to decipher, however, once deciphered, any German will immedeatly know what is meant. There is even a special set of rules for creating new compound words.
Just another thought that came to my mind: did you realize, that every example given in the video has some negative or depressing connotation?
That is kind of a part of the German mentality.
Donaudampfschiffkaptitänskajutenschlüsselbrett... I always hated those xD
German is like Lego. If we don't have a word for it we just build one :D
At 1:37 i can see many other words:
- Schattenparker (guy who parks in a shadow) is a soft man who dont want to endure something. Another word with the same explanation is "Warmduscher" (a guy who takes a warm shower)
- Lebensmüde (tired of life): A person who dont want to live anymore.
- Sitzfleisch (sit meat): The back
- Treppenwitz (stairs joke) : A joke thats quite complex so the listener understands it very late (he understands it, when he leave the flat, walking down the stairs and than he get it. But to late, he cant continue with communication with the other people)
- Kopfkino (head cinema): A scene which comes up in your mind and it is that intense, that you think its real (more or less) or you "see" something (can imagine) after somebody tells you a crazy or very funny story.
- Frühjahrsmüdigkeit (early year tiredness): beeing tired and not quite powerless at the start of spring because of clima (i think ;))
To be fair, Backpfeifengesicht exists as a word but we never say it. And Ruinenlust is super rare, probably only used in a tourist bureau.
"Ruinenlust" is very rarely used, if at all. All the others are quite common.
I enjoyed your genuine reaction. In this video they showed some good (and bad) examples of German compound words. To understand better, why Germans can say things, others can’t, I am going to elaborate on that. I keep it simple: German compound words are build from two or more words and the first word usually discribes the second (last) word better. Some examples: Handschuh (Hand shoe - a shoe for your hand) = glove, Faultier (lazy animal) = sloth, Fahrvergnügen (driving enjoyment - the enjoyment someone gets while driving a vehicle).
And the second thing is the pronounciation of «ei». In English you would pronunce the: Stein (stone) = steen, but if you want to pronounce it the German way, you must pronounce the I in Stein, like: Stine. That is a simple rule that will improve your German pronounciation a lot. And it is nothing too bad, in my opinion. A very simple example: free (English) = frei (Deutsch)
I speak German and I love these words
I love your excitement and amazement at what the world outside the US has to offer. I feel the internet is your Yoda and u are a young Luke Syywalker now getting a real education in life
There is no theoretical limit on compound nouns in German. But in general 3-4 Words is the limit in daily language.
Laws are an other deal.
This was absolutely fascinating Joel! These words could save a lot writing for writing essays in English. A book of these words would be useful. John in Canada
the eky about german words is that you can make anything and people will understand you. it's a huge part of the language to make shit up as you go. just choose 2 or 3 words that describe something you don't know or have forgotten the word of and people will probably get what you means easily
The title of a song by the German band Die Ärzte is titled "Backpfeifengesicht" but many such words have entered the German language. That's the good thing about the German language, you can create new words so beautifully.
The word "Backpfeifengesicht" is always in English Videos used as an example but it's not used colloquially, at least I've rarely heard it that way.
You are really getting it! Bravo!! You are right! In German languages, for example German (of course!), Dutch and Danish, we often put words together... like Luftschloss which is 'luftkastel' in Danish , and for instance 'forklaringsproblem' when you a problem of explaining something .. and so on. You can so easily make new words in a German language just by putting words together.. either directly or with an extra letter as a bridge between the two 'old' words. Like playing Scrabble!
1:15 That's a lot of words for "opposite of home sickness". I wouldn't even translate it as "distance pain" either, far sickness sounds better 😄
"Not" (read as a very narrow, British "naught") as in "Erklärungsnot" means urgency or emergency aswell as shortage. It is when you are (deperately or urgently) in need of something. Actually, thinkingnabout it now, I wouldn't be surprised if "need" and "Not" had the same orgin. The vowel changed and the last consonant became hard vs. soft repectively.
So, being in "Erklärungsnot" means, to be urgently on need or in shortage of one or several explanations.
Ruinenlust-- never heard, but Weltschmerz is really often to be heard. But, let me tell you another word, i recently stumbled over. It is in Plattdeutsch ( Low german) a dialect of north and has similarities with dutch and english, and is nearly not understandable by normal germans, and has oftentimes very funny words, and even curse words sound never vulgar , but oftentimes cute or funny. Now, the word is "Plüschmors" It is made of Plüsch, wich is french originated and means those very soft and furry imitating fabrics, used for blankets , furniture or inner outfit for boots or winter jackets. And the second, Mors, is the Plattdeutsch word for ass or butt and in no way vulgar, even used in formal situations, which would be impossible in normal german. What is it then together? Plüschmors is the bumblebee!!! So cute!!!!
Well, being Dutch, I know we have some weird and inexplicable word combinations, too 🙂 And I'm not sure if the Germans stole it from us or the other way around, but the Dutch word for 'Luftschloss' is an exact translation of 'luchtkasteel' 🙂 Where word combinations in English often use hyphens, the Dutch and Germans just combine them to create a whole new word 🙂
That’s very interesting! So “Kasteel” is “Castle” in English…in Bavarian German, a “Kastl” is a little box….😂
No one stole it.... dutch an german are almost the same languages. Some hundred years ago, before the first vowel shift, they sounded even more similar (as low german near the Netherlands still does).
I'd wager they both evolved alongside each other. My grandparents used to/ my granny still does speak Westphalian Lower German and that's eerily close to your beautiful language, dear neighbour :) Even so close that I took a semester of Dutch at my uni when I got the chance to :3
@@LunaBianca1805 Oh, back when I was in high school, German was obligatory for the first two years, as was French 🙂 Dutch and English were obligatory for all six years.
@@janjacobi973 Das Niederländische "Kast" is "Schrank" in German. "Kasteel" ist abgeleitet vom Lateinischen "Castellum".
once you learn a language you will encounter that things will be expressed in different ways. There are different concepts established and used. That is why translating texts correctly and readable is somewhat an art. That is true for all languanges.
I did not know "Ruinenlust".
But a "Weichei" does not allways follow the crowd, this would do rather a "Fähnchen im Wind" or "Fähnlein im Wind". A "Weichei" just avoids inconveniences, efforts and often disharmonies. Another word for a "Weichei" is a "Warmduscher", somebody who has warm showers instead of the more healthy cold water.
The opposite of "Fernweh" is "Heimweh" (homesickness), when you are away from home and missing it heavily.
There is by now an English term for "Fremdschämen" - "second-hand embarrassment". Seems English language saw the need to add that. ^^
In general, the composite nature of the German language allows the combination of parts into a new term. It is like a sandbox language. Technically any word could be created in German, and it would technically not be wrong.
Great, Joel, time to start learning German! 😆
Actually, these things come up in all languages all the time. For various reasons, there will be concepts in any language that are almost impossible to translate. Some of the words you saw in this video (including the narrator’s use of the German word “Angst” and “Weltschmerz”) come from philosophy or psychology. They are used in English because there is no direct translation and they have acquired specific meanings.
I’m a translator for German/French -> English. These things can be real headaches.
The fun thing is u can create compound words in German at any time from what ever words u want :)
Love our german compound words haha
As a german i can't stop laughing. Those little sketches are simply genius. Normaly i don't like "!react to" videos but yours are very interesting and funny to watch. Many others are only silly.
Weltschmerz has it’s own Wikipedia article in Germany and describes where that word is coming from.
I find it weird that everyone seems to forget 'malicious glee' as a translation for 'Schadenfreude'. It might not be completely spot-on, but it comes pretty close, I think. 🤔
Tell you a funny one, when I got pregnat 45 years ago, I had an English friend. And when I wanted to talk to her more specifically about the ins and outs at that time . And with little experience in English, I just translated the facts I wanted her to know about, from the words we use one to one in your language. She was irritated and had no idea what I was on about,talking about eggjump (ovulation) and mothercake (placenta). ,We still sometimes rember this and have a good laugh. These words are used within all day life, and they are normal and accepted. And when I explained my older children everything about becoming pregnant and the development of the baby inside the womb,my youngest son (loves sweets) asked me:" Did I have had a cake as well?" You see even with native speakers language can be complicated. Have a nice day.
@Emilie. A tale about having a bun in the oven? If I said "that takes the biscuit", or "that's the way the cookie crumbles", would it seem funny, or would I end up with egg on my face?
@@alansmithee8831 ????? sorry,nix verstehen
Actually english allows the same thing, like in sunglasses, wallpaper or bodyguard. It's just not used in such an extent. Like bodyguardsunglasses. (the glasses for the sun for the guard of an body). And as you see, you can invent such words on the fly and they will be understood. But you will never find them in a dictionary.
Compound words are very common in the Swedish language (as Swedish is heavily influenced by the German language)
"schadenfreude" oder "wer den schaden hat muss für den spott nich sorgen" (who has the probelm doesnt need to worry about finding ppl willing to make fun of you)
in school back then when we started english in the 5th grade, i was convinced that it would be better to speak the same language everywhere!, *but* now that i know english as well as germen, i see that german is soooooooo damn precise, i wouldnt want to miss it in my brain tbh!
Great idea for a new video. By translating these German words and reacting to them you show that Ludwig Wittgenstein`s sentence is correct: "Die Grenzen meiner Sprache bedeuten die Grenzen meiner Welt." ("The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.").
Joel, some of these compound words are used very rarely and came from literature. So "Weltschmerz" , I guess, is a word from the period of romanticism like "Ruinenlust" as well. I've never used it in a talk or conversation nor in writing.
The word lust for ruins(Ruinenlust) fits well into German history. Germany has so many castles and palaces distributed within north to south Germany, that you can also find old ruins with their associated history.
We germans had such immense lust for ruins - we started World wars to generate more ruins in and arround our country!
@@ForumcoldiArchon Why think so negatively again? Germany has worked through its dark history well and the Europeans get along well.
That would fit well in England as well.
I agree with you.👍@@peterjf7723
@@blondkatze3547 I never heared this word before. But I rather associate the romantic idea to build ruins just for decoration. Some 200year old historic parks have such buildings. It's part of romanticism.
The word you were looking for there at the end is "Zeitgeist".
And in addition there are SOOO many words used in certain counties or towns in Germany ... and merely only there ! like ' Spacken ' in Hamburg
weltschmerz - recently used as an album title by Fish
I had a german friend who loved the American term "mystery meat". He said it would take about 6 german words put together to say the same thing.
There is a great video by Language of Earth comparing Germanic languages English vs German vs Dutch vs Afrikaans. It’s fascinating 😁
I'm a Kiwi, and this is why German is my favourite language.
It's such a wonderfully expressive language. Even though I've got a very basic German vocabulary, I could listen to it all day.
maybe you look up youtube for "How anyone (including YOU) can read German" ? Really nicely made :)Thanks for your videos
My biggest Luftschloss would be my profile picture. Dang, they have gotten expensive :(
Nobody uses Ruinenlust.
I wouldn't say "Weltschmerz" is a common word, but the feeling is certainly there.
To be fair, we don't use many of these words on a regular basis, and a lot of very young people don't know these words anymore because they don't come in contact with them a lot on social media (or other media they consume).
The whole thing is actually even more exciting. Because meanwhile we even create words that have an apparent Anglicistic basis. Handy, is probably the most famous example of this. On the other hand, we also invent terms based on English words to fool Anglicisms. German is an incredibly variable language that adapts to the zeitgeist while remaining incredibly precise. It doesn't matter whether we incorporate a lot of words from French, as we used to, or from English, as we do now...
For the english speakers who don't know this: Handy = cell phone
Kopfkino (head movie theatre) = The moment someone mentions something and it launches an avalanche of images and (often either hilarious or nasty, or both) associations in your head. It's not like imagination, but more the moment when your imagination shows you things you DON'T want to think of.
Sesselfurzer (chair farter) = A person who doesn't do anything more substantial than sitting in their comfy chair and farting. Often used for people of considerable power but insignificant competence or impact.
Kindskopf (child's head) = a person who is very childish and often acts as impulsive and joy-focused as a child.
Schafskopf (sheep's head) = a dumb person who can't think straight.
I don't know if it's a thin other than in my household: Politikersitzung (politician's session) = when you go to the toilet urgently, only nothing substantial happens but hot air, not even sh*t.
As a german I have to say that I never heard of the word Ruinenlust. And I really like visiting old castles and things like that.
More of this Videos please :D
I like "Mutterseelenallein (Mother soul alone)" or "Habseligkeiten (to own things that make you happy) ". "Lebensmüde (tired of life) " "Frühlingserwachen (springtime awakening)", "Blütenzauber (flower magic)", "jein (yes and no connected in one word)". "Pustekuchen", "Quadratlatschen", "sternhagelvoll (stars hail full = be drunken), " Geschmacksverirrung", "Fingerspitzengefühl", "Zugzwang" ...
A more accurate translation of Weltschmerz would be: world pain. Feeling the pain rather than the sadness of the world.
I am a German of 57 and must say I've never herad "Ruinenlust" before
Wow, I learned a new German word on an foreign channel: Ruinenlust.
I never heard that before.
Hi, I'm German. I've gotten around a lot in Germany and am now almost 60. But I've never heard the word "Ruinenlust" in my life.
To the question of how often weltschmerz is used the last years arround : probably slim to none.
Its such a rare word you would see in a piece of literature.. but nowhere else. Barely any german has used the word at all in their whole life.
oh English has that too. English can take any noun and turn it into a verb or an adjective by adding the suffix -ing or -ly.... this doesn't work in most languages and you end up with a mile long phrase in the translation to describe it... like "horse" and "horsing around"... the translation ends up using the word "riding" instead but that's not really the same... other examples are "to google"... and an endless list of words that don't officially exist but everyone understand the meaning intuitively
or they are scientific terms from psychology, philosophy, politics.....
But You can compound not only substantives but verbs and adjectives too, like bittersweet or lauwarm (not hot, not cold, something in-between)
But before party... you have to "Vorglühen", (pre-burning) means you drink at home or even at the parking lot in front of the club to get just a bit dizzy, but not to much, just to safe money buy drinking the (mostly) same alcohol drink outside the club, so you have not to drink the way more expensive drink inside the club. ^^
When I took German back in HS, I used to find the compound words "auf Deutsch" to be endlessly humorous. So one day I told my German teacher that I was having problems with my "typfahlermachine" which she thought was actually pretty funny :D :)
ok, enlighten a German -- Schreibmaschine?
@@fex2911 I think it`s "Tippfehlermaschine". And imo it`s quiet funny.😊
@@zapster252 It was meant to be a joke.... I was making fun of complex German words by inventing a "typewriter mistake-making machine." At least my high school German teacher got a laugh when I wrote it in one of my assignments! ;)
@@leestevens4250 🤣 Well to me typewriters were definitely "Tippfehlermaschinen". I used Tipp-Ex by the gallon back in the days.
@@fex2911 The literal translation into English would be "Writing Machine," more recently known as a "typewriter" :D
It's cool to see such positive reactions to Germany and German culture from you. In terms of lack of German national pride, it's sometimes really satisfying.
Here's another one of those German superlatives. First, the largest airship shipyard was supposed to be built, but an airship was never built in it. Instead, they implemented what felt like a crazy idea for Germany: ua-cam.com/video/41yGr6ktaBE/v-deo.html
"Futterneid" is mainly used for our pets. I am confused it was not mentioned
1:26 It feels like the definition of Wanderlust.
they meant Fernweh ^^ but those are super similar
@@mel_oooI had a feeling it was a different word too.
Fernweh (distance pain) is a longing. I wish I was somewhere else, experiencing something new. (Basicly the opposite of homesickness)
Wanderlust is the wish to take a stroll outside (mostly to experience nature). Comeon, let's go out, walk around, experience the world.
Die Sprache der Dichter und Denker.
English has the same ability, it just is under-used. Old English literature had a special feature, called the Kenning. The most famous of Old English literature, Beowulf, features a kenning right in its title: the Bee-Wolf, meaning the bear. Typical for the kenning is a base-word (wolf) or head word, and a determinant (bee), which conjure up the whole meaning: a wolf-like predator fond of bees. The kenning usage was two-fold. Originally it was used to avoid a taboo word, one, that could conjure up the thing or event it was describing. Beowulf tries to avoid calling the bear by name, and replaces it with the kenning. Maybe you remember Rumpelstiltskin, which you could bane by saying its name. It's the same principle, just in reverse. Later, the kenning was mostly used poetically, finding new words for known things to make your lyrics more interesting.
In Beowulf, you find other examples, for instance the seġl-rād (sail-road), the sea, and heofon-candel (sky-candle), the sun.
Hello Joel. I believe "overthink" is a good old English word. Being a Yorkshireman, I am rarely accused of this. Sometimes it might be better to "seh nowt an' get cracking".
As for the pauses in translation, there are different words for "the" in German for example and word order is time, manner, place. Verbs are often at the end of a sentence, making a pause on translation to English unavoidable. Still, it is good to learn.
According to "Verbs are often at the end of the sentence".
Well that is only in combination with an auxillery verb...which takes the place of verb.
According word order..that is actually quite interchangebable.
for instance the sentence
"I´m driving with my car to Berlin today"
I can say
Ich fahre heute mit dem Auto nach Berlin.
or
Heute fahre ich mit dem Auto nach Berlin.
or
Mit dem Auto fahre ich heute nach Berlin.
or
Nach Berlin fahre ich heute mit dem Auto.
even
Nach Berlin fahre ich mit dem Auto heute.
only the verb has here its constant place which is the second place..and when there is an auxillery verb then the auxillery verb gets that 2nd place and the Perfect participle has then a constant place at the end of the sentence.
Of course not everything is possible there are still rules in behalf of what goes and what does not.
Those who learn German as a second language just got taught one way...to learn/teach German is complicated enough so it is done "the easy way" so to say.
To be able to switch word order the right way like that is then just "advanced eloquency" and not "basic subject matter" not even at C2 level.
For me as native German speaker it is natural obviously.
@@michaelgrabner8977 Sometimes I am glad the Danes settled my bit of England and made it necessary to simplify what became English from the old Anglo-Saxon. I got better grades at French than German, even though I tend to understand German better, because all of the rules made it harder to get a good exam result. You are right in saying that for a foreigner it makes it tricky to get it perfectly correct, if it is a second or third language and it is just one part of your studies.
@@alansmithee8831 Well I might should have mentioned that those variants of word order are also changing the notion of the meaning a bit although it is always the same fundamental meaning...Sorry when that sounds a bit weird now but it is hard for me to articulate that in English as I would do in German...but it is generally about Semantics
Basically the first one is a neutral statement.
the second one emphasizes "today" ...(in the sense of "today and not tomorow")
the third emphasizes "the car" ..(in the sense that I usually don´t take the car when I go to Berlin)
the third emphasizes "Berlin" as destination
and the last one emphasizes "Berlin"as destination + it happens "especially today"
And that is also to hear in the way I would accentuate the sentence in speech.
@@michaelgrabner8977It is to be hoped you enjoy going to Berlin in the car.
Ohrwurm - Ear worm (a song or melody got stuck in your head)
Ohrenkrebs - Ear cancer (something like Rebecca Black - Friday)
Weltschmerz. I have learned about that concept in school in Croatia. 😔
the thing is, if a compound word doesnt exist, we germans just invent new ones. ^_^ right now we have several hundredthousand compound words in the german language. its hard to tell, because new ones are generated constantly.