5 English Words I Was SHOCKED to Hear Germans Using!! | american in germany

[@lukas_says1571]

I'm saying "der Struggle"

[@leonie4189]

Lukas_ says nein, DAS struggle !!😂😂

[@Tandarok]

@@leonie4189 Der Struggle. Ist ja schließlich auch Der Kampf. :)

[@silkwesir1444]

natürlich "der Struggle" "das Struggle" hört sich doch einfach falsch an

[@naneneunmalklug4032]

Klar "der Struggle" wie in "das war 'n echter Struggle". Oder als Verb: "bei Frage XY hab ich echt gestruggelt."

[@caciliawhy5195]

@@naneneunmalklug4032 die deutsche Sprache stirbt aus.

[@leonie4189]

in germany a donut is ONLY the thingydingy with a hole in the middle “ 🍩 “ 😂

[@Laurin-nm8yx]

Ein Donut (mit dem Loch in der Mitte) hat den Ursprung in den USA bzw kam erst von den USA zu uns rüber und ein Krapfen gibt es schon sehr lange in Deutschland. Es kann sogar sein, dass der Krapfen ein deutschen Ursprung hat, aber das weiß ich nicht.

[@stefanb6539]

@@Laurin-nm8yx Ich glaub der Versuch, frittiertem Teig einen exakten regionalen Ursprung zuzuordnen, ist grundsätzlich aussichtslos.

[@patrickhanft]

I think the donut is a great example, how we German speakers make use of the English language to get new words to describe something more specific. For example, when using computers, we use the word "Button" to describe a user interface element, where we can click on. It is literally the same thing as a "Knopf", but for us the word "Knopf" is now much more associated with a physical thing, where we understand "Button" as something that is usually part of a digital/virtual or simulated interface. So we use both words now to describe similar things, but they get more specific meanings and that is why in fact it becomes more easier in German to distinguish between different concepts and ideas in different contexts, as we get much faster the context from the use of the english word.

[@sonntagskindlein]

That‘s a bagle.

[@RevanEde]

@@sonntagskindlein well. A donut if it's sweet. A bagle if it's more hearty. 🤷‍♀️🤔

[@janboyxx]

Mega ist definitiv kein englisches Wort. Es entstammt dem Griechischen und wird heute als SI-Präfix verwendet Also in einem genormten Einheitensystem für physikalische Größen. Ja das kennt man in den USA nicht. Megatonnen, Megabyte, Mega...

[@krebsandi]

So ist es. So und nicht anders. Wäre es nicht so wäre es anders ;-) For Englisch spokers So ist it, so and not others.......

[@Straylight4299]

BUUUUURN!

[@mariner3304]

Not to forget, that Mega ist just one of many suffixes of than kind, not only used in technical ways. Some are of greek origin, some latin: Femto, pico, micro, milli, deci, centi, deka, kilo, mega, giga, tera, used as powers of ten. Just consider, that the word "mil" is used in technical american English as a thousandth of an inch, which has no place in the metric system, but is still in use!

[@KarmaMan82]

MEGA = Kim Dot Com!

[@archiegates650]

@@mariner3304 sorry but i have to be rabulistic on this: mega is NOT a suffix its a prefix !

[@jana-dy5et]

In my opinion "Torschlusspanik" is mostly used when a person is single and gets older and then wants to find a partner really quickly. The reasons for that can be social pressure, the desire to have children or the fear that the "good ones" are all already in a relationship. And you're right about the donuts, for me it's only the ones with the hole :)

[@lililiaf]

Yea that is also the meaning I know. Also I know the word as "Torschusspanik" not "Torschlusspanik"? I always thought it was a reference from soccer to life, that it's like the last few minutes and you have panik that you won't score another goal to win the game in time and the same kind of panik that you won't reach the goal of having a family in time. But that's just my two cents on it. I could be wrong.

[@ingrid8277]

Marie Nade Yeah, no, it‘s Torschlusspanik.

[@lililiaf]

@@ingrid8277 okay, then I've always misunderstood that... 🤷🏼 Man wird alt wie ein Haus und lernt nie aus.

[@GegenDenStrom25]

Exactly. The word "Torschlusspanik" had a different meaning to miss something, but was used to make a joke. In this joke "Tor" actually refers to a vagina. As bonnie explained it means the fear to miss the biological window to get pregnant. Over time the actual meaning got lost (older people still use it in the "old meaning" sometimes).

[@rolandratz1]

Torschlusspanik ist heute (für die heutige Jugend) kein sehr gebräuchliches Wort mehr, es ist "altbacken" wie z. B. "das ist knorcke". Früher, ich meine hiermit bis vielleicht zu den 1950er Jahren, als man noch von den Eltern vorgeschrieben bekam, wen man zu heiraten hatte, war ein junges Mädchen - mit Ende 20, die nochnicht "unter der Haube" war, eine alte Jungfer. Sie bekam Torschlusspanik, dass sie vor dem 30sten Geburtstag keinen Mann mehr abbekam. Ältere Frauen wurden dann im Aussehen oft "älter" als sie tatsächlich waren und wurden mit 40 oder 50 J. etwas seltsam und trist und langweilig - eben eine alte Jungfer (so zumindest in der Literatur beschrieben). Komischerweise betraf das eigentlich nur die Frauen; Männer haben solche Gedanken nicht, dass sie "sitzenbleiben" würden. Macht Sinn! Männer haben sich seit allen Zeiten genommen, was sie wollten, auch Frauen!

[@JulGer1]

Mega is not an English word...

[@SebastianWesthoff]

100% Correct. Mega is part of our system of measurement and is derived from the ancient greek word "megas". I think, Mega in front of common words is used since the 80s: you could have said: "das ist 1.000.000 fach geil" - but it was shorter to say "das ist megageil". Therefore the german spelling is not wrong - because we, as children in the 80s, didn't know that much of the english language. But we knew the word Megatonne - and we knew, that Mega must be enormous. So we added Mega to some words, to emphasize them.

[@jessicaely2521]

The way it's used is English. You never heard it used as English speakers did. For example that's mega cool. Also majority of English words comes from Greek, French, German, Spanish, or Latin. The star sign Sagittarius is considered an English word now, but you look at the history its Latin. Mandible is French and Late Latin, but it's still considered as an English word. When I had my daughter in Switzerland Latin words for body parts and diseases is the only way doctors in Switzerland and I could communicate. I just started to learn German when I got pregnant so my knowledge was extremely limited.

[@SebastianWesthoff]

@@jessicaely2521 Don't know about megacool. We used mega in front of "geil" a lot in the 80s. And believe me or not - we as kids did that on purpose: knowing that mega is an equivalent to enormous. The same way, you as a kid used to say, that you're dad is the fastest, richest, greatest person on earth. And we still had grandparents who fought in WWII or lived during that time and had stories to tell about bombardments and used the term "Megatonne" in that context. "Cool" was a word, that was first used late 80s, early 90s.

[@T0ghar]

@@SebastianWesthoff Mega as in Megabyte or Megatonne just means million, like kilo in the same context means thousand, giga means billion, ...

[@SebastianWesthoff]

@@T0ghar you don't say. May I quote myself: Megageil = 1.000.000fach geil. The number should be a million, no?!

[@sizanogreen9900]

Der Struggle. Wenn man mich fragt zumindest. Die oder das hört sich seltsam an.

[@confusioneternelle]

Ich hab das Gefühl, dass englische Wörter im Deutschen normal dasselbe Geschlecht haben wie ihr deutsches Equivalent. Der Kampf - der Struggle.

[@stefanb6539]

@@confusioneternelle Ja, aber die oder das Cola? Der Struggle isch so rieehl!

[@ikw6262]

@@confusioneternelle Laut "Leo" Der Kampf oder Die Anstrengung, Doesn´t matter, "the" stays "the" ;-)

[@Kalmandaa]

Hätte es jetzt mit "Umstand" verknüpft und auch der Struggle gesagt. "Den Struggle ist mir das nicht wert."

[@ikw6262]

Think way way germans use it the most, it´s more or less struggling with yourself? This "inner fight" if you don´t know how to manage a certain problem, too much pros and cons to decide, kind of dilemma?

[@sonkeschluter3654]

Mega isnt a english word, its greec in origin und means million and belongs to the prefixes for stuff; kilo-, mega-,giga- etc

[@bremCZ]

Yeah the "mega" affix is used in many languages and it is used alone in many languages.

[@WnuckVader]

To be more precise "mega" μέγας means "big, large". It became a SI prefix way later.

[@theopuscula]

Most German comment section of all time, with the spelling mistake confidently in the English and definitely not the Ancient Greek!

[@bremCZ]

@@alexandergutfeldt1144 It's both... well it's technically a prefix and infix although I did mean prefix when I wrote suffix.

[@JohnLewis-old]

Here in Central America there is the large grocery store which is called Mega Super. This is a combination of the words Mega, meaning large in this context, and Super, here a borrowed American English word shortened from Supermarket, but which gets applied to even smaller shops that sell items you would associate with a convienence store. I found the used of this combination to be weird.

[@kreativismusxx2212]

I also use "random" a lot when speaking german. To me it just sounds nicer than "zufällig" - wouldn't actually use the german term. But most of my friends shame me for using a lot of english terms while talking german, so maybe you shouldn't take me as an example. Some other terms that are used by people around me are cringe, weird, busy, strange and a lot more that I can't think of right now.

[@JohnLewis-old]

I'd like to hear the longer list, if you have time. Do you find this to be a younger person's habit (is it generational?)

[@leandra4268]

@john Lewis it's definitely about the generation. My parents and grandparents use almost no English words. But I use all of the ones above. When talking about computers etc. we might have some German equivalents but usually use the English terms

[@juali222]

Jaa ich sage dauernd random

[@juali222]

@@JohnLewis-old crazy is another one, cool, nice, cute, hot as in describing a person , i say jeez as in jesus sometimes, doggo, horsie It's definitely common in younger people who are a lot involved with English speaking you tubers, series, social media etc. One friend who watches everything in German doesn't use as many English words as me and some other friends

[@sailorcat]

Yeah, I also use "random" often, because "zufällig" doesn't fit in most of the situations. I'd use random for things that don't fit the situation at all. For example if you watch a movie and something completely weird happens for no reason. Like, imagine soldiers that suddenly start playing guitar on their guns (there actually is a movie scene like this). You could say "Wow, that was random", but you wouldn't use the German word "zufällig".

[@Sampler19]

The German word for weird would be strange.

[@nobodysgirl7972]

Strange is a word I often use in german

[@duvidel_3743]

Or cringe

[@thomaspeterkierzek2217]

dict.leo.org/englisch-deutsch/weird

[@silkwesir1444]

I think so too. "weird" is become more popular the last few years, but "strange" has been in its place for a long time. I'd say decades. I think it was more succesful than "weird" because "weird" is a little hard to pronounce for Germans. With media in spoken English becoming more commonplace though, people are finding it less difficult today to pronounce "weird" than they did maybe 10 years ago, which is my theory why it is now shifting.

[@eagle1de227]

Ich würde es eher mit "sonderbar" übersetzen

[@amon_san]

my favourite english word that i use as a german is "awkward'.

[@GalaSalv]

Now living in France I realized people use awkward here too.... interesting

[@janeathome6643]

Is there a German equivalent?

[@TonyTouch23]

seltsam😉

[@Atreuzs]

Cringe und awkward. Beste 😁👌

[@SierraX369]

Weird in deiner Story würde ich wohl am ehesten mit "Schräg" übersetzen… kommt sehr auf den Kontext an. Wir haben so viele Übersetzungen dafür.

[@docDeutschmann]

Sooo viele... Seltsam, schraeg, "nicht normal" (mit Anfuehrungszeichen ist das ein Wort, oder?), daneben, verquer...

[@sailorcat]

Ja, aber ich finde, dass keins davon "weird" so richtig trifft.

[@folkehoffmann1198]

Ich finde schräg und merkwürdig kommen am ehesten an weird ran.

[@docDeutschmann]

@@Jojo-fr2dw"Genau das gleiche" ist die Ausnahme. Bei der Uebersetzung geht immer etwas verloren. (Schoenstes Beispiel: "Sausage" ist nicht "Wurst" - oder wie erklaert man "sausage patties" oder "bulk sausage"? Deswegen heisst die Bratwurst hier in den USA ja auch "Bratwurst")

[@SierraX369]

"...dann jagte der Typ in dem Bananenkostüm den Hund durch den Raum und schrie 'Banane Banane Banane'" - "Schräg" … Es sollte eigentlich egal sein, dass es keine 1zu1 übersetzung gibt. Die Szene würde auch so funktionieren. Wir hatten heute in der Pausen Vidconf ein ähnliches Thema… weil Batman in Schweden "Läderlappen" heisst

[@leandra4268]

The German words for "weird" and "creepy" have a rather negative connotation to me. If I use the English ones, I'm saying that it's strange, but could also be funny or anything else. It's less strong

[@flutterby3842]

Hmm that's interesting! I don't know any German, but as an American I feel like "creepy" is totally a strong word and not lighthearted . So it's interesting that for you it's not! Though I agree about the word "weird", it can definitely be funny.

[@leandra4268]

@@flutterby3842 creepy is to me a combination of scary and weird. So it's not as bad as scary. Or at least different. And I can't think of a German word exactly between scary and weird. We used creepy e.g. for a really strange and a bit scary guy in my year at school

[@stefanb6539]

@@leandra4268 Try "krank" or properly emphasize "daneben", like in "Der Typ ist doch nur noch daneben!"

[@ingrid8277]

I think it‘s that way because we as German speaking natives didn‘t grow up with those words meanings and didn‘t see the reactions of people using the word or the context that much. So we aren‘t actually emotionally involved in them and can therefore use them differently than someone who has an unconscious connection to them. For me they are also rather lighthearted, however I think that komisch actually does a good job translating weird, but we often rather use weird because it sounds better.

[@janeathome6643]

Creepy always has a negative connotation in English, and weird connotes something that makes you uncomfortable for some reason.

[@SierraX369]

Alle anderen Teigwaren die du beschreibst… haben kein Loch in der Mitte

[@archiegates650]

von meiner Warte aus haben bayerische "Auszogne" praktisch sehr wohl ein Loch in der Mitte. Deren hauchdünne Teigschicht würde ich als vernachlässigbar ansehen und ihre Topologie dem Donut gleichsetzen.

[@SierraX369]

@@archiegates650 die wurden aber nicht genannt. Darüber lässt sich ausserdem streiten… auch das es bayrisch ist… bin zwar auch Bayer hab aber diese art von Gebäck das erste mal von und bei einer Ungarin als Lángos gesehen und ist zwar aussen etwas voluminöser wenn aber wenn innen ein loch ist.. passte was nicht

[@polyanthajones8168]

Ganz richtig. Und eine Schraubenmutter (Nut) ohne Loch in der Mitte gibt es nicht. Daher käme ich auch nicht auf die Idee, ein Schmalzgebäck ohne Loch als Doughnut zu bezeichnen. Alle unterschiedlichen Formen haben auch unterschiedliche Namen. Wenn überhaupt, dann käme ein Schmalzkringel einem Doughnut nahe. Und das ist ein Spritzgebäck und hat daher einen anderen Teig. Jedes dieser Fettgebäckarten hat eine andere Herkunft, eine eigene Form und einen eigenen Namen. Doughnuts sind keine Berliner sind keine Spritzkuchen sind keine Churros....

[@archiegates650]

@@polyanthajones8168 OK, dann ist aber die Hutmutter gar keine Mutter? Vielleicht eine Stiefmutter ? oder wie im Ami-Slang heißt a Foster-parent?

[@polyanthajones8168]

​@@archiegates650 ich denke, eine Stiefmutter heißt auch nicht "Nut" auf Englisch, oder? Es sei, denn, sie ist ein bisschen durchgeknallt, dann könnte man sie durchaus als "Nut" bezeichnen. Du kannst aber meinetwegen gerne die Doughmother (sozusagen de Mutter alle Teigwaren) erfinden und damit eine Marktlücke füllen. Bekomme ich dann etwas von den Einnahmen ab, sozusagen als Inspirationsprämie? :D Eine Hutmutter hat aber auch ein Loch in der Mitte, sonst könnte man sie ja nirgendwo draufschrauben. Oben kommt halt noch das Käppi hinzu, das sieht dann deinem Ausgezogenen aus der anderen Antwort wieder ähnlich. Ist vielleicht auch ein Doughnut mit Hut :D Auch dieser könnte sich gut verkaufen, an Weihnachten sogar mit Zipfelmütze :)

[@elessartelcontar8208]

People say “nice” when they mean great (“toll”, “schön“, „fett“, et cetera)

[@tonilou]

Fett im Sinne von dick oder großartig? Letzteres nehme ich an, aber benutzt das echt jemand? 😅

[@SchmulKrieger]

Sie sagen „nais“.

[@Wildcard71]

I know Nice as French form of Nizza.

[@direchannelstream9278]

Thats the first I noticed a few years ago used by german youtubers a lot

[@usagi67]

Geil, knorke, stark ...

[@T1T0R3]

There is people that use the word tricky in german....and gamers are also using a loooot of english terms :D

[@elessartelcontar8208]

T1T0R3 And German gamers also say “loot”.

[@starryk79]

yep totally agree about tricky. I use that a lot at work if something is a bit complicated or it's easy to do it wrongly. Then i say 'das ist echt tricky'.

[@karinbirkenbihl2053]

Creepy and tricky I do use, but all the rest? Fomo? Never heard of, but I'm not very active in social media, where it might have appeared first.

[@T1T0R3]

@@karinbirkenbihl2053 lately there was some article in the newspaper faz that explained fomo and jomo :D

[@T1T0R3]

@@karinbirkenbihl2053 lately there was some article in the newspaper faz that explained fomo and jomo :D

[@0u1s4e7r0]

I say "der struggle" and no, how dare you call a Berliner a donut? It's only one if it has a hole in the middle!

[@peterkoller3761]

to me (Austrian) a Berliner is a guy from Berlin, nothing else. and what you refer to as Berliner is a Krapfen. and a donut is a Krapfen with a hole where the filling should be - so actually not really worth it.

[@0u1s4e7r0]

@@peterkoller3761 yes but as a person from northern Germany, we call it Berliner, but my grandparents from Bavaria also call it Krapfen

[@janaaj1an889]

Yank here, that was NOT a donut! A hole IS required.

[@kiwieule1319]

In Nordrhein-Westfalen you call it „Berliner Ballen“ 😄

[@pjschmid2251]

Question from an American; who decides if a new word uses der, die, or das? To an American just the concept of different articles is confusing. How a new word is assigned an article only compounds the confusion. Are there language police sitting somewhere in their ivory tower making pronouncements? Is there a vote? 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@Krausam]

I think, weird is just one word wich is fitting so well in many cases to simplify talking. Weird = seltsam but seltsam has 36 cousins in german depends on topic and sence of use. Most of them you can replace with weird. And germans like efficiency.

[@johnlabus7359]

During this pandemic, it's FOGO: fear of going out.

[@gamma_noize]

"Torschlusspanik" refers to the medieval times, when town would close the gates of their city walls at night till the morning to keep the city safe. If you weren't inside, you'd have to spend the night outside and would pretty likely be robbed in the night. Nowa days it means you fear being late to something. For example: You're about to turn 40 and haven't found a partner yet, so you get "Torschlusspanik" because it could already be too late to find a mate. Kind of a more intense Fomo. Mega is of greek origin and just means "huge" is is used in that sense. A "mega"lomaniac has an unhealthily huge ego for example. In meassurements mega is used to discribe "a million times". So 1 Megawatt of power means 1000000 Watts.

[@irian42]

I was so sure this was about the German tendency to freely use the f-word all the time as a curse word. Way more than most Americans are comfortable with.

[@caciliawhy5195]

Because it's a foreign word to them so they did not grow up with a certain connotation with the word.

[@phine153]

Cacilia Why yes, that’s exactly it. It feels like sort of a fantasy word to me. I’d never say the German translation of it but the English version feels neutral to me..

[@TheCre8416]

nope - we just say what we mean. and fuck ist only a vowel away from the german equivalent. I think the american attitude to bleep words is strange.

[@DSP16569]

Germans also more often use the german versions for shit often. Maybe we think it is better to spell out your aggressions (and calm down by doing it) instead of getting more and more aggressive and finally running amok.

[@brandy1011]

Do(ugh)nuts in Germany always have a hole, that is correct (at least to my knowledge). But "mega" is not an English word, as many others already pointed out.

[@minheelee3008]

Seltsam might be a good translation for weird. And yet I myself use weird in German

[@B.A.B.G.]

My thoughts exactly, I was surprised Dana didn't provide that translation.

[@tutejshaja]

Never heard of weird in German but komisch, seltsam und schräg are words that I use and hear regularly. Especially komisch, that's the most fitting and the most used

[@limettenkuchen]

I'm a German and until I saw this video I legitimately always thought it's called "Torschusspanik" (without the "l") and thought it must be something football related 😂😂😂 but I've also never really heard someone actually use that word in a normal conversation

[@LenaHaussels]

Same!!

[@Sweetycat95]

I was searching for this comment to not feel stupid alone :-D again what learned I would say :-P

[@nriamond8010]

Das ist kein Wunder (ich benutze das Wort selbst auch nie), weil sich das Wort überwiegend auf Frauen Ende 30 bezieht, die Angst haben, keinen Partner mehr abzukriegen, bevor ihre Reproduktionsfähigkeit endet. Das ist schon ein SEHR spezieller Zusammenhang, über den man nicht täglich redet - besonders, wenn man selbst noch sehr jung ist und mit dem Thema noch gar nichts zu tun hat. Ich persönlich empfinde das Wort auch eher als abwertend.

[@ikw6262]

Think so too. Must be that strange feeling a striker (football) might have seconds before the goal ..and the fear to fail!? especially when all others expect that must be really easy.

[@sonntagskindlein]

Wäre Torschußpanik nicht etwas Normales, das Fußballspieler auf dem Feld erleben?

[@notpointed]

I think it makes perfect sense that not many people would use "mega" in the USA. It's a latin word used in the metric system. So for a German it's omnipresent. For an American it's just attached to some units in technology.

[@hannahdobler3521]

notpointed For an American it's either a cringy outdated word or just a prefix, we see it more often then just in measurements

[@vorrnth8734]

@@hannahdobler3521 Actually it is a prefix.

[@hannahdobler3521]

Vorrnth oh, lol sorry, thanks for correcting

[@notpointed]

@@hannahdobler3521 I think this is also because German doesn't really cycle through descriptors as aggressively. If you're a German using versions of "cool" from the 80s then it's just a quirk (and often simply a regional thing), it doesn't come across as outdated. Yeah, "oberaffengeil" is not a modern word, but nobody would look at you funny for using it.

[@frankambrosius6843]

notpointed correction: mega is greek not latin 😉

[@starblomma]

I don't think "Torschlusspanik" and FOMO are used for the same thing in Germany. Torschlusspanik is mainly used as a slightly derogatory term for singles that are acting kind of desperate because "their time to find a partner is running out". So it's more used in the sense of something ending very soon and that being the reason for your panic. While FOMO is referring to the fear of missing out on something fun entirely. To use your chips and Bavarian store hours as an example: You might experience Torschlusspanik when running to the store to get there before it closes but you would experience FOMO when that store has a full day of chips sales with aaaall the flavours imaginable and you stay home and worry what awesome chips experience you might be missing out on :)

[@TheLikeys]

Yeah struggle is a great word and I never thought about how it got integrated into German.. I think German is just a great language to form Denglish ;)

[@Tairoon13]

If I would describe "weird" in one german word, it would be "seltsam", I guess. But it goes the other way around too. If I look for "seltsam" there are a lot of english words to describe it.

[@nobodysgirl7972]

I often hear people say "nice" in german sentences

[@helloweener2007]

1. Struggle - Never heard a german use this. I would not use it myself. 2. Fomo - Never heard this one either. I even don't remmeber that I have heard or red it on the internet and I am online for almost 23 years. Torschlusspanik - You use it for situtation when someone gets panicked because of a certain deadline and the anxiety to miss something in live. Often used with people who get into a certain age and still don't have a partner. 3. Doughnut/Donut - Yes, I heard that often and I use it but only for the Amercian style donuts with the whole in the middle or in the car scene. You can do donuts on the streets with the tires. 4. Mega - Yes, we use it but it is not English, it is Greek. And I think it was even used more in the 80's than it is now. 5. Weird - maybe on rare occasion by younger people. Yes, there is no word in german that means the same vague way. German ist most a language with precise meanings of the words. Most people would use the German meaning they have in mind.. Same for creepy. It is maybe used more among teenagers and younger adults but I don't think that they will use it with the same meaning like in English, more like synonym with German words they have in mind. I guess you are a little in a "bubble". I assume that many of your freinds and people around you speak a better English than the average German and they use more English words. Do your parents in law use some of these words?

[@gegu8802]

I couldn't agree more with every single point. Now I don't have to write my own lengthy comment. 🙃

[@berlinervorstadt]

I guess these words are really mostly used by the younger generations. Me any my friends (19 years old) use all these words on a daily basis, they are just part of our regular vocabulary. But when I talk to my parents I can see that they get a little confused sometimes :D

[@jimjungle1397]

American doughnuts do not always have a hole and I think that was Dana's point. American doughnuts filled with cream, jam, chocolate or any type of filling, do not have holes.

[@katjawesemann]

I've been living in Germany for 20 years and I've never heard "Torschlusspanik" before. And I was born here. Wth and Donuts and Berliner are a different thing, I mean, a Berliner is filled with marmalade and is like a ball and a donut has a hole in it and looks like a ring. There may be filled donuts, but they don't look the same.

[@SebastianWesthoff]

Torschlusspanik is something, that is mostly used by elderly people. And they use it, if you are not married and older than 30 years. Therefore: yeah, it is plausible, that you never heard that word.

[@vivikfr7134]

We use „nice“ and „strange“ a lot and also words like Party, Trend, Band or Spray that we germanized. These are anglicisms that are also in the „Duden“.

[@stbufraba]

Backpfeifengesicht is an english word! I hear it almost exclusively from american youtubers (living in a bubble).

[@yamboo2854]

In meiner Generation sagt man dazu Gesichtselfmeter. Wird aber eher selten benutzt.

[@frankambrosius6843]

Or „Romika-Gesicht“ (oldfashioned one). Romika was a shoe company famous for having comfortable products. And „Romika-face“ was explained with: „reintreten und sich wohlfühlen“ 🙈

[@maus201]

Für mich ist ein Gesichtselfmeter was anderes wie ein Backpfeifengesicht

[@DerEchteBold]

@@maus201 Gesichtselfmeter hab ich noch nie gehört, ist das in etwa sowas wie 'ne Feuermelderfresse?

[@maus201]

@@DerEchteBold Das hab ich noch nie gehört 😂 Für mich ist das einfach ein nicht so schönes Gesicht (nett ausgedrückt). Mein Freund sagt auch gerne Gesichtsgulasch :D

[@missresincup]

"Wir müssen uns committen." I hear it at work sometimes and it is just weird ... I snicker silently, thinking "Maybe we should be commiting you to an insane asylum".

[@kleinesren7064]

Ich übersetze "weird" mit "merkwürdig" und benutze das in den gleichen Kontexten...

[@tobiasgund8048]

Yes, I use “creepy“ in german, there is just no perfect translation for it.

[@Naontaes]

What about "gruselig"?

[@kiramarie4632]

Oder unheimlich

[@tobiasgund8048]

Unheimlich kommt wohl am nächsten.

[@missresincup]

I use creepy too. The German translations on offer "gruselig" und "unheimlich" miss the mark for me a little bit. I'd translate them with scary. Creepy to me always implies disgust (at least thats the facial expression I make when I use it). So for me weird and or scary with a little bit of disgust equals creepy.

[@flutterby3842]

missresincup I'd say that's a really perfect way to describe creepy! (-From an American)

[@johannesschuh631]

There is a Calvin & Hobbes cartoon, that I really love, where Torschlusspanik is used in the German translation. Hobbes asks Calvin when he will start writing his essay and Calvin answers he is waiting to be in the right mood. Hobbes asks what mood that is and Calvin says "Torschlusspanik". I don't remember what word was in the original.

[@TheWenexx]

zum Donut: Wo ich herkomme, gab es so nur die Krapfen bzw. Faschingskrapfen - mit Marillenmarmelade gefüllt. Vanillekrapfen sind da schon eine Spielart. Und Donuts, mit dem Loch in der Mitte, sind ursprünglich amerikanisch. Die gabs bei uns nicht und daher ist auch der Name übernommen. Oder kennt jemand eine deutsche oder österreichische Variante?

[@auriocus]

Der deutsche Name dafür ist "Schmalzkringel", wobei es die bei uns (Oberpfalz, Bayern) auch einfach nicht gab. Habe bis zum Studium kein einziges Mal einen amerikanischen Donut gegessen. Dafür gab es "Amerikaner" beim Bäcker, Kugelkalotten aus dem Teig mit Zuckerguss auf der flachen Seite

[@heftklammer]

I also think there's no german word for cringy..."peinlich" just doesn't match the feeling.

[@tiffytattoo2450]

Unbehaglich. Aber wird äußerst selten genutzt.

[@blenderpanzi]

A Krapfen is not a doughnut. A Krapfen ist a Krapfen. Categorized as a Mehlspeise or Süßgebäck.

[@sonntagskindlein]

...und das ist ein Donut nicht?

[@blenderpanzi]

@@sonntagskindlein Krapfen is a subset of a Süßgebäck. A doughnut is also a subset of a Süßgebäck. But a Krapfen is a sibling to a doughnut. Krapfen ⊂ Süßgebäck doughnut ⊂ Süßgebäck Krapfen ≠ doughnut

[@diedunkelelbe2162]

Ich habe auch awesome übernommen, genauso wie weird und creepy. Weil sie irgendwie mehr auf den Punkt kommen.

[@FiveOClockTea]

I was so confused when I first went to a dunkin donut and they sold krapfen 😅

[@WantedAdventure]

@FiveOClockTea Do you mean the sign said "Krapfen"? Or they sold donuts that looked like that Krapfen, labeled as "donut"?

[@FiveOClockTea]

@@WantedAdventure the sign said filled donuts (i think, it's been a while) but for me, that's a krapfen 😅 Donuts have holes after all 🍩

[@vargad3919]

Now this is strange... I (as a German) always thought the word is "Torschusspanik" (panic of shooting when in front of the soccer goal). Never even used that word, though. The word suddenly gets such a different meaning. Anyway, I agree that the most common use for that word is for people above 30, panicking that they might never find a partner. Especially women.

[@ladyhelmchen3924]

cringe findet man auch in Deutschland ;) Dank der Internetkultur kommt vieles viel schneller hier her und auch viele Worte aus der Gaming-Szene

[@yannieRockiiiii]

Also the word "cringe" I mean it means "fremdscharm" but doesn't fit quit as well as the English word cringe or weird or creepy does.

[@Wytheron]

Wie kommst du auf "fremdschämen"? Also ich kenne das als "erschrecken" oder "zusammenzucken". Das ergibt dann auch mehr Sinn wenn man an den guten alten "Cringer" aus HE-MAN denkt, der wegen jeder Kleinigkeit gleich erschrocken und ängstlich war. ;) Sonst wäre Cringer ja der "Fremdschämer". ;P

[@RevanEde]

@@Wytheron the word used to mean "zusammenschrecken", but nowadays in this context is more often used as "peinlich finden, fremdschämen". "Das ist so peinlich, dass ich zusammenzucke (aus Schreck, dass jemand so etwas megapeinliches von sich gibt)."

[@Wytheron]

@@RevanEde Thank you for your explanation. "Seems like I already belong to the old iron." ;P

[@altebander2767]

There's a weird trend of some Germans using the English phrase "Deoxyribonucleic acid" instead of the simpler German word "Desoxyribonukleinsäure".

[@blondinevloggt]

der struggle. auf jeden fall der. ...oder?

[@_jotuelia]

Oh my god... I just now realized, that it is „Torschlusspanik“. Now that word makes sence! I always thought it was „Torschusspanik“ and was referring to someone that is close to doing something but then can’t make it in the end.. oh wow.

[@japunaka]

I know, i'm late, but....OMG me too. I always thought it was "Torschusspanik" and that it kind of describes the feeling, when you're very close to your goal, but then fail, because you panic. 😂🤦‍♂️

[@frankambrosius6843]

Perhaps you thought „Torschusspanik“ is correct because of the book „Die Angst des Towarts vorm Elfmeter“? 🤔 Or you thought it‘s similar to „Ladehemmung“? 😂

[@Marina-bi4yx]

Me and all of my age use “cringe” very often. For me Cringe is a very specific type of “peinlich”. But “peinlich” doesn’t fit well enough you know? German has so many words but still the English ones seem to be more significant 😂

[@u.e.u.e.]

Mega isn't an U.S. word of the 1980's, it's over 2000 years older! Mega is Greek! Like deka, kilo, mega, giga, tera, penta and milli, mikro, nano. Just food for thoughts. 😉

[@imcrazedandconfused]

Btw, since you struggled with it ;-), the english word "door" is actually coming from the same root as "Tor" or "Tür", most probably introduced into the english language by the Anglo-Saxons coming from nowadays german regions.

[@Ross8k60]

First, you're apparently a lot around very young Germans that seem to be trying just a little too hard to appear 'hip' and 'cool', but believe me.... Germans using 'struggle', 'weird' or 'cringe'/'cringy' are extremely, well, cringy to other Germans 😂😂 Secondly, the Bavarian influence in your German is overwhelming. You're constantly using words that are supposed to be German, but that probably not a single human being outside of Bavaria has ever heard of, let alone used, hahahah. It's funny 😂 Greetings from Cologne 😁😄

[@n_other_1604]

Sorry, but I had to give a thumbs down, since I never really heard the 1st 2 & last words in german & definitely wouldn't use it since I think it would be actually weird. And of course we call those american things Donut just like we call the French "Hörnchen" Croissant & finally mega originates from greek.

[@boombaby1769]

Well, this is exactly why I love the English language so much, you have some words that are so simple to say but have so much meaning behind it. No word in the German language could really translate the full meaning of "weird", "creepy", "awkward" or "cool".

[@sizanogreen9900]

Also I think "seltsam" fits weird as a translation.

[@eagle1de227]

oder "sonderbar"

[@rainermoehring1240]

German and English are related. But German tends to be a more precise language - the wording is in many cases more precise in its meaning than the "equivalent" of it in English. I think a case of this is the English word "weird" - I have typically translated it as "komisch", but in my opinion there is no direct exact equivalent in German, in part because of the precision of meaning issue. But I am not surprised that the word is showing up in German - so many English words have crept into German in modern times and "weird" has such a conveniently general meaning in English. The Germans have apparently adopted that.

[@londov1]

For me, "seltsam" would be the perfect translation for "weird".

[@patrickhein6986]

Where I live (Hamburg Region), the filled Donut without a Hole, the one in your Picture, is called a "Berliner".

[@ghuls]

Why notification bell? Every video shows up in the subscription feed.

[@evelynhafner2857]

Weird würde ich mit absurd übersetzen 👌😅

[@Kalukaru]

I use wired, creepy and random in german, it's true that there is no good equivalent word in our language for this. And well a Donut has a hole in the middle for germans. :D I really like these language videos of you, so thank you. X3

[@ikw6262]

Double answer: "NICE", ...nice video and also an english word often used in german statements.

[@nordwestbeiwest1899]

Meinte zu glauben das "der Struggle" eine Figur oder mehrere von Jim Henson ist , aber ganz sicher bin ich mir nicht . Donut = Reifenspur von Gummi in Kreisform mit Rauch , meistens mit Motorrädern gemacht oder mit Formel Eins Wagen . Dachte immer das "weird" , "seltsam" auf Deutsch heißt ?

[@michaelmorgan9824]

I am watching your video right now and loving it. Stay safe!!

[@sailorcat]

I use English words a lot and my friends do it even more often. Sometimes they use complete phrases in English. So, my thoughts aón the word: "Struggle": Yeah, I use that. It's "der Struggle". For example when there's a really hard decision. "Fomo": I've actually never heard that and don't use it. "Donut": Yup, only the ones with wholes are donuts! "Mega": As the others pointed out, it's not really English. "Weird": Yeah, I use it a lot. I also use "strange" and "creepy". As you said, I just think there's not an accurate translation. "Weird" is a little more negative than "seltsam". And "creepy" is stronger than "unheimlich", but also different than "gruselig". I also use "random" a lot, because you can use it in situations where you can't use "zufällig". Imagine something really random happens. You can't say "etwas Zufälliges ist passiert".

[@sailorcat]

@Jonathan Parks Oh, right, thanks for the correction. xD

[@idgiethreadgoode1498]

I can't stop laughing that you used the world "Backpfeifengesicht"! 😂😂😂 You know my brother really is a Backpfeifengesicht! You also can say "Ohrfeigengesicht" it's exactly the same 😂 I'd use Torschlusspanik like this: "Haste gehört, Janin heiratet jetzt." "Ach, die hat doch nur Torschlusspanik!"

[@Seegalgalguntijak]

Sorry Dana, that thing about the notifications may be correct for smartphones or tablets, but certainly not on a PC. I don't want my browser to bother me with operating-system-wide notifications, so I have them turned off. However, when I switch to the youtube browser window, it shows me the bell with a little number inside, and there I see the notification about your videos, as well as those of other channels I'm subscribed to, and also of replies to comments that I got. So nope, I'm not turning system-wide notifications on. And I don't need to, because it works totally fine without them.

[@jrgilmore935]

Weid - merkwürdig Torschlusspanik - I've only ever heard it talking about women who are in their late 30s or early 40s and realise that they have to hurry if they still wanna have children. Because otherwise the symbolic "gate" might be closed.

[@bigscarysteve]

In English, the way to express this concept is to say that a woman is "hitting the wall"--but I've only heard this phrase in the last couple years.

[@FredDeSouza409]

@@bigscarysteve In English, we would say that a woman's clock is ticking.

[@hannahh8119]

@@FredDeSouza409 you can say this in German as well: "die biologische Uhr tickt". - Like "the biological clock is ticking".

[@stefanb6539]

I also heard it used for older men hitting on younger women.

[@Miitchel100]

As you started talking about eating chips I had to eat some too. Now the bag is empty😂

[@jonaskyaneos4645]

I also think that theres no proper translation for the word cringe

[@Pewtah]

For "Torschlusspanik" I'm inventing FOBTL: fear of being too late. Like a woman fearing of being too old to become pregnant due to the lack of a partner. The word is not so common. It is also used to spot on the hectic behaviour shortly before the deadlines.

[@bulleck]

“A weird story” würde ich als “krasse Geschichte” oder “kranke Geschichte” übersetzen...

[@ravenmills7777]

I can not follow the new Denglish they have over there

[@limettenkuchen]

I think the closest word in German for weird is merkwürdig. But it's still kinda different. And yes there definitely isn't a good translation for creepy in some cases unheimlich oder gruselig would be the best translation, but again it's not quiet the same. Edit: Seltsam is also a good alternative for weird

[@SidMaron]

I think the translations fit rather well in this case. I definitely use merkwürdig and komisch more than weird or strange. :)

[@johngypsydoe862]

Doesn't really fit the famous Doktor Märkwürdigliebe.

[@Straylight4299]

8:23 "...but for Germans, it's not, *or* ?" Yeah, i noticed.

[@derradfahrer5029]

I didn't. lol. Thanks for pointing it out.

[@thepapaya4210]

I've heard Germans use 'awkward' quite a bit and honestly I do it too when I speak German. Just like with 'weird' I find that there is no good equivalent for 'awkward' (at least not that I know of)

[@folkehoffmann1198]

I dont think I have ever heard anyone using struggle and fomo in German.

[@sonntagskindlein]

Vermutlich eher neudeutscher Hipster-Sprech.

[@rosaf1538]

From Germany: Almost never heard the word: Torschlusspanik :'D

[@CeeMBeEnVogue]

.... ob du dumm bist 🤣

[@MiningSlimesTV]

Rosa F Same

[@stefanb6539]

It is a bit outdated, as it originally meant mostly "fear about getting too old to marry", which lost it's cultural importance. You can and will mostly still hear it around forty-somethings, which might just be older than your usual peer group.

[@auser7120]

I always thought it was "Torschusspanik" like in the soccer context... Time is running out but you have to score a goal (or get a baby, get married whatever...)

[@aileen12301]

I use the word “Kurzschlusspanik” and it has the same meaning as “Torschlusspanik “, maybe you heard of that?

[@Maikind215]

Der struggle is real👌🏽😂

[@maviba]

"Torschlusspanik" is a common term used for single people (women in the late 30s in particular) who desperately want to start a family before the "biological clock" ends ticking. This panicing often leads to hooking up with many potential partners within a short period of time. Thats when Germans say "Sie (Er) hat wohl Torschlusspanik"

[@tidalwave76]

I know women who already got „Torschlusspanik“ in their late 20s. Nevertheless FOMO is mostly used in Germany in a stock / stock exchange context. After the recent Corona crash and the fast rising of the broad market, some people got FOMO because the FED and the ECB were flooding the market with liquidity.

[@DSP16569]

SAme when you are lazy prepared for an exam and recognize "only 2 days left to repeat the stuff from 2 Years". Also other situations where you get close to a important appointment/Date and have the feeling you are not doing the right or not well prepared.

[@Marc-ox6rz]

se schrtuggle is riel :-)

[@docDeutschmann]

...interesting to hear that "struggle" has made it to be a German word. That assimilation must have happened within the last 10 years (since I don't live in Germany any more). I had not heard it used as a German word before...

[@kilsestoffel3690]

My dad used "struggle" sometimes. Often related to furniture from IKEA

[@sonntagskindlein]

Es ist kein deutsches Wort, es wird nur benutzt.

[@Feldiii]

"Der Struggle is real"

[@vivikfr7134]

Ich würde „der Struggle“ sagen

[@PeachyVampya]

Ich nutze weired und creepy weil es kein vergleichbares Wort in deutsch gibt. Auch awesome ist so ein Wort. Gibt noch einige mehr. In meinem Freundeskreis sprechen viele Denglisch

[@eagle1de227]

Naja, es gibt die entsprechenden deutschen Wörter schon. Nur mag sie keiner mehr benutzen Oder gehen Sie noch "dauerlaufen"?

[@bremCZ]

Many modern English acronyms are used in other languages. Lol, lmao... Social media spreads these immediately. If it exists widely in English it already exists in almost all other countries.

[@felicitasrecklies5322]

Der struggle würde ich sagen

[@SchlomoGross]

creepy = gruselig But my favorit "denglish" word is "basecap". 20 years ago, my boss came to my office and told me, we will get new "basecaps". Mike, a Vietnam veteran and I looked to the wall and floor, and thought, the basecaps were still ok. They were installed may be two years ago. Then our boss - with a smile from one ear to the other - gave us new baseballcaps... And there are two other words I often use, but most germans need an explanation, to understand what I meen: FUBAR and SNAFU. Hm.

[@mortimerluz8215]

Hi Dana! What a great video! 😊👍 In my mother tongue, which is Polish 🇵🇱, I also use the word 'creepy' a lot and pronounce it with funny Polish rolling R. I think that there is no word in my language that could be as suitable as 'creepy' in some contexts. I don't use the word 'weird' though because I think that polish 'dziwne' (strange, odd) also contains the meaning of the word 'weird'. 'Bizarre' on the other hand is often translated as 'dziwaczne' so this one is kinda different from the others to me. 😅

[@tjswc1458]

There is a giant difference between the traditional Kreppel(I wont youse the other versions) to doughnuts. To compare them is kinda sacrilege.

[@Rob2]

Ever since KZbin has started that stupid "we do not show videos on subscribed channels on your homepage" thing I just visit the "subscriptions" menu once or twice a day and I still see all new videos without having to fiddle with that bell and being overwhelmed with notifications.... How many thousands of hours of KZbin video time has been wasted on that "click the bell icon" thing by now? And what is the profit model for KZbin to have this broken system? Otherwise they would have reverted it by now...

[@MangaAnime500]

I often use english words in german. It's like you said, we just don't have a word that translates to the exact meaning/feeling we want to express. I think that's because even though, me for example, I am German but most of the stuff I consume online is in English. Movies (german dub is often awful), Social Media (especially memes)...all in English. So when I want to talk about something, maybe referencing some of these things, it sometimes just doesn't sound right in German. Btw words that I also use a lot are awkward, random, creepy, same.

[@juali222]

Kampf equals the word fight, but a struggle is only a tiny little fight, also I think it's 'der' struggle I use weird all the time theres just no good translation, the closest words are merkwürdig and bizarr I've never ever heard someone use the word Torschlusspanik

[@SarahKoubaa]

Definitiv der Struggle 😁

[@a.lieske]

Weird- trifft es „merkwürdig“?

[@Steinklein]

Almost half a year late,r I have yet to hear anybody use struggle in German. However, a remark: Kampf is much closer to fight in German with no exact translation for struggle existing. This might be why its used (sorry, apostrophe seems broken on my keyboard).

[@TranslatorCarminum]

On the flip side of "mega," I think the German word "über" has or recently has had some currency in American slang as a kind of prefix or adverb roughly synonymous with "super" or "very."

[@camelopardalis84]

Torschlusspanik is not the same as FOMO. There are is maybe some *slight* overlap in the definitions of both concepts. Also, some German speakers have the bad habit of using anglicisms as well as words that are simply English (but not actual loan words from English!) even when there exist perfectly German, perfectly understandable and perfectly fitting German equivalents (or rather: translations). Given that you yourself brought up weird KZbin nonsense, I feel I can tell you about some who's left spam comments on your video here. The channel name is "Logan" and all "his" (maybe it's a person, maybe a company ...) comments either say "wanna be friends?" or "loved it". I am telling you because I wonder if if someone with a youtube channel who actually posts videos (like you) who finds these spam comments on their own video(s) reports such a channel for spam this is taken more seriously by youtube. (In case you ever noticed comments from a channel called "Tim" or "Tom" that were everywhere for maybe a week or so, you know the type spam channel I'm talking about.)

[@VJDanny1979]

Yep, creepy is hard to translate with just a single word. Maybe that's why we took this word (we loaned it). :)

[@oa9566]

creepy = verstörend

[@VJDanny1979]

@@oa9566 jap, das trifft es gut! Danke! :)

[@oa9566]

@@VJDanny1979 gerne :)

[@Tescon00]

5:45 Der Struggle. At least I say so.

[@KarmaMan82]

My Timberlands are size 46 in Germany and size 12 in US, calculating and converting units could be a struggle!