We Rank Beautiful German Words (and Terrible Ones!)

Hello hello! Oh! Hello hello! Warm welcome this evening from Cologne with a live recording Easy German Podcasts. Welcome, Manuel! Hello, dear! What? What's up? How are you doing here in Cologne? Very good. We've been here for two days already, and I must say, I'm a little bit in love with Cologne. That's how I feel too. Cologne simply has incredibly friendly, kind people. We conducted street interviews yesterday, and even those who said no have always provided an explanation along with it. I'm very sorry, but I now have an important appointment. This happens rarely in Berlin. No, in Berlin people just say... Reluctantly. Unbelievable. Who on earth is sitting in the audience and just starts talking into the microphone without being asked? Is this our dear Janusz Hamerski? Janusz is our Joker today; he's moving around in the audience. We have here one hundred and twenty beautiful people in the audience. I must say, our audience looks incredibly sympathetic. Our audience is also incredibly likable. Cari, do you know who else is likable? Oh, that's quite a transition. Very good. Our sponsor, italki, is actually incredibly likable. We have been working with italki for many years. And italki made this event possible in the first place as a sponsor. We know them too. We know them personally. Right. We're not just slithering now... No. We know the people, and they are really nice. And we even know people who work there. Absolutely. What is italki, Cari? italki is a platform where you can find a German teacher could, if you would like to work one-on-one. That makes sense if, for example, you want to learn German as quickly or intensively as possible. and would like personal feedback. Exactly. There are hundreds of tutors for German, as well as for other languages, who are there for you you can choose, depending on your budget, your available time, regardless of which time zone you might be in also lives. And if you've never tried this before, now is a perfect opportunity, because with With our code EASYLIFE10, you get a 10 Euro welcome credit for your first hour on italki You can also find the code and the link in the show notes and in the infobox. Manuel, I'm already so excited because I've prepared a topic today, regarding so that we can involve our entire audience. I am very excited. You weren't involved? You didn't want to know anything at all? We always do it this way: you prepare the topics for our live podcasts, and I'll take care of the technical aspects. Right. Our topic for today is beautiful and ugly words. It's about the German language, and we actually want to find out, ah, Manuel has Forgot that he wanted to record the screen, good that you remembered now. We want to immediately find out together with you what the most beautiful words actually are. the German language and what are the ugliest words in the German language? Janusz, do you have a particularly beautiful word in mind that you've always thought was especially lovely? Do I like that? Ah, so many, for example, cozy or Pilzner Urquell. That's not a word in the German language, but yes, mushroom, yes, okay, unfortunately it's not on our List Let's just try it out, shall we, Manuel? You're very welcome. It works like this: I will show you a word, for example, the word longing. And now you can vote live on your mobile phone. What do you do then, Manuel, when you hear or see that at home? Can I also vote? Yeah, right? In your thoughts, you might consider the longing—what a beautiful word that is. or a very frightening word? Exactly. And we are working with a scale from one to ten. One is absolutely terrible, ten is super beautiful, and if you feel like it, you can now go to Just go get a pen and a piece of paper and write down a number. And Manuel, you may now present what our audience has to say about the word longing. Yes, there is a whole spectrum indeed, ranging from relatively awful to absolutely beautiful. The average is around 7.0, so it is a popular word. 7.0 for a word. Janusz, what do you associate with the word longing? Also nostalgia. What is in the word? Yes, those are two words, meaning to long for something. When you miss something, you long for it, and addiction is actually something negative, an addiction to drugs or something like that. Can't that be positive? You do have a addiction to order, which has taken you far in life. I think addiction already has something negative about it, because then you can't control it anymore. can But put together, the longing—I have this kind of addiction to things, to which I I miss you. I find it a beautiful word because it actually means that one misses something, and I I find it beautiful. Let's see further. Also, I think it can get even better than 7.0. Our next word is butterfly, the butterfly. What is a butterfly? A butterfly, a beautiful moth. Also it is an animal, and how would you describe this animal? Yes, it's an insect, I think. Insect, yes. It's now turning into a quiz, into a biology quiz. It has wings. Yes, it starts as a larva and then becomes a butterfly. Okay, I'm surprised. Also the audience has really gotten into it, with many tens, and now we're actually but dropped down to a 6.4. It's interesting, there's also this meme where people use the word butterfly in various Compare languages. Then that is, what is it called in Spanish? Mariposa. In French? Papillon In Polish, Janusz? Nottel. And then in German? Butterfly. Butterfly, exactly. That's why many people think German doesn't sound good, but we had it back then Andersrum done and everyone else pronounced it terribly, and the video went viral back then There's a video; let's link it here. Onward we go. Also we landed on the butterfly at 6.5, huh, I had expected more there. The next word is ground beef. Manuel, you're scrunching up your face—what do you associate with the word "ground beef"? Yes, I've never eaten meat myself either, which is already a bad start. But I find the word "hack," as in "to hack something," extremely aggressive. This is onomatopoeia; the word "hack" describes what one hears. When you hit a board hard with a knife, it makes a chopping, chopping, chopping, chopping sound. And if there's meat underneath, then it's ground meat, ground, ground, ground, ground, ground, ground. I'm glad our audience mostly agrees; one person is wonderfully beautiful. Agreed, and the average is slightly messed up, but overall, they are always then yet 3.5 Thank you to everyone else. Perhaps the person here in the audience who says that "ground meat" is a super beautiful word. Janusz, go over there with the microphone, we'd like to know, who finds ground beef? Nice, and why? Hi. I find that "Hackfleisch" is a beautiful German word because it's a word that describes something exactly. What happens is a beautiful German word. Janusz, wait a second, there was someone else back there. What are you saying? Are there still two beef lovers in the audience here? Because I make a delicious kebab with ground beef. Okay, you're thinking about the product that will come over there later. Tastes delicious. Yes, okay, that is interesting, but the majority still says it's terrible. Word 3, 4. Good. The next word is quitting time. How they rejoice, for they think of… The end of the work. Exactly. When the work is done, we call that quitting time, Manuel. Why? Yes, because one usually stops working in the evening or in the afternoon, and then has time for Celebrate. That's quitting time. Is that the reason why it's called that? Do I imagine it, or? Yes, I unfortunately can't explain it precisely either, but it definitely originated from the Has something to do with words. But it's not true that Germans always think we're celebrating right away; rather, this The word has already become commonplace without any celebration. "Nice下班" is said when leaving the office. Yes, exactly. And this word performed extremely well, nine point five on the scale, nine point five out of ten I believe it's because people are familiar with it from everyday life and associate it with something positive. Namely, Tschüssikowski, I'm going home. Yes, San Francisco. **** work. I'm off work. The next word is a word that reminds us of something positive, coziness. Sometimes one also says this word—does it not exist in all languages? What does Gemütlichkeit mean? Coziness—well, is there something similar in Swedish, Hygge? Yes, or Danish. Danish, Danish? But I think it's always a little bit different. Also in German I would say, you can make yourself comfortable at home, a cozy Living room, when the lighting is nice and the furniture is nice. But one can also make something cozy. We are sitting here comfortably on these armchairs. On the chairs of Anita, from our audience. Exactly, one can also be a cozy person. Janusz, are you saying that yourself? I'm already complicated, sometimes, sometimes yes. A cozy person means you do everything calmly and leisurely, you have plenty of time for yourself. Even you, right? What would you say? Yes, I'm glad you see it that way, but there are times—good times, and worse ones. Times. Life is complicated; I'm not always calm. Okay, but the opposite of a cozy person might perhaps be a very hectic one. Mate. And so I do not perceive you. Exciting. And what does the audience say, Manuel? What do we have here? 8.4 A beautiful word. I also find it beautiful. Cozy. And I think it also has something to do with it, so these words mainly exist in Northern Europe, where it is very cold in winter. I believe the concept is that we are inside and feel comfortable. And we'll connect that a bit. Also, when you think of winter, you don't just think of cold, you also think of the Cozy living room. Exactly, or the cozy café. Our next word is the word fender. Oh God. Who among you even knows this word? What is this, Manuel? The fender. I think this is a part of the car. Yes, that's the part that is above the wheel. That's the fender, and it has nothing to do with feces, even though it sounds like it does. Yes. What is feces? What do you call that in technical terminology? Excrement? Excrement. Yes, weird that it's called that. Do you know why? No, I should have researched that. Are there any linguists in the audience here? Janusz points out, yes. Kot can also generally mean dirt, just dirt. Yes, but in the car? Yes, that does make sense. This ensures that the dirt flying up from the tires. Wow. Janusz, you know more than we do. Yes. Why aren't you sitting on the stage? Stark. Also a stable 3.8. I think 3.8 is a good rating for the fender. Thank you to the audience. Our next word is booger. Peasant. May I just ask a quick follow-up question? Where does this list of words come from? Who chose them? Yes, Manuel, I've selected this list. It's a mix of words you've suggested, because we've been on YouTube Already searched. Do you know the Community section on YouTube? Yes, of course. It's heating up over here on our YouTube channel. Sometimes there are quizzes, and sometimes there are just questions. And recently we asked, what is the most beautiful German word, and that wasn't on the list I then added a few more words based on my own research to further elaborate on it to make it a bit more controversial. I'm really surprised that the booger is exactly in the middle. We really have voices ranging from absolutely awful to incredibly beautiful. Everything is included, and in the end, it's a solid 5.2 for the popel. It's surprising, because although the thing is a bit disgusting. What's a booger now? Can you say that? Why do I have to explain these ugly words you've chosen on YouTube? And in the podcast? Also, a booger, Janusz wants to explain what a booger is. I also find it a nice expression, to poke one's nose. And as a result of digging one's nose, a booger. Exactly, so popel is what you have in your nose. Next word, please. And there's also the nice verb "popeln." Yes, indeed. I find it sounds beautiful. Yes, let's continue. Our next word is the nipple. It has a lot to do with body parts and things that come out of the body. Yes, I found this word particularly striking, because although it's actually something beautiful It is, sounds very bad. Also, my personal opinion is absolutely terrible. I also think it's actually a part of the body that is important, but we The Germans simply took two words again, namely "breast" and "nipple." What is a wart? I can't describe it; I don't even remember the English word right now. Warts? Warts, we have several female doctors in the audience. Yes, and that might perhaps look a bit like that, I don't know, actually not really either. And then someone said, nipple. Nipple, exactly. It is therefore an interesting compound in the German language. Janusz, do you think this is a truly terrible word or a beautiful word? Also, if I think about the warts that aren't located in this spot, it's unpleasant. Janusz often shows his chest, yes. Unpleasant, but "nipple" has become established in the language. We're used to it, that's true, but when one learns it anew, well, I find nipples somehow Nice. Was? Say it already. Nipple That's much better, after all. And why do you say it with such emphasis? Nipple Okay, Manuel. Yes, so the nipple received a 3.7 on our scale. Good, that fits. It's not the worst word, but it's close. We continue with the moment. The moment, wow. Also the eyes with which one looks and the gaze itself—that is also what one does. And a moment together, so with eyes one can look, but a moment together, What does that mean? A very brief moment, and I think that is truly a perfect word, because one can Yes, no matter how the eyes focus, they can only focus on one thing at a time, and that is the present moment. And then it's already over again. I think that fits well. German language, the German language can also be beautiful, and you say 8.8. Good, I find it beautiful, it's a beautiful word. No. That's a word, I was wondering about it, so it's quite simply explained in German. Yes and no, but we also have, if one cannot decide, the You took that word "yes" into account. How is it in other languages? Does this exist in other languages? No? Everyone shakes their head. Who could possibly say in their language that it exists? A mixture of yes and no. Janusz, can you please stand up? We have a person who has this in their language. What is this? In the Russian language, there is a word, a certain word, that means both yes and no. simultaneously Okay, and Russian is also a language? Yes, right here in front. Here, Janusz, turn around, behind you. All the way at the outermost end. Yes, in Italian they say "Ni." Hi. No and Yes. No and Si means Ni. Okay. Also German, Italian, and Russian. Yes, I love the word "Jein"; it's great when you can't answer either yes or no. One says "Jein," and it's also a great song. I knew you'd say that. One of your favorite songs, Yeah, I guess. 7.9, says our audience. Another word that was strangely at the top of the ranking in our YouTube audience And I never thought that the word "beautiful" is, after all. Yet. I think this is initially hard for many people to learn, because one can only do it by say as a response to something negative Right. Also I say, I don't find Cologne at all beautiful, and you say? But Cologne is full of beauty. Yes. But the reverse does not work. Can I say Cologne is very beautiful and you say? No, one cannot actually say that it doesn't work. Also, one would make a negative statement, something against it, then one says, "and you" Says, great word, it's a 7.8. Yes, but, that's it, I find that good, yes. It sounds exhausting, but in a way it's also beautiful. I also find it beautiful, though. Gloves, what do you say? We have so many composers today, and it's somehow especially beautiful. You have shoes on your feet, and what do you call the thing you put on your hands? Of course, gloves in winter. Right. Gloves for the hands. That's actually a nice idea, isn't it? I think that's exactly what Stefan said—that's a word that fulfills its purpose. Now one doesn't need to invent a word, but simply takes the two words, When they fit together, everyone understands what is meant. In our YouTube audience, there were many positive responses, here just one 7.0. After all, 7.0 is a solid midfield for the gloves. Janusz, what do you have to say about it? The problem with the word gloves is, I believe, in world literature, in poetry What's so romantic about the word Gloves or Rinkawitschki, but in German it doesn't have it; they are gloves. Oh, I didn't know that. Can gloves be romantic? I didn't know that either. No. Yes, because we are German. On we go with another great, typically German word: Weltschmerz. It's something you feel when everything in the world is crap. Yes, it's a feeling we sometimes have when negative news overwhelms us. and somehow you have this sadness about everything that's happening in the world Then one feels world-weariness. And I think that's great because the word actually describes something negative, Yet despite that, the word is still perceived as beautiful. You gave it a 7.2. Janusz, when did you last feel world-weariness? All my life long, because world-weariness is not just the bad news, but it becomes metaphysical, understood on the metaphysical level. It's simply this pain, this sadness, not fully comprehending the entire universe. To be sad about the fact that there is so much suffering, that there is so much unrest, that there is so much mystery. It's simply this entire huge world crushing us a little. Also, I think we shouldn't get any further drawn into this spiral. But I find it beautiful that we have a word for this feeling. Okay, let's hope the next word is a more positive one, Manuel. The word is Fernweh. Oh, you know this feeling very well, Cari. I often suffer from wanderlust. It's practically the opposite of homesickness. Nostalgia is when you long for home. Fernweh is when you long for openness, for a distant place. If you want to go to the airport or the train station and just want to get on somewhere随意, Getting to know other countries, then one develops wanderlust. What do the points say? 8.5 says you about homesickness. That is one of our top words today. I really find it a top word too. Joy of life. You notice, many composers today, Joy of life describes nothing other than the pleasure of life. Toll. Do you have a lot of joy in life? I feel a great sense of joy in life, and I also find it a beautiful word. The joy of life. Joie de vivre. I think this could become one of our top words. We have a solid 9.0, Manuel. Yes. Manuel, I think the next word is really great. Yes. It is the word Fressnapf. Oh, yes. What is a dog bowl? For some reason, we've decided that we eat people. But animals don't eat; animals devour. I don't know why. We wanted to make the word a bit uglier for the animals. And the bowl is the plate. We have plates that animals have bowls, or at least dogs and cats have bowls. As if they were pets. The bowl, the bowls. Exactly. And from that they eat. Bowl. And Fressnapf doesn't sound very nice to me. No. Eating from the plate and dog bowl. Yes. Have we somehow made it a bit ugly? Well, okay. But the audience can't decide at all. Some of you say that this is a top word. And others say, no. And in the middle, there are also many. That's why it's a solid 5.3. Yes, exactly in the middle. Perhaps our most average word of the evening. Manuel, just one more beautiful thing before we finish. The bursitis. What a fantastic word you've found there. How did you come up with that? Have you ever done that before? My dear friend Michael, He had a bursitis in the elbow two weeks ago. Ah, okay. Also, there is an inflammation in the body. Yes. And why the bursae are, I don't know. And I don't really want to know it that precisely either. Are there any physicians present who could explain this? Is there anyone here who would like to briefly explain what this is? Or have you even learned the word yet? Fortunately not. Yes? No? Okay. But there is someone. Hello. I know the medical term bursitis olecrani. Here, olecranon bursitis. And why is it called "Schleimbeutel" in German? I would say the term is a composite of "inflammation" and "itis." Mucus and pouch, but I'm not sure exactly why. I'm also not sure what this word is supposed to mean. I would say we stick with the Latin technical term. Yes. You prefer this better, right? Good. Yes, what do we have? 3,3 Okay. That is already very terrible. I think someone has clicked it on again, very, very nicely. Who is this person in the audience? You, there in front. Come on, why do you find the word beautiful? Ah, you're the same one who just... No, that's someone else. Wait, you need your microphone. The microphone. Quickly. Run, Janusz. Janusz is running now and bringing the microphone. Ah, look here. I am also a physician. I know you, don't I? Yes, yes, hi. Hi. Yes, yes, hi. But I unfortunately cannot explain the illness well. But bursitis also comes from borsa, meaning pouch or bag. And slime, because there's slime in it. And it helps keep the tendons and joints well-lubricated. Okay, but why do you find it beautiful? Because it's well oiled, yes. I mean, bursa, that sounds so... It sounds cool, and then inflammation and so on. Okay, what's this... We need all the slime. Thank you, thank you, Janusz. Thank you, Janusz, for this contribution. Yes, nice. I'm glad we're having so much fun with the German language. Absolutely. You're surprised yourself. Absolutely. Do we still have a word? No. We have reached the end, and it's sad, but that's alright. We'll continue shortly in our aftershow. Then I have one more addition. There are further words. The people here in the room and our members, They can continue right away. But now we have asked ourselves, What is the most beautiful word and the most terrible word? Manuel, do you have a favorite? Yes. Oh no, I've just forgotten all the words, about which we were just talking. Which word did I find so nice again? Quit for the day. Fernweh. Oh. Butterfly. Yes. I can't make up my mind. Which word received the highest rating? Yes, we are now just waiting for the vote. I see over there that Lisa and Erik are involved. the words to calculate. Unfortunately, our system did not provide it. to calculate live. We still need people for that, Manuel. Also, I know that a word had 9.5, but I no longer remember which one it was. Okay. The audience has been paying attention. Was that the end of work? That was earlier. Yes. So, we can now announce the result, Janusz. We need a microphone now Or maybe Lisa will just come to you. Please step right into the middle; that's where we can see you best. Okay. Shall we start with the best or the worst? The most beautiful word, Lisa. The most beautiful word. What do you think? Okay, I can't hear anything at all. The most beautiful word was quitting time. You also have a nice song you'd recommend for that. Now it's quitting time. Exactly, from city gossip. Gossip from the big city, also a fantastic song. Then we absolutely want to hear now, What was the worst word, Lisa? What was the worst thing for you, Janusz? Nothing at all. I don't find words terrible. Words have their history, and I love words. Okay, the worst word was that one, what Manuel finds absolutely worst, Namely, ground beef. Hacked meat! Hackfleisch is the misword of the episode. Right. I want to, because I also find a similar word terrible, And that is slaughter. Oh, that goes well with the ground meat. Okay, that's too gross. Yes, I tried to adjust the words a bit more, Well, not that terrible to leave. Yeah, guys, what do you think of this episode? Was it a hit or a flop? Well then, good. Toll prepared, Cari. I would say, if you know any particularly beautiful or terrible words, Write a comment. Yes, on easygerman.fm or on YouTube. Exactly. And otherwise, you'll become a member of Easy German. Then you can still listen to our aftershow. And many thanks, that all of you are here from Cologne and from many other cities You came by earlier today. Good that you were there. Thank you. Copyright WDR 2021