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German is a beautiful language with lots of words that cannot be translated into English unless you’re describing them (which I will do below). There are no equivalent words in the English language, which makes these top German phrases a lot more special. You can find my favourite German words in English below.
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The best German phrases and their meanings
|
Word |
Literally |
Meaning |
| Das Fingerspitzengefühl | The feeling in your fingertips | To have empathy with other people |
| Die Schnapsidee | A liquor-idea | Either an amazing idea you have when drunk, or an idea that seems so stupid that the person who thought of it must have been intoxicated! |
| Die Waldeinsamkeit | The forest-loneliness | The feeling you get when you are alone in the wild, with just nature around you. |
| Torschlusspanik | Gate-shut panic | The feeling that time is running out, often for a life goal such as having children or finding ‘the one’. |
| Dornröschenschlaf | Beauty sleep | When someone or something is not responding to you – or showing little sign of action. |
| Gemütlichkeit | Feeling warm, cosy, relaxed and comfortable. For example, sitting by a warm fire with some friends. | |
| Scheinheilig | Someone who is pretending to be friendly and nice, but is actually very sneaky and coy. | |
| Fremdschämen | To be ashamed in somebody else’s place, for example when your friend says something stupid, and you stand next to them being ashamed in their place. | |
| Treppenwitz | Staircase-wit | A brilliant response or comeback you think of after you have walked away and are ‘halfway down the stairs’. |
| Schadenfreude | Malicious pleasure | To take joy in somebody else’s pain or misfortune. For example, when the kid you never liked at school got punished by the teacher. |
