Fun with German Words

This year I will have plenty to say about the German language. Every successfully completed sentence is an unbelievable linguistic accomplishment in it’s own right. Nonetheless, I’m really starting to realize how much one’s language reflexes and illuminates the culture that uses it. Tonight I want to highlight one of the most frustrating and yet truly extraordinary qualities of German: its spontaneous ability to create spectacular compound nouns. Admittedly some are a bit silly, but others express simple concepts using one word where we English-speakers would use several: an economic use of language that I find very German and of which I’m often quite jealous. I’m keeping a running list of the ones I encounter in my daily life, many just for fun while others somehow communicate something telling about German culture. Here’s a handful that I’ve collected so far, with my best attempt at translation:

Löschwassereinspeisung: “firefighting water supply input” - or simply a fire hydrant.

Aufenthaltsgenehmigung: “residence permit” - what we need to stay here for the year.

Kindererziehungszeiten: basically, the payment that parents receive for their time spent away from work during the first few years of child rearing.

Arbeitnehmerdatenschutzgesetz: “Employee Data Protection Act” - an important law since it seems many Germans are sensitive about giving up their personal data.

Bundesverfassungsgericht: “federal constitutional court” - we visited there in September and I guarantee that German legalese does wonders with ridiculously long words.

Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung: “speed limit” - slow down when you try to pronounce it.

Verkehrsordnungswidrigkeit: when you break the above - a “traffic violation.”

Niederschlagswahrscheinlichkeit: “probability of precipitation” - in Berlin this time of year, that probability is quite high.

Meinungsverschiedenheiten: “differences of opinion” - something that Germans seem glad to cultivate in everyday discussions of the hottest topics.

Vergangenheitsbewältigung: “struggle to come to terms with the past” - a difficult word for Americans to pronounce perhaps, but communicates an even more difficult process that Germany continues to face even today.

Sicherheitsunbedenklichkeitsbescheinigung: Honestly describes what I had to go through to get my first job here - a “security harmlessness certification” or your basic security clearance.

I’ll periodically post some of the more memorable words I come across, and I think I’m going to post a poll on here soon so that you can vote on your favorite word so far, so stay tuned. I also invite you to practice saying these words out loud so that you can sprinkle them into your everyday conversations - at the dinner table with family, at the bar with friends, on the phone with business associates. At least you’ll get a good chuckle.