German Words That Say How You Really Feel

Let it out, say what you really feel…in German.

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MUSIC
Alpine Panorama
Licensed via Warner Chappell Production Music Inc.

STILLS
Fist

Sad and ashamed businessman with bag over head

Aerial panorama of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany

Holocaust Memorial - Berlin, Germany by aniket mone

Frankfurt - Skyline by Carsten Frenzy

2021 by two

Seebrucke Sellin/Rugen by Holger (PC-Problems)

Munich Cityscape by John Morgan

Calanca Alp de Cascinarsa / Wikimedia Commons

Hallstatt 300 / Wikimedia Commons

Garmisch Partenkirchen / Wikimedia Commons

VIDEO
Film Footage courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.
Used with Permission

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[evan_lau]

Schadenfreude: Happiness or pleasure from the misfortune of others.

[thesheepthatwentmooo]

Some of this pronunciation was the wurst.

[shinzo]

That pronounciation tough xD
And I am german and I never heard of Treppenwitz

[ItsRobinWhoTalks]

I'm from Germany and I'm gonna go ahead and translate the words literally in addition to the meaning they have given in the video so that non German speakers understand why we use these words, just for those who are a little interested in the German language, the rest of you can just scroll on :D (yes, some of the words are actually being directly translated, this is more important when it comes to the metaphors)
*Zugzwang* = Zug (turn, move) Zwang (force, necessity) - so Zugzwang is the necessity of making a move
*Luftschloss* = Luft (air, sky) Schloss (castle) - so it's a castle in the sky, amazing, but impossible
*Weltschmerz* = Welt (world) Schmerz (pain)
*Backpfeifengesicht* = Backpfeife (slap in the face) Gesicht (face)
*Vergangenheitsbewältigung* = Vergangenheit (past) Bewältigung (the act of overcoming something)
>>> Yes, we love putting words together to create MONSTERS of words
*Treppenwitz* = Treppe(n) (stair(s)) Witz (joke) - it's like thinking of a really good comeback on your way upstairs, after leaving the conversation, making your comeback/joke/argument irrelevant (this one was new to me as well)
*Erbsenzähler* = Erbsen (peas) Zähler (someone who counts things)
*Torschlusspanik* = Tor (gate, it's referring to medieval times) Schluss (the act of closing or shutting sth.) Panik (panic, duh)
in the medieval times, at nightfall, the gates would be closed so that no intruders could come, citizens who still haven't returned despite the gates being closed soon will be panicking because they don't want to be shut out
*Fremdschämen* = Fremd (lit. "strange/r", in this case "someone else") Schämen (to feel ashamed) - second hand awkwardness

I hope this helped someone understand us weird German folks :D
Have a great day :)

[soggy_popcorn]

Bin ich der einzige Deutsche, der das Wort "Treppenwitz" noch nie gehört hat? :D

[annimuz]

People always say German sounds "angry" and it's complete bullshit.

German is an incredibly beautiful and ridiculously descriptive language.

[FCCZJ]

There will come a day when Americans will realise that our "Z" is pronounced [ts], not [z]. Today is not that day.

[HajoBenzin]

Hi :) I'm from Germany and you missed (actual word I swear!) It means something like: minimum wage documentation requirements restriction regulation

[linnielvelvet]

Hey Guys,
I Read The comments and i feel like 90% of them Are just about Saying Either "i'm German and The pronounciation was wrong" or "i don't Even Know These words. You don't say those Words in Germany." And so on.
Many of The comments Are complaining about what buzzfeed Did wrong, But why don't we appreciate The fact that German is An amazing Language and buzzfeed probably worked very hard on Finding These Words and did Quite a good Job.
Let's just Not See all The Bad things and concentrate more on seeing The good things in life.

[Leuchtfels]

You forgot "Heimat".
It's a word which no language in the world has besides german.
It's often translated with home but it means so much more.

In short: It's the place where you feel save, your friends and dreams are. Where your memoris are, your nature and so much more...

Go to Wikipedia or Google it you will see how big but very unique the meaning of "Heimat" is.
Have a nice day at your "Heimat" :)

[cheekypasta]

This is the type of video I need to go all "Dexter's Labratory" on and have it repeated to me over and over again while I sleep and then wake up and only be able to speak the words in this video and not remember how to say anything else.

[wrazian]

It's always funny to hear how bad some people pronounce german words 😄

[SyndroOmCani]

Eierschalensollbruchstelle.
The place where the egg is supposed to crack up

[cimbiz]

Well that was some really bad pronounciation

[frankandreaswenzel]

Easy on the alpine imagery, Buzzfeed. It's supposed to be about Germany, not the Bavarian Alps.

[ShisukaMusic]

as a german I have to say that the only word you actually use quite often is "fremdschämen" but I feel like the others aren't used that much

[derschlawiner]

I'm German but there were words in this Video I never heard before xDD

[alguemalguem]

The only German I ever heard with some regularity was my grandparents when I was little. They were Swiss, so it was actually Swiss German (don't recall if there's a specific term). I remember them telling me that in German (at least Swiss German), you can string together many words together to make nouns.

[Anvocnighma]

I was cheering that I could pronounce it too but the people in the comments ruined it. Ugh, how was I supposed to know this was bad pronunciation?

[HannesSchleeh]

LOL! I love it! Am besten sind Backpfeifengesicht und Erbsenzähler!