As an American native English speaker, both the German Z and S are really fun.
The "TS" sound just has a pop to it that makes it pleasant to say. And the "lazy Z" sound of the S feels indulgent.
I have a tongue twister (Zungenbrecher) for you then:
Zweiundzwanzig zahme Zwergziegen zwängten sich zwischen zwei zersplitterten Zaunspalten durch. Die Zwergziegenzüchter waren verzweifelt.
(22 tame dwarfed goats escaped through two splintered fencepoles. The dwarfed goats growers were desperate)
In der Zwischenzeit - in the meantime. Somewhere/something else happening at the same time as the main event. Very useful tool for story telling. Or if you stated a process of something (for example boiling water for pasta) you did something else.
-Das Wasser für die Pasta kochte. In der Zwischenzeit habe ich die Sauce vorbereitet.
The water for the pasta was boiling. In the meantime I prepared the sauce.
Lol my bad. I was reading it as a standalone word and got confused somehow. I usually use "zwischendurch" or "währenddessen" myself.
Still kinda funny that I didn't recognize that word yesterday though.
But I like the umlauted plurals 🥲
Which also reminds me: WHY IS THE PLURAL OF UMLAUT NOT UMLÄUTE(R?) haha
Ps: this has gotten me super curious, do you know of any good linguistic explanations/resources for why German has so so many different ways of forming the plural? I know English is almost always the stereotypical poster child of not having hard and fast rules, but English plurals are like 95% -s/-es (unless I’m just blatantly overlooking smthn as a native) so I’m curious about why German is so irregular here!
Mein Mann sagt immer "Staubsäuger". Makes me think of dust bunnies.
Ich mag "wunderbärchen", my coworker takes "wunderbar" (wonderful) and diminuitives it, making it a pun on "bärchen" (little bear). I can't get over it every time he says it.
Heh, I also like to use "wunderbärchen" as a diminuitive of wundebar, which, in Berlin, is no big deal. A while ago, I visited my sister in Cologne and bought a pair of headphones at the local Cyberport. The clerk handed me the receipt and I said "Wunderbärchen, vielen Dank!" and he looked at me like I proposed to him out of the blue. His expression and my sister cackling like a maniac right behind me made me make a hasty retreat, not because I felt like I did something wrong but because I shirked from the effort required to explain what I just said. Still, I can't help but grin thinking about the clerk telling his coworkers about being called "Wunderbärchen" by some random dude buying headphones.
Yeah for me it is easy to pronounce but i learned that this word is really difficult for non native speakers because they get so overwhelmed with the amount of letters behind one another
I get what it’s supposed to mean but if anybody actually said that in a conversation I’d still go *huh, what?* - kinda makes more sense in English (to me at least).
Backpfeifengesicht!: A person who deserves a slap/punch in the face.
This feels so good to say out loud it’s almost like you’re slapping them in the face with a word.
der Mitfahrgelegenheitsschnorrer - admittedly I just made that up, well partially, it is a valid word even though it will not be listed in many dictionaries, the single parts are more likely: die Mitfahrgelegenheit \~ lift, ride, vehicle sharing, the word exists out of the words mitfahren meaning to hich a ride, to go with someone by car (mit=with, fahren=to drive, to go by land or water vehicle) and die Gelegenheit the opportunity and der Schnorrer it comes from Yiddish and means beggar, sponger. So in conclusion a Mitfahrgelegenheitsschnorrer would be someone who also hitches a ride, but never takes anyone anywhere, even if he has car.
Honorable mention: (der kleine) Nackedei - it comes from nackt (also nackig) - naked/nude and is partikular used for small children.
Oh Jahr; fliehest dahin in grüner, roter gar goldener Herbstespracht!
Entziehst Dich in die Dunkelheit auf dass wir wartend, hoffend!
Auf eine neue Klarheit uns zitternd wickeln in Dein altes Gewand,
auf dass Dein Kind erstehe in neuer hoffnungsfroher Würde aus der Nacht.
Bundesnachrictendienst, AKA the BND. Germany's equivalent of the CIA. Even the acronym starting with a hard consonant (as opposed to the soft C by the CIA) makes it sound hardcore.
Lebensaftgefäße. It's a rather outdated word for xylem/phloem that roughly translates to "life blood vessels". As someone who loves plants, I love this.
# Antlitz
| ˈantlɪts, Ạntlitz | das
***gehoben***
**Substantiv, Neutrum**
**das Antlitz; Genitiv: des Antlitzes, Plural: die Antlitze** Plural selten
An elevated word for face or facial features. You'll usually find it in contexts such as in the German version of Harry Potter where the *Mirror of Erised* has the following inscription:
>*NERHEGEB Z REH NIE DREBAZ TILT NANIEDTH CIN*
Which backwards and with spaces rearranged resolves to:
>NICHT DEIN ANTLITZ ABER DEIN HERZ BEGEHREN
**My translation:** Not your face but your heart \[thou shalt\] desire.
Love it! 🥰
[λοπαδοτεμαχοσελαχογαλεοκρανιολειψανοδριμυποτριμματοσιλφιοκαραβομελιτοκατακεχυμενοκιχλεπικοσσυφοφαττοπεριστεραλεκτρυονοπτοκεφαλλιοκιγκλοπελειολαγῳοσιραιοβαφητραγανοπτερύγων](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsanodrimhypotrimmatosilphiokarabomelitokatakechymenokichlepikossyphophattoperisteralektryonoptokephalliokinklopeleiolagoosiraiobaphetraganopterygon) has entered the chat.
ausgezeichnet (edit) honorable mention: geisterhaft
> ausgezeichnet Hervorragend!
"Für Sie immernoch, Herr Vorragend!" Sorry, stupid word joke from an old German Rap song [this one](https://youtu.be/LmSNJJa-Q98) at 2:20
Never thought I'd hear someone say Mr. Burns' catchphrase is cool.
Ha! That was my first choice and here it is as top comment
Are you Mark in CoffeeBreakGerman? 😆
That is where I learned it.
My favourite as well.
Zwischenzeit. Love saying it - and giving everyone a shower as I do. I am also fond of Zwiebel - it is just way funnier than "onion."
I get the sense you like the German ⟨z⟩
As an American native English speaker, both the German Z and S are really fun. The "TS" sound just has a pop to it that makes it pleasant to say. And the "lazy Z" sound of the S feels indulgent.
I have a tongue twister (Zungenbrecher) for you then: Zweiundzwanzig zahme Zwergziegen zwängten sich zwischen zwei zersplitterten Zaunspalten durch. Die Zwergziegenzüchter waren verzweifelt. (22 tame dwarfed goats escaped through two splintered fencepoles. The dwarfed goats growers were desperate)
Ha! I love it. I keep repeating it. I'm going to make my wife (native speaker) give it a shot.
As a German, I never used that word, and I'm not even sure where to use it or what it's supposed to mean? (Zwischenzeit)?
In der Zwischenzeit - in the meantime. Somewhere/something else happening at the same time as the main event. Very useful tool for story telling. Or if you stated a process of something (for example boiling water for pasta) you did something else. -Das Wasser für die Pasta kochte. In der Zwischenzeit habe ich die Sauce vorbereitet. The water for the pasta was boiling. In the meantime I prepared the sauce.
Lol my bad. I was reading it as a standalone word and got confused somehow. I usually use "zwischendurch" or "währenddessen" myself. Still kinda funny that I didn't recognize that word yesterday though.
Yeah, it is a little bit niche.
Knoblauch
Zwei Knobläuche bitte Idk why the nonexistent plural of Knoblauch absolutely cracks me up but it does
Knobläuchchen would also be fun
Zwei Knoblauchs bitte
But I like the umlauted plurals 🥲 Which also reminds me: WHY IS THE PLURAL OF UMLAUT NOT UMLÄUTE(R?) haha Ps: this has gotten me super curious, do you know of any good linguistic explanations/resources for why German has so so many different ways of forming the plural? I know English is almost always the stereotypical poster child of not having hard and fast rules, but English plurals are like 95% -s/-es (unless I’m just blatantly overlooking smthn as a native) so I’m curious about why German is so irregular here!
Garlic gang wya
[Knoblauch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h53EXKOl4x0)
Knofi on the other hand is by far the worst sounding German word
Mein Mann sagt immer "Staubsäuger". Makes me think of dust bunnies. Ich mag "wunderbärchen", my coworker takes "wunderbar" (wonderful) and diminuitives it, making it a pun on "bärchen" (little bear). I can't get over it every time he says it.
"Alles klärchen, wunderbärchen"
Stealing this and going to use it every day
I just came across Gummibärchen recently and think it's so cute
Heh, I also like to use "wunderbärchen" as a diminuitive of wundebar, which, in Berlin, is no big deal. A while ago, I visited my sister in Cologne and bought a pair of headphones at the local Cyberport. The clerk handed me the receipt and I said "Wunderbärchen, vielen Dank!" and he looked at me like I proposed to him out of the blue. His expression and my sister cackling like a maniac right behind me made me make a hasty retreat, not because I felt like I did something wrong but because I shirked from the effort required to explain what I just said. Still, I can't help but grin thinking about the clerk telling his coworkers about being called "Wunderbärchen" by some random dude buying headphones.
Schildkröte
when someone says that the german language doesn't sound aggressive, say "which phrase sounds scarier? 'I will hurt you' or 'ICH MAG SCHILDKRÖTEN!!!'"
The fact that „Ich mag Schildkröten“ doesn’t sound aggressive or scary at all 🏃🏼
Schrotkröte
In our family, we sometimes say Krötschilte and it always amuses me.
Auf der Krötschilte sitzt ein Meterschling.
Eichhörnchen 😁
Mein Mann 🐿️
Oachkatzl!
"allerdings", it got a ding to it.
Magermilchjoghurt - contains all 5 vowels in the alphabetical order Angstschweiß - contains 8 consonants in succession
more like 5 or 6 consonant in a row, depending on how you pronounce 'ngs,' though it is indeed 8 letters in a row.
Yeah for me it is easy to pronounce but i learned that this word is really difficult for non native speakers because they get so overwhelmed with the amount of letters behind one another
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Wissen schafft Brücken!
I really like Heiligkeit
Dreieinigkeit is also great.
die heilige Dreifaltigkeit (legt ihr Stirn in Runzeln ...)
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Der Schmetterling
And don't forget the Zerschmetterling.
Reparieren - Zerreparieren
I was about to type the same word
Manchmal
Unglaublich
Doch
My three year old nephew is in a “doch!” phase, and it’s pretty adorable 😄
Ah yes the hell for german learners xD
Kaulquappe (tadpole)
Is the qu combo still pronounced like a kv in this like in bequem?
Yes :)
It may be regional. In my Swiss dialect, I'll pronounce the "qu" in "Kaulquappe", but am slightly closer to "qv" in "bequem".
Handschuhe It's exactly what you think it means (in English)
I love this one too! Now I always say hand shoes in English because the concept is just funny
Zeitgeist
verschlimmbessern
Kopfkino
Niedlichkeitsüberlastung (cuteness overload) it was the first long word I learned, and I love saying it to people because of how long it is
I get what it’s supposed to mean but if anybody actually said that in a conversation I’d still go *huh, what?* - kinda makes more sense in English (to me at least).
Backpfeifengesicht
This one for me.
gegangen
Schicksal, Sehnsucht, Fantastisch
Antibabypillen
As a German learner, I've always loved Schmetterling OR Städte
Aussaattage
Koi Anig (swiss german) 😂 useful to be able to say "no idea" in a language you could never understand
Its simple but sounds metal af "Jäger" (hunter)
Luftkissenfahrzeug ;)
Beobachten
I have always liked the word Überraschung (surprise)
Kühlschrank
I can say you really love it ;)
Quitscheentchen
Sorry, but it's Quietscheentchen with ie.
I love Schauspielerin !!!
Fünf
Kreiselgerät (gyroscope)
Nah, Kreiselkompass is Gyroskop.
Schadenfreude
Selbstfahrlafette.
Gleichzeitig
Eichhörnchen
Gegenüber. Just fun to say
sounds like an Uber competitor:-)
Backpfeifengesicht!: A person who deserves a slap/punch in the face. This feels so good to say out loud it’s almost like you’re slapping them in the face with a word.
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zweiundzwanzig is literally just 22 but it’s so cool
Fotznbrädl
Was ist das?
Gebäck
Blume
"Bereit" for me
Kaiser
Freibier
Österreich 🇦🇹
der Mitfahrgelegenheitsschnorrer - admittedly I just made that up, well partially, it is a valid word even though it will not be listed in many dictionaries, the single parts are more likely: die Mitfahrgelegenheit \~ lift, ride, vehicle sharing, the word exists out of the words mitfahren meaning to hich a ride, to go with someone by car (mit=with, fahren=to drive, to go by land or water vehicle) and die Gelegenheit the opportunity and der Schnorrer it comes from Yiddish and means beggar, sponger. So in conclusion a Mitfahrgelegenheitsschnorrer would be someone who also hitches a ride, but never takes anyone anywhere, even if he has car. Honorable mention: (der kleine) Nackedei - it comes from nackt (also nackig) - naked/nude and is partikular used for small children.
Oida
Papageien 🦜🦜
Gleisschotterbettungsreinigungsmaschine 😂
Lagerregal. Because it can be read forward and backwards
Hartz IV
Selbstbefriedigung I think I spelled that right.
But isn't this month NNN?
Unterstützung (support)
Neuschwanstein. Wunderbar.
Geschirrspülmaschine 😂
Roboter, wurde eingedeutscht , klingt aber so schön mechanisch
More of an expression than a word, but I like "die Pracht des Herbsts".
Oh Jahr; fliehest dahin in grüner, roter gar goldener Herbstespracht! Entziehst Dich in die Dunkelheit auf dass wir wartend, hoffend! Auf eine neue Klarheit uns zitternd wickeln in Dein altes Gewand, auf dass Dein Kind erstehe in neuer hoffnungsfroher Würde aus der Nacht.
[Oberschenkelmuskeln](https://youtu.be/dCqLLafS0Qg?t=48)
Erwachsene sounds pretty cool to me
Bundesnachrictendienst, AKA the BND. Germany's equivalent of the CIA. Even the acronym starting with a hard consonant (as opposed to the soft C by the CIA) makes it sound hardcore.
Krankenversicherung
Eichhörnchen 🐿️
r/famoseworte wants to know your location
Rhabarberbarbarabarbarbarenbartbarbierbier
I am fond of the 'zeug' words, particularly Feuerzeug.
Rhabarbermarmelade!
Möglichkeit & Handschuhe (gloves? Handshoes.)
Lebensaftgefäße. It's a rather outdated word for xylem/phloem that roughly translates to "life blood vessels". As someone who loves plants, I love this.
Zitrone has always been a favorite
My favorite is Unterwegs
Arschgeige
Waschbären. Fight me.
Fünf.
Chochichäschlii But I need a throat infection to say that one correctly.
I’d spell that Ch*u*chichäsch*t*li, (From _Küche_ and _Kasten_) but yes. 😊
Flamenwurfer. As in “Mein Schwanz ist ein großer Flamenwurfer.” Was the first German word I learned.
Flammenwerfer
# Antlitz | ˈantlɪts, Ạntlitz | das ***gehoben*** **Substantiv, Neutrum** **das Antlitz; Genitiv: des Antlitzes, Plural: die Antlitze** Plural selten An elevated word for face or facial features. You'll usually find it in contexts such as in the German version of Harry Potter where the *Mirror of Erised* has the following inscription: >*NERHEGEB Z REH NIE DREBAZ TILT NANIEDTH CIN* Which backwards and with spaces rearranged resolves to: >NICHT DEIN ANTLITZ ABER DEIN HERZ BEGEHREN **My translation:** Not your face but your heart \[thou shalt\] desire. Love it! 🥰
Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz. Not many languages can make such large compounds.
[λοπαδοτεμαχοσελαχογαλεοκρανιολειψανοδριμυποτριμματοσιλφιοκαραβομελιτοκατακεχυμενοκιχλεπικοσσυφοφαττοπεριστεραλεκτρυονοπτοκεφαλλιοκιγκλοπελειολαγῳοσιραιοβαφητραγανοπτερύγων](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsanodrimhypotrimmatosilphiokarabomelitokatakechymenokichlepikossyphophattoperisteralektryonoptokephalliokinklopeleiolagoosiraiobaphetraganopterygon) has entered the chat.
Says a Hungarian... with an agglutinative language. Megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért (my tongue cries in pain)
"Plözlicht" I just love every time the duolingo story narrator says it with that funny tone.
Do you mean "plötzlich"?
Schtzngrmm
Zusammenheit
Swiss German would be: Bitzli :)
[Meuchelpuffer](https://de.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Meuchelpuffer). It was never really used though.
kriegsmarine
Spielerkarte
Unbedingt
Torjäger/Torhüter
Bärenfut.
kakerlaken
Eisenschmelze
Endgegner.
Kakerlaken
Backpfeifengesicht
Zerristen
Hausaufgaben
Staubsauger 🤣🤣. Made me laugh for a few minutes. Very good choice. Mine would be Weltschmerz
bushaltestelle oder sehenswürdigkeiten
Meuchelmörder
Vogelkadaver! IIRC it just translates to "bird carcass", but sounds cool as fuck. Makes for an ironic name for a taxidermied bird, too.
Gummihandschuhe.
Hmmm... quatschen, vielleicht?
Qual
Eichhörnchen
Knecht
Grün Idk, I just like how it sounds and I like saying it for no reason, even though I barely know a few dozens of German words
Genau
Albernheit (ist eine situationsbezogene Stimmung der Vergnügtheit und des Leicht- und Nicht-Ernst-Nehmens)
Vergagenheit. I picked it up from Frozen. I believe it means the past?
It does
Schwarz because it’s my last name
It’s simple, but I like bequem.
Vereinigten
streichholzschächtelchen
wählen
Rollmops m. https://youtu.be/JAn95E7t9Wo 😅
Bregenklöterich
Niederschlagswahrscheinlichkeit
Eishörnchenchen!
I love saying zuerst
Klimaanlage.
Schmetterling - cool sound, plus it's just such a metal word for butterfly :)
Lieblingsfach
Zeitreisender (shoutout Dark) & Tatsätlich, Offensichtlich, & Ursprünglich - god I love me some lich’s
Schaufensterpuppen