It’s been a while since we talked fun words.
I took German in high school, and while I’ve forgotten most of it, I do remember our German friends’ love of compound nouns. Have two nouns that are vaguely related? Shove ‘em into one word! Who cares if it’s now 27 letters long! It’s fun!
I had a German friend share a list of 18 Weird German Words You Won’t Believe Exist and I just had to share.
Here are two of my favorites:
Treppenwitz (Staircase joke)
Have you ever noticed how when you have a chance encounter with an attractive person of the opposite sex or get into an argument with someone, the best jokes, lines, and comebacks always occur to you afterwards? That’s the so-called Treppenwitz. It’s the joke that comes to your mind on the way down the stairs after talking to your neighbor in the hallway two floors up.
Yes. This. Why will the brain not think faster?
Dreikäsehoch (Three cheeses high)
This sounds like it would make a great name for a pizza. However, what it describes is a person who is vertically challenged, implying they’re only as tall as three wheels of cheese placed on top of each other. Usually this label is reserved for small children, together with Zwerg or Pimpf.
Being among the smallest adults at any given event, I’m pretty sure that Dreikäsehoch would be applied to me at some point.
Thank you Germany for fun, weird words.
