25 German Loanwords

25 German Loanwords 25 German Loanwords 25 German Loanwords By Mark Nichol The German language has provided English with a huge inventory of words, many of them pertaining to music, science, and politics, thanks to the influence of German-speaking people on those areas of human endeavor. Here are some of the more useful German terms borrowed into English. 1. Achtung (â€Å"attention†): an imperative announcement used to obtain someone’s attention 2. Angst (â€Å"anxiety†): a feeling of apprehension 3. Blitz (â€Å"lightning†): used only literally in German, but in English refers to a sudden movement, such as a rush in a contact sport 4. Carabiner (â€Å"rifle†): an equivalent of the English word carbine, this truncation of karabinerhaken (â€Å"riflehook†) refers to a metal loop originally employed with ropes in mountaineering, rock climbing, and other sports and activities but now widely employed for more general uses 5. Delicatessen (â€Å"delicate eating†): a restaurant or food shop selling meats, cheeses, and delicacies 6. Doppelgnger (â€Å"double-goer†): in German, refers to a look-alike, but in English, the primary connotation is of a supernatural phenomenon either a spirit or a duplicate person 7. Ersatz (â€Å"substitute†): refers to an artificial and/or inferior imitation or replacement 8. Flak (acronym): an abbreviation for â€Å"air-defense cannon† used figuratively to refer to criticism 9. Gestalt (â€Å"figure†): something more than the sum of its parts, or viewed or analyzed with other contributing phenomena 10. Gà ¶tterdmmerung (â€Å"twilight of the gods†): a catastrophic event 11. Hinterland (â€Å"land behind†): originally a technical geographic term; later, in both German and English, came to connote undeveloped rural or wilderness areas, and in British English has a limited sense of â€Å"artistic or scholarly knowledge,† as in â€Å"Smith’s hinterland isn’t very impressive† 12. Kitsch: something of low taste and/or quality, or such a condition 13. Leitmotiv (â€Å"leading motive†): a recurring theme, originally applied to music and later literature and theater but now in general usage 14. Nazi (truncation of â€Å"National Socialist†): originally denoted a person, thing, or idea associated with the German political party of that name and later the national government it dominated; now, by association with Adolf Hitler and the tyranny of the party and the government, a pejorative term for a fanatical or tyrannical person 15. Poltergeist (â€Å"noisy ghost†): a mischievous and/or malicious apparition or spectral force thought responsible for otherwise inexplicable movement of objects 16. Putsch (â€Å"push†): overthrow, coup d’etat 17. Realpolitik (real politics): the reality of political affairs, as opposed to perceptions or propaganda about political principles or values 18. Reich (â€Å"realm†): in German, usually a neutral term for â€Å"empire† or part of a name for a nationalized service, such as the postal service, but in English, because of the Nazi appellation â€Å"the Third Reich,† connotes tyranny 19. Schadenfreude (â€Å"harm joy†): enjoyment of others’ misfortune 20. Sturm und drang (â€Å"storm and stress†): turmoil, drama 21. Verboten (â€Å"forbidden†): prohibited 22. Weltanschauung (â€Å"worldview†): an all-encompassing conception or perception of existence 23. Weltschmerz (â€Å"world pain†): despair or world-weariness 24. Wunderkind (â€Å"wonder child†): a child prodigy 25. Zeitgeist (â€Å"time ghost†): the spirit of the time, or a prevailing attitude, mentality, or worldview Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should AvoidRound vs. AroundHyphenation in Compound Nouns