Do you find yourself struggling to start learning German?
If the main reason is that you find German difficult, you should know that you’re not alone.
To succeed, you need to
stay motivated. Only then you’ll find learning German possible.
How can you do that?
We are happy to give you some exciting news: you probably already know some German words.
How’s this possible?
German words in English didn’t appear by accident. These two languages come from the same language family group, so, even if they look totally different at first sight, they are quite similar.
German in the English-speaking world
To understand why there are so many similar words in these languages, it’s essential to mention that over the long period of history these languages crossed their paths many times.
Let’s go through a quick history lesson.
Both English and German come from the same language family, so we can say that they are linguistic siblings.
They are descendants from the Proto-Germanic language.
The big immigration happened after World War II, during the 50s, 60s, and even 70s when more than three million German crossed the Atlantic Ocean and settled in America.
Most of them found their new home in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and in the so-called German Triangle in Milwaukee, Indianapolis, and Chicago.
Even though they were far away from their first homeland, they continued to use German in their daily life.
Over time, they merged with other communities, so English came into everyday usage. This way, they created new English words from German.
So, not only do English and German have the same root but they ‘came across each other once again’ after thousands of years, and had an impact on each other.
It resulted in words that many of us use every day, but we aren’t aware that they originate from German.
The Most Common German Words in English
Most of the English speakers can recognize German words in English contexts.
Because of the above-mentioned reasons, these words are more often used in American English than in British English.
To show you that you already know some words in German, let’s play a little game: take a glimpse at the word without reading its explanation.
Say its meaning out loud. Then read the explanation. We bet that you’ll know most of them.
Are you ready?
Let’s dive in.
Animals
Hamster
It’s a cute little animal many people love to keep as a pet. The word is considered to come from German.
Hund
Dogs are peoples’ best friends. Interestingly, the word ‘hund’ from German to English isn’t used as ‘dog’ but for dog lovers.
Katze
It isn’t totally the same but similar. Cat lovers will understand it right away.
Maus
Tiny little ‘mouse’ sounds the same in English as well as in German.
Pudel
Poodles are cute and sophisticated dogs. Their name comes from German ‘Pudel.’
Rottweiler
One more dog breed, not as cute as the previous one, but quite appreciated.
Schnauzer
Yes, Germans love dogs. That’s why one more dog breed comes from German.
Family members and home
Bruder
With German origins, the word ‘bruder’ in English is used as ‘brother.’
Haus
Not only is it pronounced almost the same, but the word ‘house’ is also written almost the same.
Mutter
We are pretty sure that an additional explanation isn’t necessary. This is the greatest and the most beautiful word of all. Mother.
Name
Here we have one more word that is written the same way as in English. The pronunciation is, however, slightly different.
Food and Drink
Bretzl
No, it’s not a mistake. The word ‘pretzel’ in German is ‘breztl.’ For those who aren’t quite familiar, this word represents a baked pastry that is shaped into a knot.
Hamburger
This worldwide known word comes from German. In this language, it refers to a person who comes from Hamburg, the city in Germany.
Lager
Germans love beer. They have all kinds of beer. So, it’s no wonder the word ‘lager’ comes from German. A lager beer is stored for some time before it’s served.
Mozartkugel
There is no need to thoroughly explain this word since you surely know what the ‘Mozartkugel’ is. Or, translated to English, ‘Mozart balls.’
Muesli
Germans are known for drinking beer but did you know that they also consume cereals? The word ‘muesli’ comes from this language too.
Nudel
Everyone likes noodles. Even Germans. In fact, they like them so much that the word ‘noodle’ comes from their language.
Schnaps
An alcoholic drink, hard liquor. It’s pronounced the same in both English and German. In English, the written form is a bit different, by adding one more ‘p’ letter; ‘schnapps.’
Wiener
The word comes from the German ‘Wiener Würstchen,’ which means Viennese sausage.
Art, Culture, and Society
Fest
You’ve heard of the Octoberfest or Maifest, but do you know what the word ‘fest’ literally means? It means ‘party.’
Frau/ Fräulein
This etiquette indicates whether a woman is married or not. It’s used out of respect.
Gestapo
We are sure that, when said in English, everyone knows what Gestapo means. In German, the word ‘gestapo’ literally means ‘police.’
Kindergarten
In German, ‘kinder’ means ‘child,’ and ‘garten’ means ‘garden.’
Kitsch
An art, kitsch means that something is of a very low taste or quality.
Leitmotif
Leitmotif is often used to explain a literary or music theme in the meaning of ‘leading motive.’
Nazi
When you hear this word, you certainly don’t connect it to something good. It represents a person or an idea that is associated with tyranny and Hitler. Today, however, it became quite common that when you say to someone that he is ‘nazi,’ it can mean that he is a very fanatic person.
Poltergeist
It refers to a noisy ghost that moves around objects.
Putsch
During history, all over the world, this action was used to overthrow the government.
Reich
This word is mostly used within the phrase ‘The Third Reich.’ Even though this word means ‘empire,’ due to its connection to Hitler’s reign, in English, it mainly represents tyranny.
Waltz
A formal type of dance surely everyone loves.
Wanderlust
The word refers to a huge desire to travel around the world.
Wunderkind
Wunderkind, or in other words, wonder child, is a term when your child, out of the blue, shows you how perfectly they calculate, think, or play the piano. In other words, it’s a child prodigy.
Sport and recreation
Foosball
Football, or written with the German alphabet ‘Fußball’ refers to soccer in general.
Haversack
‘Haversack’ is a bag with one strap that is mainly used by business people or bicyclists.
Karabiner
It is a shorter form of the word ‘Karabinerhaken,’ which represents a metal loop with a screwed gate for climbing.
Rucksack
Another word for a backpack.
Technology
Automat
This word refers to a machine for money but also to serve food and drinks.
Blitz
The word ‘blitz’ has some negative connotations since it was commonly used in World War II. It was at the time when the word’ blitzkrieg’ was used for war to end quickly, just like a lightning bolt.
Diesel
Named after its inventor, Rudolf Diesel, diesel fuel is more used than petrol.
Kraft
In German, it means ‘strong, powerful.’ In English, it is known as a part of the phrase ‘kraft paper,’ which represents a strong paper used to make sacks.
Panzer
Literally, this word means ‘armor’ in German, but in English, it’s a synonym for the light military tank.
Telefon
No matter if you pronounce it in English, or in German, it is the same. A slight difference is only in writing.
Volkswagen
The word ‘volks’ means ‘people,’ and ‘wagen’ means ‘car.’ It is then perfectly logical that Volkswagen is one of the most favorite cars in the world.
Zeppelin
This word represents a rigid airship that is named after its inventor, German Ferdinand von Zeppelin. The word became commonly used for all airships.
German Verbs
Abseil
The full verb in German is ‘sich abseilen,’ which means ‘to rope oneself down.’ In English, it’s used as ‘roping (down)’ or ‘rappelling.’
Haben
In the meaning ‘to have,’ this verb is very similar to English.
Yodeln
In English, it’s used as ‘yodel,’ which means to pronounce or create the sound ‘Yo,’ that is, to sing alternates rapidly between a head and a chest voice.
Can you try to ‘yodeln?’
Other German words in English that we use every day
Achtung
In the meaning of ‘attention,’ this word is well-known all over the world, so many English speakers and natives started using it. It’s mainly used for literary effect.
Angst
In English, The word ‘angst’ expresses depression and anxiety.
Eisberg
The word berg comes from German in the meaning of ‘mountain.’ So, roughly translated from English to German, the ‘iceberg’ is ‘the mountain of ice.’
Kaputt
In English, this word is not used alone, but everyone knows about the phrase when ‘The car is kaput.’ It means that it’s broken.
Lampe
The word ‘lamp’ comes from the German ‘lampe.’
Neu
It’s one of the words that originate from German to English in the meaning ‘new.’
Nix
This word comes from dialectical ‘nichts,’ which means ‘nothing’ in English.
Und
We can’t imagine our everyday conversations without this word. In German, it is ‘und.’ In English, however, it is ‘and.’
Conclusion
This list is only one part of German words.
Now that you saw for yourself that you already know some of the words, then you could start learning the language.
You don’t need to sit at the table, open your grammar or textbook, and study the old fashioned way
You have so many different and effective ways to learn German and
expand your vocabulary.
And, if you’ve ever thought that you needed a German translator, we bet you changed your views, didn’t you?
It may sound pretty ‘rough’ and many would say that Germans are shouting when they’re talking. However, the truth is that German is a strong and powerful language.
Nowadays, online lessons are effective and affordable, so you can boost your vocabulary and improve your pronunciation with
German tutors on Justlearn from the comfort of your own home.
German learners often have to put up with native speakers who only ever speak English to them.
After all, if you go up to a stranger in Berlin and start speaking English only, there’s a good chance you’ll hear English in response – often quite fluent English at that!
But it’s not enough that you have to speak excellent German in order to get people to speak German with you at all.
You’ve got to speak the right amount of English as well. Hence, our English words in German list.
You see, if you’re going to take part in German society at this point in the 21st century, you’ve got to reckon with the fact that Germans are international enough to already speak English at a high level.
German-speakers from Cologne to Zurich can even be found sprinkling choice English turns of phrase into their speech with other Germans! In fact, this is a phenomenon so widespread that it even has its own name: Denglish, from Deutsch + English.
Most media coverage of Denglish is either heavily critical of the whole concept or just goes over a couple of words you should be aware of. However, it’s not going away, and so it’s better to learn it well when you can!
Table of Contents
- Introduction to Denglish
- Denglish Examples
- Loan Words vs. Denglish
- How These Names are Said in German
- English Words Derived From German
- Conclusion
Introduction to Denglish
German and English are, of course, related languages. They’re both part of the West Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, and there’s a ton of shared vocabulary between the two languages just by virtue of this part of their history. Adapting English words to German doesn’t often take a lot of mental gymnastics.
However, there’s a distinct difference between these “old roots” and new English borrowings into German.
German was actually a really well-respected international language of science and philosophy for many centuries in Europe, surpassing the English language in popularity in many aspects.
It wasn’t until around the 1960s to the 1980s that English started becoming the “international language” even in Germany. This took shape slowly, but by the time of the fall of the Berlin wall, many West Germans were regularly using English words in their conversations even with other Germans. After the wall fell, everyone started following suit.
Today, English is still seen as quite prestigious in German culture. Many Germans take pride in the fact that a majority of the population can speak English well enough to get by – plus at least one other language thanks to the German primary and secondary education systems.
That’s not even counting the influence of the Internet. Although German is well-represented on YouTube, the sheer amount of English-langauge content overpowers it on Youtube, Instagram, and other social media. Just from interacting with this kind of media, Germans get comfortable with plenty of English words and they even feel comfortable introducing them back into their own informal German use.
Today, a mixture of German and English (or Denglish) is no longer the mark of imperfect German or English that it once was. It’s a cultural marker.
Denglish Examples
With all this adoption into the German language, you might expect that these words would be preserved in their original meanings as a mark of difference from German. Although that’s often the case, it also happens that the opposite occurs: a word comes originally from English but has shifted its meaning after being adopted into German.
Probably the best-known example of that phenomenon is the word das Handy. This is clearly an English word in origin as German words don’t end in -y like that, but instead of an adjective meaning “useful,” this word is a noun meaning “mobile phone.” And it’s not like how in English people refer to your “phone,” your “cell phone,” or your “mobile” – it’s all Handy, all the time. Many Germans even insist to English speakers that the word must be the same in English too!
Up next is the word das or der Evergreen, meaning “classic song that never goes out of style.” The German word for “a tree that is green all year” is actually a direct translation of the English – immergrün.
In the same vein, the word der Oldtimer refers to a classic car, not an old person – that’s an alter Hase “old rabbit.”
This extends to verbs as well. Trampen means “to hitchhike,” which makes sense if you’re familiar with older literature about people riding the rails (probably where the term came from!) and anturnen does not mean to turn something on, but is a word meaning “to get hyped.”
Another common way of implementing English words into German is creating compound words out of an English and a German word. This might sound like creating a Frankenstein monster, although due to the relation between English and German, this works actually fine. An example of such a word is die Teamarbeit or “teamwork,” which consists from the English word “team,” and the German word Arbeit meaning “work.”
Loan Words vs. Denglish
In German, there are also a ton of words borrowed directly from English, often with the English pronunciation kept totally intact. These loan words have the same meaning in German and English and would be understood by listeners even without any German knowledge.
And in fact, there are hundreds.
Plenty of them pop up in the business world as trendy alternatives to pure German words. One such example of an outdated word is die Besprechung which has been replaced in the business jargon by its English equivalent – “meeting.”
In the same way, die Leitung has turned into der Manager
You can take a bunch of English verbs related to computers and e-mail and simply conjugate them as if they were German to begin with – so you’ll have googlen, forwarden, clicken, downloaden, and so on instead of what you might find in a dictionary. A lot of Germans find this really annoying, but it really does happen all the time. Just check out a couple of German YouTube channels to see how people talk about tech and software in German, since there’s not really any textbook that can help you with this kind of vocabulary.
How These Names are Said in German
Interestingly enough, most pop culture from other countries is dubbed into German instead of just coming with subtitles. Dubbing is a huge deal in German film culture, and usually one actor sticks with a single dubbing target for their entire career.
Because of this, movie and TV series titles are localized into German in their entirety, as it’d be a bit weird to have a whole cast and high-quality dubbing but with a foreign-language title.
Star Wars becomes Krieg der Sterne “War of the Stars” while Lord of the Rings is translated directly as Herr der Ringe. Many German learners have loved Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen “the Philosopher’s Stone,” in both book and movie formats.
Fun fact: Sometimes Germans tend also to keep English names, since it appears “cool,” but they would change the name for the German market. So in Germany you won’t find for example Marvels “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” but instead you can watch “The Return of the First Avenger.”
These cool-sounding German names are unfortunately the exception rather than the rule. For quite some time in the 1980s through the 2000s, German dubs came with totally different titles from the original films – so the Dreamworks Animation classic “A Bug’s Life” ended up as Das große Krabbeln “the big crawling!”
Brand names such as Starbucks, McDonalds, and Burger King are simply spoken as normal German words, with German accents of course. Sometimes, a brand like “Xbox One” will be said exactly as it is in English, but the “Playstation 4” would be pronounced as Playstation Vier. There’s not really a system to this; it’s just something you have to pick up over time.
English Words Derived From German
The exchange of ideas and vocabulary didn’t just happen in one direction between the English and German languages. Thanks to a great deal of migration from Europe to the United States in the 19th century, many Americans can trace their roots back to the German Old Country, and with it their heritage languages as well.
Although there has been cultural exchange between Germans and residents of other English-speaking countries, Americans seem to have picked up the most words related to German food.
Therefore, everybody from New York to Los Angeles knows that a Strudel is a pastry with fruit filling, a Bratwurst is a barbecued sausage, a bagel is a round and chewy roll with a hole in the middle, a pretzel (originally Brezel) is a long and thin piece of sourdough tied in a knot, and a delicatessen is where you go to buy all of these things!
Philosophy and sociology have benefited from German terms as well, such as übermensch or “superman,” or wunderkind “gifted child.” Even the everyday word Kindergarten comes from German, literally meaning “child garden!”
Conclusion
Earlier in this article we said that there isn’t really a good way to study Denglish. And it’s true, you won’t find many resources that treat it seriously.
This is even a good thing, because anyone who compiles a serious dictionary at this point is going to regret it a few years later when dozens of terms have become outdated and dozens of new ones have entered the language.
The best way to keep on top of these trends, therefore, is to attain a good level in German with a high-quality and holistic German resource like GermanPod101.com.
In addition to providing helpful grammar guides and cultural notes, GermanPod101 will get you ready to tackle real-life German and real-life Denglish as well! Try it out today and see how accessible all forms of the language can be!
How many of these English words in German were you surprised to find on this list? Are there any we missed? Let us know in the comments!
Similarities between the German language and the English language
Did you know that there are similarities between the English language and the German language? There are a lot of German words derived from English or vice versa.
We call them English-German Cognates.
As a matter of fact these two languages are linguistic siblings. They have a lot in common because they have the same roots.
OK – let’s start with some common German-English Cognates that are very similar in both languages to give you a first impression.
Klick den Playbutton!
es ist = it is
gut = good
es ist gut = it is good
guten Morgen = good morning
willkommen = welcome
guten Morgen und willkommen
= good morning and welcome
See, I told you. –
The German language is not that difficult
Let’s check out some other similar words.
Practice with the phrases several times because they are similar and that could confuse you a little in the beginning.
wollen = want
Sie = you
Wollen Sie? = Do you want?
(It means literally: Want you?)
was = what
Was wollen Sie? = What do you want?
(literally: What want you?)
Wasser = water
Wollen Sie Wasser? = Do you want water?
(literally: Want you water?)
essen = to eat
trinken = to drink
Was wollen Sie essen?
= What do you want to eat?
(literally: What want you eat?)
Was wollen Sie* trinken?
= What do you want to drink?
(literally: What want you drink?)
s
The polite form of you (Sie) is always written with a capital ‘S‘.
I’ll explain this in more detail in one of my other lessons.
More examples of common German words derived from English or vice versa
Let’s use what we have learned so far and build some sentences with some similar German verbs.
Wollen Sie … ? = Do you want to … ?
(literally: Want you … ?)
Wollen Sie trinken? = (drink)
= Do you want to drink?
(literally: Want you drink?)
Wollen Sie essen? = (eat)
= Do you want to eat?
(literally: Want you eat?)
Wollen Sie schwimmen? (swim)
= Do you want to swim?
Wollen Sie lernen? = (learn)
Wollen Sie studieren? = (study)
Wollen Sie kommen? = (come)
Wollen Sie parken? = (park)
Wollen Sie gehen? = (go)
Wollen Sie starten? = (start)
Wollen Sie tanzen? = (dance)
mit mir? = with me?
Wollen Sie mit mir* tanzen?
= Do you want to dance with me?
s
The word order in German and English is sometimes a little different.
No German would have a problem if you said: „Wollen Sie tanzen mit mir?“ but it would be correct to ask: „Wollen Sie mit mir tanzen?“
Let’s add one more word to those sentences
wann = when
Wann wollen Sie … ?
= When do you want to … ?
(literally: When want you … ?)
Wann wollen Sie trinken?
= When do you want to drink?
(literally: When want you drink?)
Wann wollen Sie essen?
Wann wollen Sie schwimmen?
Wann wollen Sie lernen?
Wann wollen Sie studieren?
Wann wollen Sie kommen?
Wann wollen Sie gehen?
Wann wollen Sie starten?
Wann wollen Sie tanzen?
Wann wollen Sie mit mir tanzen?
= When do you want to dance with me?
I, can, have and must are also similar in German
Ich kann = I can
Ich habe = I have
Ich bin = I am
Ich muss = I must
Ich kann … = I can …
Ich kann nicht. = I cannot.
Ich kann singen. = I can sing.
Ich kann nicht singen. = I cannot sing.
Ich kann schwimmen. = I can swim.
Ich kann nicht schwimmen.
= I cannot swim.
Ich kann surfen. = I can surf.
Ich kann nicht surfen. = I cannot surf.
Ja? – Super, das ist wundervoll. ?
= Yes? – Super, that is wonderful.
Let’s use what we have learned so far and build some sentences with some important German English cognates.
Do you understand the meaning?
Ich habe … = I have …
Ich habe einen Traum. = I have a dream.
Ich habe ein Baby. = I have a baby.
Ich habe einen Computer. = I have a computer.
Ich habe einen Laptop. = I have a laptop.
Ich habe einen Hamster. = I have a hamster.
Ich habe einen* Ring. = I have a ring.
Ich habe ein* T-Shirt. = I have a T-shirt.
*Don’t worry about the different words (ein, einen) for „a“ in German. I’m going to explain this in upcoming lessons.
There is more English-German Cognates!
See how easy it is to get started if you use similar words.
Try this: Try to guess what the following German sentences mean.
Ich muss … = I must (have to) …
Ich muss gehen. = I must go.
Ich muss Sie finden. = I must find you.
Ich muss warten. = I must wait.
Ich muss meine Haare waschen.
= I must wash my hair.
Ich muss heute Nacht schlafen.
= I must sleep tonight.
Would you have thought that the German language and the English language are so similar?
If we continue at this pace you will be able to speak German fluently by the end of the day.
I’m just kidding!
My students learn the German language very fast but not that fast.
In my learning packages I use the storytelling method and a special Question and Answer Technique.
This technique will enable your brain to think in German step by step and you will develop a natural feeling for the German language.
Students who practice with my lessons daily need only about 6 to 8 months until they speak German fluently!
OK – let’s go on and have a look at some other German English cognates.
Ich bin … = I am …
Ich bin ein Idiot. = I am an idiot.
Ich bin ein Manager. = I am a manager.
Ich bin ein Monster. = I am a monster.
Ich bin blond. = I am blond.
Ich bin cool. = I am cool.
Ich bin super cool. = I am super cool.
Ich bin fair. = I am fair.
Ich bin impotent. = I am impotent.
Ich bin intelligent. = I am intelligent.
Ich bin sexy. = I am sexy.
Ich bin unfair. = I am unfair.
Ich bin wild. = I am wild.
Adjectives with the same meaning in German and English
Finally, I would like to introduce you to a few adjectives that are very similar in both languages German and English.
If you know the meaning in English you automatically know the meaning in German – isn’t this great?
Wörter mit A
abnormal
absurd
anal
analog
arrogant
Wörter mit B
banal
beige
bitter
blind
blond
brutal
Wörter mit C und D
cool
diagonal
digital
Wörter mit E
elegant
emotional
extravagant
Wörter mit F
fair
formal
fundamental
Wörter mit G und H
global
horizontal
Wörter mit I
ideal
illegal
impotent
intelligent
international
intolerant
irrational
irrelevant
Wörter mit L
legal
liberal
linear
loyal
Wörter mit M
maximal
mild
minimal
multilateral
Wörter mit N
national
neutral
normal
Wörter mit O
OK (okay)
optimal
optional
oral
orange
oval
Wörter mit P
parallel
paranoid
pink
prominent
prompt
proportional
Wörter mit R
rational
redundant
regional
relevant
robust
Wörter mit S
sentimental
sexy
solo
super
superb
Wörter mit T
tolerant
total
transparent
triumphal
trivial
turbulent
Wörter mit U, V und W
unfair
universal
verbal
warm
wild
Nichts ist besonders hart, wenn…
… man es in kleine Einheiten aufteilt. Mach(e) jede Lektion sorgfältig und wenn du dich wohlfühlst geh(e) über zur nächsten Lektion.
Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small portions. Do every lesson carefully and when you feel comfortable go on to the next lesson.
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Last updated:
April 10, 2023
33 Uber-cool Words Used in English That Are Originally German
You may have noticed that the German language often gets a bad rap.
Especially among English speakers.
People often say it sounds “guttural” or “rough,” or that German speakers are “always shouting.”
That perception is doubtless due in no small part to countless World War II movies where the Germans are the bad guys constantly shouting things like Schnell! Schnell! (“Quickly! Quickly!”) and Heil Hitler! (literally “Hail Hitler!” but figuratively “I’m this movie’s terrible Nazi villain!”).
Even today, one of the most recent prominent examples of “German” in English is Lady Gaga’s 2011 song “Scheiße,” a surprisingly catchy tune in which she claims that although she doesn’t speak German, she will nevertheless do so if we’d like, and then proceeds to sing several verses of German-sounding gibberish.
If you noticed that I’m trying to use a four-year-old song whose title literally means “s**t” as a relatively positive example, then you can see how the German language is perceived by many people who speak other languages.
So maybe English speakers can be excused if they think that English and German are on completely separate paths that don’t overlap. However, the truth is actually quite different.
If you speak English, then there are likely many German words in your daily speech that you may not have even known came from German.
Both languages have borrowed liberally from each other to form their own vocabulary, and today we’ll talk about some of the most common, interesting, useful and odd German words in use in English.
But first, let’s take a moment to think about why we even have these words in the first place.
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Why Are There German Words in English?
That’s a good question—forgive me if I go off on a bit of a spiel here.
First of all, languages constantly change, and English is no exception. It has had notable influence from all over the globe, but especially from Greek, Latin, French and German. That influence may have even been stronger in the US and Canada than in the UK, mainly due to the waves of German immigrants arriving to the “new country” and bringing their language with them. This was likely also enhanced by the presence of immigrants who spoke Yiddish, as well as other Germanic languages.
Generally speaking, most of these immigrants assimilated over a few generations, but the German that they often spoke at home, in school, at church or in the community had an effect that’s still audible to this day. In fact, based on various tallies, Germans are actually the largest single ancestry group in the US. However, the German language is not as widely spoken in the country these days.
At this point, it’s probably also worth mentioning in a quick aside that the legend about German nearly becoming the official language of the US, only to lose by one vote, is untrue. It’s a charming story and a good one to convince people of the power of voting, but it’s unfortunately just a myth. In fact, you may be surprised to learn that even today, the US doesn’t actually have an official language, although English is of course the most widely-spoken language in the country.
Isn’t English a Germanic Language? Does That Mean It Evolved from German?
English is indeed what’s called a Germanic language, which means that it’s grouped in the same family as some other languages that sprang from a common language in the past. Modern-day languages in the family include English and German, of course, but also Dutch, Afrikaans and the Scandinavian languages. The result of all that is that there are a lot of cognates or near-cognates—words that are the same or very similar—between the vocabulary in those languages.
For example, in English we say “house,” and in German the word is Haus. It’s pronounced the same, but spelled slightly differently—and many cognates have similarly minor differences in spelling. Other similar cases are Mann (man), Arm (arm) and Gras (grass). These are cognates, and since many of them describe very common things like body parts, people and places, they generally make up some of the most frequently-used words in both languages.
If you don’t believe me, check out this post with 150+ basic German phrases for beginners. To take one example, consider Komm gut nach Hause! (“Get home safe!”). The figurative translation may look different, but when translated literally, the German person is saying “come,” “good,” “to” and “house.” In that phrase, 75% of the words are pretty close to English, with nach (to) being a notable difference (but preposition differences tend to be tricky in many languages, anyhow). Sure, many of the phrases on the list are significantly different from English, but it’s certainly not as different as it would be between English and Chinese, Xhosa or some other non-Germanic or non-Indo-European language.
However numerous or interesting these words may be, though, they are not what we’ll focus on today. Instead of words like these that developed simultaneously in their respective languages, we’ll look at words that were originally in German, and which were later adapted directly into English. These are often called “loanwords,” although despite their name, there’s nothing temporary about them.
Like “machete,” “buffet” or “assassin,” these words are here to stay. After all, if you say any of the words in the last sentence, no one will say to you, “Hey, speak English, not Spanish/French/Arabic!” In the same way, most native speakers of English will not have any problem understanding any of the words on this list. And when you’re done with this list, be sure to check out this post about some great German words that aren’t loanwords in English yet—but sure should be!
So, let’s finally get to the Fleisch and Kartoffeln of this post! (OK, it looks like those two words didn’t make the crossover to English, so we’ll have to use the good old-fashioned English words for “meat” and “potatoes” after all.)
The list below is divided into different vocabulary areas. Generally, the words are spelled identically or almost identically in both languages, but if there are any changes, the list will use the English spelling.
Also, as you probably know, all nouns in German are capitalized, but generally they’ll be in lowercase here, since English doesn’t do that. And you’ll find that this is mercifully free of any mention of der, die or das (or gender in general). That’s all very important, of course, but since English doesn’t have gendered nouns, you can read this one without worrying about any of that!
Finally, the whole point of this list is that these are German words that are used in English, so for the most part, they have the same or at least very similar meanings in both languages. If you’d like to hear how these words are still used by native German speakers today, in all kinds of contexts, try FluentU.
With interactive captions that give instant definitions, pronunciations and additional usage examples, plus fun quizzes and multimedia flashcards, FluentU is a complete learning package. You can check it out with the free trial today—and keep your ears open for the loanwords in this list.
Most of the explanations in this list are related to where the word comes from, when or how it’s used, or other interesting trivia tidbits. But if there are indeed differences between usage in both languages, we’ll also get into that a bit. So, let’s do this!
Daily Life
The following words tend to come up fairly frequently, albeit randomly, in daily English speech. Even though they don’t fit neatly into any of the other categories, most English speakers will recognize them without any confusion.
1. angst
Ah, what a great, Sturm und Drang-y word to start off with! Unless you’re into poetry or literary history, though, you may not recognize the phrase Sturm und Drang (literally “storm and urge”), but you may recognize its effects when you see them. The Sturm und Drang movement was all about literature and music that displayed overwhelming emotions, and angst was surely one of those emotions.
The original German word Angst, however, is generally understood to mean “fear.” For example, Ich habe Angst vor Schlangen means “I’m afraid of snakes.” In English, the word is usually used to express a dissatisfaction or disenchantment with life in general; people also talk about “teenage angst” or “existential angst.”
2. diesel
Although this may seem like a simple chemical or scientific name, this is more than just a mere cognate. Diesel fuel is named after Rudolf Diesel, the inventor of the diesel engine. He may have been nearly broke when he died under mysterious (and interesting) circumstances, but his name lives on to this day in English, as well as in many other languages.
3. ersatz
This word, a synonym for “replacement,” “substitute” or “artificial,” may not be as common as some of the other words in this section, but it makes up for that by generally sounding cool.
For example, you could say “Mrs. Baker is out sick today, so I guess I’ll just have to be the ersatz boss” or “The Germans are coming over for coffee and cake—don’t you dare serve them that ersatz coffee or ersatz creamer, or they’ll find some ersatz friends to replace us!”
4. fest
While this word may have a few variations in German (as an adjective it can mean “firm” or “set”), as an English noun, “fest” means one thing: It’s party time!
Especially well-known from the word “Oktoberfest” (which we’ll get to in a few sections—don’t get angsty), “fest” combines the ideas of a festival and a feast into one neat little package. I guess you could even call this article a kind of wordfest!
Interestingly enough, in German, there has been a strong trend toward adapting English words into their language, especially when it comes to talking about technology or new ideas. While Fest is certainly still very common in German, your German friends are probably just as likely to invite you to eine Party.
5. gesundheit
My day job is teaching English to Spanish speakers, and they never believe me that this is a common word in English. But it is, I swear!
When someone near you sneezes, most languages have a phrase or word that you say to respond to that sneeze. Spanish’s salud and German’s Gesundheit both mean “health,” as do the responses in many other languages. I suppose that the idea is that you’re wishing the person who sneezed better health in the future, although, come to think of it, it would actually be pretty funny if you just responded to someone sneezing by descriptively saying “sneeze.”
It’s been my experience that about half the people in the US respond to a sneeze with “Bless you” or “God bless you,” and the other half will likely say “Gesundheit,” if anything. But, as I tell my students, since I’m not a priest, I don’t feel like I have the authority to bless them, so instead I’ll just say “Gesundheit!” and wish them good health.
6. kaput
This is another great one! This word, which means “broken” or “busted,” has one less “t” than the German kaputt, but it hasn’t lost any of the annoyance or humor that the use of the word connotes. It’s usually used to describe machines or vehicles that no longer work.
When I was an exchange student in Germany, my parents visited me and we went to a friend’s house. The mother of the household was apologizing that the heater was kaputt, one of the toilets was kaputt…alles seemed to be kaputt. Even though those two words may have been the only ones that my parents understood that afternoon, they still managed to understand what was going on, and the conversation didn’t go kaput.
7. kindergarten
I vaguely remember a time when I was writing some kind of essay in elementary school. For some reason, I had to write the word “kindergarten,” but I initially wanted to spell it with a “d.” It looked wrong—and indeed was wrong—but I probably didn’t connect that feeling with the reason for a few more years.
The word literally means “children garden” in German, and it’s really a charming word, I must say. The word began with a man named Friedrich Froebel, a German who started the first kindergarten. He said, “Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood, for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child’s soul.” As you’re reading the “war” section below, just keep that lovely sentiment in mind when things get too heavy.
8. kitsch
Much like when a Supreme Court Justice said that he couldn’t define pornography, but he knew it when he saw it, kitsch is hard to describe yet immediately recognizable.
Kitsch and things that are kitschy (kitschig in German) can describe many kinds of objects that are either over-sentimental, cheap, poorly produced or that appeal to mass tastes. Your velvet Elvis painting? Kitsch. Your neon Virgin of Guadalupe statue that plays the song from “Titanic”? Kitsch. Your ashtray depicting a Disney character rip-off saying “Put your butts here”? Kitsch. Your poster of dogs playing poker? Kitsch (but also pretty cool).
If you could say something is cheesy or lame in English, then it’s likely kitschy, at least to some people. But if it’s just purely over-sentimental, it may be schmaltzy instead. By the way, that word is also from German, partially via Yiddish, and it means “fatty” or, more literally, “lardy.”
9. uber or über
With the rise of a ride hire app of the same name, “uber” has been in the limelight lately. It can be a preposition or a prefix in German, and it generally means something like “above,” “higher” or “greater.” In English we tend to use it similarly, possibly calling people things like an “uber-chef,” an “uber-planner” or an “uber-[expletive].”
The other context in which you sometimes hear it is when people—usually in movies or TV shows—make reference to the old German national anthem, which started off with the verse Deutschland, Deutschland über alles (“Germany, Germany over all”). Even though the first two verses of the anthem were no longer used after the Nazi era, that phrase managed to stick around somehow.
War
You’ll likely notice that this section and the food section are both fairly extensive, which unfortunately won’t do much to counter many stereotypes about German culture. Due to German history, the most common context for these words is in World War II movies or history books. But in the interest of keeping the tone of this list upbeat, let’s make a blitzkrieg out of this category.
10. blitzkrieg
Meaning “lightning war,” this is used to describe the tactics used by Germany to quickly conquer many different European countries at the start of World War II. The word was then later appropriated by the Ramones and used in their song “Blitzkrieg Bop” to conquer the hearts and minds of punk rock fans.
11. fuhrer or führer
This means “leader” or “driver” in German, and was used to refer to the big H. Even today, mentioning the words “Hitler” or Führer in Germany can get the attention of a room full of people—but note that it won’t be the good type of attention, and they probably won’t be impressed with your command of these two German words.
In fact, this distaste for Hitler and his nickname was so strong that the German word for “driver’s license,” Führerschein, was changed in the GDR (East Germany) to Fahrerlaubnis, which means something more like “driving permission.” This is generally understood to have been a way to avoid using the word Führer, even in unrelated contexts.
12. gestapo
Back to the lightning list! This word is an abbreviation for Geheime Staatspolizei, (Secret State Police), and you can find it being used in contexts such as the movie “The Matrix,” when Neo tells Agent Smith that he’s not scared by the Agent’s “gestapo crap.” Unfortunately, though, as far as I can tell, neither the Ramones nor any other punk rock group has recorded a song called “Gestapo Crap”—yet!
13. kaiser
This refers to a German or Austrian emperor (the word that in turn came long ago from the Latin word Caesar), and in English it’s mainly used in contexts that refer to the time before and during World War I. By the time that war ended in 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II had been exiled to the Netherlands.
As a fun bonus, if you get a sandwich on a “kaiser roll,” that word also seems to have originated from the same word, only a different kaiser. In this case, it likely referred to an Austrian emperor.
14. nazi
Another depressing abbreviation, this time for Nationalsozialist. These days, it’s used in English to describe National Socialists from the World War II era, but also used surprisingly commonly to describe people who hold different ideologies than one’s own—or even just people who are disagreeable in general, such as the “Soup Nazi” on the TV show “Seinfeld.”
Food
Let’s cleanse our palates of the taste of war, shall we? When most people think of German food, they think of sausages and beer consumed to the sounds of an oompah band.
In other words, it’s known for being substantial, a bit unrefined and heavy on the beer, potatoes and pork products. For more info, this great post about German food idioms is pretty illustrative while being funny and spot-on; it’s also full of idiomatic expressions related to sausages, which is a linguistic characteristic that’s probably attributable only to German.
To be sure, many of the words in this section do fall along the beer-potato-pork axis, but that’s mainly because they are words for common, hearty, central-European foods that immigrants tended to bring with them to the new country—and which tourists still enjoy when visiting German-speaking countries today.
15. biergarten
This is also often written as “beer garden,” which makes it more English-y and which gives away its meaning in German. In English, it can be used to describe almost any place that serves beer, especially German beer.
German Biergärten, on the other hand, are literally gardens, in the form of outdoor areas that serve beer and food and have seating for up to hundreds—or even thousands—of people. Most common in southern Germany, these venues are surprisingly family-friendly. Many are incorporated into larger parks or other relaxing natural areas, and some even have deer! You can also generally bring your own food and use the tables to make a picnic, as long as you purchase any drinks from the establishment.
16. bratwurst
17. frankfurter
18. knockwurst
19. wiener
Here’s a quick “sausage sidebar.” Wurst is the German word for “sausage,” so any time you see it, you’re likely to get meat in tube form. “Brat” comes from braten, meaning “to grill,” and knockwurst (also written as “knackwurst” in English—the German version is also written with the “a”) probably comes from knacken, which is the popping or cracking sound that the sausage makes when bitten into.
The other two, “frankfurter” and “wiener,” refer to their respective cities of origin, Frankfurt and Vienna (Wien in German—see “schnitzel” below).
20. hamburger
While the origin of the food called a hamburger may be in doubt, the word itself clearly refers to a person or object originating from the city of Hamburg. How this food then became a staple of stereotypical “American food,” an idea that even many Germans believe, remains a subject for a different post.
21. Oktoberfest
22. lager
23. pretzel
24. sauerkraut
25. schnapps
26. schnitzel
27. spritzer
28. strudel
Let’s have a “boozy beside” to accompany the “sausage sidebar” above.
As mentioned in the first section, Oktoberfests are common in English-speaking countries, including the US, where people are happy to have a good excuse to party and drink German beer.
They may be fun, but none of them hold a candle to the real deal in Munich, which starts in mid-September. And yes, they probably noticed that fall weather in Munich can get surprisingly chilly surprisingly quickly, and that the weather was more agreeable in September. So it now starts in September and most of the fest takes place in September, but the name has stuck.
While at the Oktoberfest, you’re likely to see more than a few obscenely large glasses of beer being hoisted, but they probably won’t be holding lager, since the brewers make special Oktoberfest beer every year. The word lagern is a verb that means “to store” or “to wait,” and in fact that’s what happens with lager beer: It’s stored for a period of up to six months to age before consuming.
Every year, Oktoberfest in Munich goes through millions of liters of beer. You might get a slight buzz even if you’re just watching people drink that much, so you should probably have something in your stomach.
Why not try a pretzel? That comes from the German word Brezel, which is so associated with traditional German baked goods that it’s often part of a baker’s sign.
If you do end up drinking too much, many people swear by fermented foods as a hangover cure. If you’re one of them, help yourself to a heaping plate of sauerkraut, which means “sour cabbage” in German. Throw in a few sausages from the sidebar above, and you’ll be as good as new in no time.
Just be sure to not eat that sauerkraut with a schnitzel! A schnitzel is basically a meat cutlet (not a sausage, contrary to what a popular hot dog chain might have you believe), and a Wiener Schnitzel is a schnitzel from Vienna (Wien). They’re usually served with lemon and maybe a side of potatoes, but not sauerkraut.
Next time you’re out drinking, consider ending with a spritzer, which comes from the German word spritzen (to spray). That’s basically wine mixed with soda water, so your head and liver will thank you the next day if you drink spritzers instead of relentlessly pounding shot after shot of schnapps. That somewhat general word is used for the same thing in both languages: hard liquor.
Finally, if the Oktoberfest is winding down for the night and you feel like something sweet instead of something greasy and/or fermented, grab a slice of strudel. The German word Strudel is used to describe the delicious pastry dessert, but it also can mean a sort of whirlpool effect in rivers. Don’t worry, though; if you slur your words and mispronounce it when you order it at the restaurant, they won’t throw you into the river out of confusion.
Normal Words for Not-so-normal Circumstances
Now we have the stragglers, the words that just didn’t fit into any other category. These are less common for the most part, but still generally accepted as part of English (but not always, if my spell checker is any indication). We’ll do these ones in another lightning round.
29. dachshund
This literally means “badger dog,” since apparently these dogs were used to hunt badgers? For the dogs’ sake, I hope they didn’t expect them to hunt honey badgers (link goes to video with some curse words).
Let’s also include honorary mentions here of our four-legged friends who are rottweilers, dobermans, schnauzers and poodles, all of which bear names originating in German.
30. doppelganger or doppelgänger
Translated literally as “double walker,” this word describes a person who is the spitting image of another person. It seems to have come back into fairly common use recently through the TV show “The Vampire Diaries,” of all things.
31. lederhose or lederhosen
“Leather pants.” Yes, this is the name of that strange-looking German costume that many men wear when hanging around Oktoberfest. The women often wear a dress called a dirndl, a word that hasn’t made it over to common usage in English yet, unfortunately.
32. schadenfreude
Translated literally, this word means something like “damage pleasure,” but it’s usually understood to mean being happy that something bad happened to someone else. It’s often used when talking about hypocritical people who get their comeuppance.
33. wanderlust
Even though I could go on and on with dozens of other words, I’m going to send you out into the world with this lovely, upbeat word. It means basically the same thing in both languages, namely, a restlessness that causes a desire to travel and see the world.
I hope that this list has perhaps sparked a feeling of wanderlust in you, and that you’ll succumb to that desire.
As you go out and see the world, be sure to stop by some German-speaking countries.
When you do, keep your ears open, and you’ll likely find yourself thinking now and then, “Hey, we use that word in English, too!”
Ryan Sitzman teaches English and sometimes German in Costa Rica. He is passionate about learning, coffee, traveling, languages, writing, photography, books and movies, but not necessarily in that order. You can learn more or connect with him through his website Sitzman ABC.
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Schnitzel, dachshund, blitz – ever wondered what these words have in common?
They’re all German words we use in English. German loanwords, to be exact – words that English speakers have ‘borrowed’, and use in more or less their original Germanic form.
Think of these ‘loanwords’ as tiny pieces of German culture and language that have made their way into the English language. Little cultural artifacts, if you will, that you’ll find in the way English speakers describe their food and philosophy; or mention historical landmarks, like technological inventions or scientific discoveries.
And if you’re wondering why we use German words in English, instead of making up new English words for them?
Well, for one, they sound more interesting and sophisticated – not to mention more authentic.
For the English language is actually made up of a mish-mash of foreign languages, ranging from Latin and Greek influences to loanwords from German, French, Spanish and Hebrew.
Here are 11 German loanwords used in English, and everything you need to know about them.
Interested in learning more fun facts about German? Start learning with Busuu today.
1. Kindergarten
Have you ever wondered what the word ‘kindergarten’ actually means?
Children’s garden.
Yup, it actually translates to an actual garden for children.
How lovely is that?!
Now for an important fact: the German and American meanings of kindergarten don’t completely align. Kindergarten in American English refers to preschool, while, in German, the term refers to daycare for children aged three to six.
2. Angst
The original meaning of the German phrase die Angst translates to fear – the sort of irrational reaction that might make you shriek if you see a spider, or dread the next parent-teacher conference.
But in English speaking countries, angst describes a feeling of deep anxiety, worry, often caused by our reaction to things we find overwhelming, or that are out of our control.
For example, English speakers might say they ‘get angsty’ before getting the results for an exam, a medical test or a job interview.
3. Blitz
Blitz in English – apart from its association with food blenders – unfortunately has some of the same ‘world war’ connotations that originate from the German.
But here’s a little more information on how the association came about.
While the original definition in German is simply ‘bolt’, the term as we know it today was coined by the German term “Blitzkrieg”, which meant a war that came to an end quickly – as quick as a lightning bolt.
4. Dachshund
Dachshunds – you know, those beautiful and sometimes silly-looking sausage dogs word that make do cause a lot of excessive ‘oooh’-ing and ‘aww’-ing, – is a great example of a word whose meaning has changed over time.
As a German speaker, the word ‘dachshund’ means very little to me (it’s what I like to call a ‘false friend’).
Literally speaking, though, dachshund means ‘badger dog’. This is because this particular type of dog was originally reared to find the dens of foxes and badgers.
Nowadays, dachshund in English refers to your average, mischievous pet sausage dog, whereas sausage dogs in German – whether they’re bred specifically for hunting, or for our need for a bit of TLC (tender loving care) – are called ‘Dackel’.
5. Doppelgänger
The German language can be very descriptive, as Geman words are often a combination of two or more words.
This adds a whole new level of specificity and accuracy to their meanings – as in the case for this loanword: German “Doppelgänger” literally means ‘double goer’.
This translates to someone who is the spitting image of someone else, even though they’re not related.
Cool and freaky at the same time, right?
6. Fest
We use fest in English to describe a gathering based around a particular activity or thing – think of events like music festivals or concerts.
In German, however, das Fest has a slightly stronger celebratory twang to it, but it more or less carries the same meaning.
7. Kaput
Short and simple: kaputt in German means broken.
You’ll see frustrated Germans using it all the time to describe something that used to work, or that doesn’t work anymore.
Mostly, it’ll be in relation to inanimate objects (the type that don’t talk back!), like TV or your phone screen, but you can also use kaputt figuratively to describe things like a broken relationship.
8. Rucksack
Another a great example of a very descriptive German loanword that’s made up of two.
‘Ruck’ derives from rücken (back), and sack has the same meaning as sack in English – so together, rucksack basically just means a sack we carry on the back.
See: sometimes, understanding a language can be as easy as sacks on backs!
9. Schnapps
As with many German words we’ve seen so far, schnapps has a slightly different spelling and a more specific meaning in English.
In German, “Schnaps” could technically refer to any shot of liquor, whereas in English we also use it to mean a grain, potato or fruit spirit made in northern and eastern parts of Europe.
10. Wanderlust
Have you ever felt a burning desire to travel and explore the world? Or embark on adventure, where the journey is more important than the destination?
“Wanderlust” is the word you’re after to express that kind of longing.
The word comes from wandern (to hike) and lust haben (to feel like / to fancy).
11. Zeitgeist
It’s one of my favourite words of all time – and, again, shows just how well German can convey a complex idea in a single word.
“Zeitgeist” is made up of Zeit (time) and geist (spirit) and describes the ideas and beliefs of an era.
Learned something new today?
We sure hope you did!
And remember: German loanwords aren’t just a great way to add a few more expressions to your vocabulary bank; they also give you a cheeky headstart when you start learning German.
Can you think of any more German loanwords? Comment and let us know!
Now that you already know more than a couple of handfuls of German words, why not give it a proper try?
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Updated on January 30, 2019
English has borrowed many words from German. Some of those words have become a natural part of everyday English vocabulary (angst, kindergarten, sauerkraut), while others are primarily intellectual, literary, scientific (Waldsterben, Weltanschauung, Zeitgeist), or used in special areas, such as gestalt in psychology, or aufeis and loess in geology.
Words With No English Equivalent
Some of these German words are used in English because there is no true English equivalent: gemütlich, schadenfreude. Words in the list below marked with * were used in various rounds of Scripps National Spelling Bees in the U.S.
Here’s an A-to-Z sample of German loan words in English:
| German Words in English | ||
|---|---|---|
| ENGLISH | DEUTSCH | MEANING |
| alpenglow | s Alpenglühen | a reddish glow seen on the mountain tops around sunrise or sunset |
| Alzheimer’s disease | e Alzheimer Krankheit | brain disease named for the German neurologist Alois Alzheimer (1864-1915), who first identified it in 1906 |
| angst/Angst | e Angst | «fear» — in English, a neurotic feeling of anxiety and depression |
| Anschluss | r Anschluss | «annexation» — specifically, the 1938 annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany (the Anschluss) |
| apple strudel | r Apfelstrudel | a type of pastry made with thin layers of dough, rolled up with a fruit filling; from the German for «swirl» or «whirlpool» |
| aspirin | s Aspirin | Aspirin (acetylsalicyclic acid) was invented by the German chemist Felix Hoffmann working for Bayer AG in 1899. |
| aufeis | s Aufeis | Literally, «on-ice» or «ice on top» (Arctic geology). German citation: «Venzke, J.-F. (1988): Beobachtungen zum Aufeis-Phänomen im subarktisch-ozeanischen Island. — Geoökodynamik 9 (1/2), S. 207-220; Bensheim.» |
| autobahn | e Autobahn | «freeway» — The GermanAutobahn has almost mythical status. |
| automat | r Automat | a (New York City) restaurant that dispenses food from coin-operated compartments |
| Bildungsroman* pl. Bildungeromane |
r Bildungsroman Bildungsromane pl. |
«formation novel» — a novel that focuses on the maturation of, and the intellectual, psychological, or spiritual development of the main character |
| blitz | r Blitz | «lightning» — a sudden, overwhelming attack; a charge in football; the Nazi attack on England in WWII (see below) |
| blitzkrieg | r Blitzkrieg | «lightning war» — a rapid-strike war; Hitler’s attack on England in WWII |
| bratwurst | e Bratwurst | grilled or fried sausage made of spiced pork or veal |
| cobalt | s Kobalt | cobalt, Co; see Chemical Elements |
| coffee klatsch (klatch) Kaffeeklatsch |
r Kaffeeklatsch | a friendly get-together over coffee and cake |
| concertmaster concertmeister |
r Konzertmeister | the leader of the first violin section of an orchestra, who often also serves as assistant conductor |
| Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease CJD |
e Creutzfeldt-Jakob- Krankheit |
«mad cow disease» or BSE is a variant of CJD, a brain disease named for the German neurologists Hans Gerhardt Creutzfeldt (1883-1964) and Alfons Maria Jakob (1884-1931) |
| dachshund | r Dachshund | dachshund, a dog (der Hund) originally trained to hunt badger (der Dachs); the «wiener dog» nickname comes from its hot-dog shape (see «wiener») |
| degauss | s Gauß | to demagnetize, neutralize a magnetic field; the «gauss» is a unit of measurement of magnetic induction (symbol G orGs, replaced by the Tesla), named for German mathematician and astronomerCarl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855). |
| deli delicatessen |
s Delikatessen | prepared cooked meats, relishes, cheeses, etc.; a shop selling such foods |
| diesel | r Dieselmotor | The diesel engine is named for its German inventor, Rudolf Diesel(1858-1913). |
| dirndl | s Dirndl s Dirndlkleid |
Dirndl is a southern German dialect word for «girl.» A dirndl (DIRN-del) is a traditional woman’s dress still worn in Bavaria and Austria. |
| Doberman pinscher Dobermann |
F.L. Dobermann r Pinscher |
dog breed named for the German Friedrich Louis Dobermann (1834-1894); the Pinscher breed has several variations, including the Dobermann, although technically the Dobermann is not a true pinscher |
| doppelgänger doppelganger |
r Doppelgänger | «double goer» — a ghostly double, look-alike, or clone of a person |
| Doppler effect Doppler radar |
C.J. Doppler (1803-1853) |
apparent change in the frequency of light or sound waves, caused by rapid movement; named for the Austrian physicist who discovered the effect |
| dreck drek |
r Dreck | «dirt, filth» — in English, trash, rubbish (from Yiddish/German) |
| edelweiss* | s Edelweiß | a small flowering Alpine plant (Leontopodium alpinum), literally «noble white» |
| ersatz* | r Ersatz | a replacement or substitute, usually implying inferiority to the original, such as «ersatz coffee» |
| Fahrenheit | D.G. Fahrenheit | The Fahrenheit temperature scale is named for its German inventor, Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686-1736), who invented the alcohol thermometer in 1709. |
| Fahrvergnügen | s Fahrvergnügen | «driving pleasure» — word made famous by a VW ad campaign |
| fest | s Fest | «celebration» — as in «film fest» or «beer fest» |
| flak/flack | die Flak das Flakfeuer |
«anti-aircraft gun» (FLiegerAbwehrKanone) — used in English more like das Flakfeuer(flak fire) for heavy criticism («He’s taking a lot of flak.») |
| frankfurter | Frankfurter Wurst | hot dog, orig. a type of German sausage (Wurst) from Frankfurt; see «wiener» |
| Führer | r Führer | «leader, guide» — a term that still has Hitler/Nazi connections in English, more than 70 years after it first came into use |
*Words used in various rounds of the Scripps National Spelling Bee held annually in Washington, D.C.
Also see: The Denglisch Dictionary — English words used in German