You have definitely used these Words before in English maybe even on a daily Basis,
but did you know that they're actually German? [Note] In this video, German pronunciation is transcribed phonetically in the subtitles. An I.P.A chart may help you read them. Hallo, Servus and welcome back to my YouTube channel. My Name is Felicia,
I'm originally from Munich Germany,
but I have been living in Cincinnati, Ohio off and on since 2016. So a few Weeks ago I made a Video about 20 english Words, that we use in German, and a lot of them actually have a completely different Meaning in German than they do in English like Oldtimer just to give one example, which refers to an old Person in English, but to German speakers an Oldtimer is a vintage Car. Check out the Video,
to find out about the other 19 english Words,
that we use differently in German, but today I'll talk about the Opposite basically, so about german Words that are used in English. There aren't nearly as many german Words in English
as there are english Words in German, but there are actually more than you would think, and a lot of them are Words, that People use all the time,
but they don't really know, that it's a german Word, and even I wasn't really aware of how many german Words are used in English. So for me it was super surprising every Time I first heard someone use one of those Words, like they're just saying something in English and suddenly I'm like wait, wait, what?
You just spoke German? So for today's Video I made a List of 20 german Words,
that are used in English, and I just picked the ones that are either used to lot, or that I just thought were funny or interesting. But before we start with the list,
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and now here are 20 german Words,
that are used in English. Let's start with one of the most known ones and that is... In German, we pronounce it [ˈkʰindɘˈga:tn̩] and it literally means Children's Garden, and even though the Word is used in a very similar Way in the 2 Languages, it's not 100% the same. In Germany Kindergarten isn't part of the School system,
but it's more like a Daycare. Young Children can go there from the age of 3,
up until they start 1st Grade, but it's not mandatory for Parents,
to send their Children to Kindergarten, and there is no mandatory Curriculum either.
Some Children may practice Math and Writing in Kindergarten, but it's not a Class setting,
and the Focus is usually more on playing and Activities like doing Crafts, singing together going on field trips and those Kinds of Things, while in the U.S, Kindergarten is the Year before 1st grade, and it's part of the school system, that's why it's also called K-12, Kindergarten to 12th Grade. So the Kindergardens usually belong to a School and are a little more focused on Academics.
So same Words but different Meaning in Germany
and the U.S, and what I find funny is,
that the german Concept of Kindergarten is,
what Americans also call Preschool sometimes, while Vorschule, the literal translation for a Preschool in German basically stands for the american Concept of Kindergarten, so it's somewhat switched. Some german Kindergartens do offer a „Vorschule“ the Year before 1st grade, to prepare the young Children a little academically. I actually had no Clue, that Americans used this german Word, before I came here,
and the first Time I heard it it sounded so funny to me. Gesundheit is what we say for ‚bless you‘ in German and Americans seem to use it that way too, especially among younger People,
I found, that they usually use it in a more funny Way, but it can also be just used with a normal Tone. The Word itself actually just means ‚Health‘ in German. So whenever someone sneezes,
we wish them Health. Just like Gesundheit I didn't know,
that this word was used in English,
before I moved to the U.S. We spell it with 2 T's in Germany,
but we pronounce it the same Way, and it basically has the same Meaning in both Languages, it means broken, damaged or destroyed as in... ...or it can also mean exhausted as in... ...and just like in German, where we say... ...you also say something goes kaput in English. Another one which I love hearing in English is... ...especially because it seems kind of funny to me,
that you would use a rather long german Word,
that even has an Umlaut. I mean, okay, in English it's usually written with just an <A>, but People could also just say ‚look-alike‘ or ‚double‘ in English. Why use doppelgänger? Anyway, I think it's fun,
and I think I first found out about this,
when I watched the American show ‚How I Met Your Mother‘ in English as a Teenager, because that's like a whole Theme on that Show, to find all the main Characters Doppelgängers. This one I just recently used in my Video on Alcohol culture in Germany and the U.S, and I have to say, that it still feels kind of weird to me,
every time I use this Word in English, or even when I just hear it because it actually has a completely different Meaning in German. Beerstein or just Stein in English refers to a Beermug, traditionally made out of Stoneware,
but it can also refer to the more modern Glassmugs, while in German [ʃtaɪn] means Stone and the Beermug is called ['bi:ɐ̯'kχu:k]. Some of my german Viewers actually commented on my Alcohol video and told me,
that in some parts of Rheinland Pfalz in the western Part of Germany People also use the word Stein, when they refer to a Liter of something.
So they would say [aɪn ʃtaɪn bi:ɐ̯ ˈbitʰɛ̯] It seems to be a regional Thing though,
I had never heard about this before, and I'm curious,
if there is any Connection to the English use of the Word, but I couldn't really find anything about this.
So let me know if you know more about it. The next one is [ʃpi:l] and even though this has a different meaning than the Word does in German, I really like the english Meaning,
because we don't really have a german Equivalent for it.
In English, Spiel is a kind of Speech So this is often used in Sales situations, and for example you could say something like ‚Oh they gave me the whole Spiel,
about why their University is the Best in the Country‘. In German, Spiel, capitalized, simply means Game and ['ʃpi:lən] means ‚to play‘. This one is not exactly a Loanword from the german Language but it does have germanic Origins, and I included it in this list,
because I personally think,
that it sounds exactly like the german Word [ʃtu:l], but it's actually a so-called false Friend, because it has a different Meaning in the 2 Languages. [ʃtu:l] in German is a Chair, while [stu:ɫ], in English, is what we call ['hokʰɐ̯] in German, kind of similar but not quite the same Thing. When Americans first used this Word with me, I had no Clue, what they were talking about,
because I wasn't familiar with the Word, and I also couldn't tell,
that it was supposed to be a german Word with the english Pronunciation, but now I know,
that Dachshund can be used in German as well, but it's actually more common to call the Dogs ['dakʰl̩] in German. Literally this compound Word consists of [daks] and [hunt], a Badger dog basically, and this is because the Dogs were traditionally supposed to crawl into Burrows and look for Badgers. In English this can also be used to describe a Dachshund, but it can also refer to just a wiener Sausage, or it's also often used instead of penis. In German we say ['vi:na], and it usually refers to the Sausage, ['vinaˈvʏ:stçen] would be the long version. It can also refer to ['vi:na 'ʃnit͡sl̩],
which is also something to eat or it can simply be used for a person from the Austrian city of Vienna, which is [vi:n] German. This is kind of an old-fashioned german Word,
that we pronounce ['vandaˌlust], and it's literally the Desire to wander, so it means you want to travel.
The Word was used a lot in the Literature of the romantic Era but you can also call this [ˈʁaɪzəˌlust] or [ˈfɛɐ̯nˈvɛ:] in German, which the last one is also an interesting Word, because it's kind of like the opposite of [ˈhaɪmˈvɛ:],
which is Homesickness, so Fernweh pretty much means Farsickness. This one is very similar to the German one,
but it's not 100% the same [aŋst], capitalized in German, basically just means fear and Angst in English is also related to Fear, but it describes a broader Feeling of Anxiety and Apprehension. It's often used in connection with Teenagers Teenage angst is,
what a lot of young People experience throughout Puberty' and you can also say you're feeling angsty in English. So an English describes more of a general Feeling,
whereas in German [aŋst ha:bm̩] means to be scared of something, and that's usually something a little more specific like you're scared of the Spider. The english Meaning of Angst doesn't have a good Translation in German,
but it could be translated with something like [ˌɛksi'stʰɛnts aŋst] or [ˈineʁɐ̯ ˈunʁu:ɐ̯] or [ˈaŋst͡suˈʃtɛndə]. [kʰitʃ] is a concept,
that's really hard to explain actually but according to the Dictionary it describes So you could say... It means the same Thing in German and in English,
and it's also pronounced the same there's also the english Adjective kitschy,
which is [ˈkʰitʃiç] in German. This is a Military term and describes a Strategy of Warfare,
that includes short and fast Attacks. The Term is often used in Connection with WWII, but it actually had been used way before that. We pronounce it ['blit͡sˈkχi:k] in German,
and it literally translates to Lightning war,
because Blitz is Lightning and Krieg is War. It's used the same way in both Languages,
and they even adapted the Word Blitz as a Tactic in american Football. This seems to be a very popular Word in the U.S, I've been asked about this so many Times, and what makes it so special is,
that this Concept doesn't even really exist in the english Language,
which is why there isn't an english Word to describe it, which is probably quite a strong statement about the german Culture. [ˈʃadn̩ˈfχɔɪdə] consists of [ˈʃadn̩],
which means damage or harm and [ˈfχɔɪdə], which means joy. So this is the Joy, that you feel,
when someone else gets harmed or fails, so not very nice. All Sportsfans should know this one: ['fu:sˈbal] in German means soccer or football in British English, Foosball in English refers to the bar game,
which we usually call [ˈkʰikʰə] or ['tʰiʃˈfu:sˈbal] in German. This is another Concept,
that doesn't have its own english Translation just like Schadenfreude, and therefore the german Word is used in English and some other Languages too. Americans usually say zitegiest,
in German we pronounce it ['t͡saɪtˈgaɪst] and this consists of the Word [t͡saɪt],
which means Time and [gaɪst] which means Spirit, so Zeitgeist is the Spirit of the Time,
which describes what's going on culturally, religiously and intellectually during a certain Time period, e.g Woodstock was part of the 1960s Zeitgeist, and in English they even made it an Adjective,
which we don't even have in German. This one I also mentioned in my Video on Alcohol culture. In German we spell it like this and say [ʃnaps], and it means hard Liquor. In English it's mostly used as Part of the name of certain Liquors like peppermint Schnapps or peach Schnapps. Wunderkint in English
([ˈvundəˈkʰint] in German) and this literally translates to Miracle child [ˈvundə] is Miracle, [kʰint] is Child. So it describes a Person,
that is very clever or talented
and become successful at a young Age. One of the most common Examples for [vundəkʰint] is ['mɔ:t͡sa:t]. This looks a little bit similar to the ['t͡saɪtˈgaɪst]: [ˈpoltʰən] means to clatter, and Geist means Ghost or Spirit and this particularly describes a Ghost,
that makes Noises in the House and moves Objects.
Whether you believe in that or not is a different Story. And last but not least the final Word on my List is [ʃmuts]. This one is pronounced and used the same Way in both Languages, and it means Dirt, and schmutzy in English,
or [ˈʃmut͡siç] in German, means dirty. So this was my List of 20 german Words,
that are used in English, and there are many many more, of course,
especially regarding Food like... ...just to name a few examples. If you're interested in this,
you should also definitely check out the channel Kelly does her thing,
because she has talked about german Loanwords in English too recently. Let me know in the comments below, what other german Words you'd like to use in English, and what you thought of the ones that I mentioned. Were there any Surprises? Do you use them differently,
than what I described? Feel free to share your Thoughts with me and with everyone else.
I really hope you enjoyed this Video make sure to check out my video on english Words,
that are used in German as well, and also all of my Videos on Culture differences, of course, and if you're not a Subscriber yet,
make sure to subscribe to my Channel for free. You can also follow me on Instagram,
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or get to participate in a Q&A Session with me. Thank you so much for watching,
and I hope I'll see you next Time. [t͡ʃyːs] [Translation: tschüss - bye]
