This one might come in handy for the weekend. “Der Stubentiger,” or the room tiger, is a common way to talk about a cat in German – although the most common word is of course “die Katze”. Your furry feline friend probably thinks she rules the house, so this German word is a very apt way of describing her. Except Germans who call turtles shield-toads. Well of course a turtle and a toad look the same – said no one ever. It represents a full meal of multiple courses. And watch out, a German “Menü” is something rather different. It is what an English speaker would mean by the word menu. “Speisekarte” literally means dish card and is a list of dishes served by the restaurant. What do headlights do? Well, they throw shine of course! So if you hear Germans talking about “Scheinwerfer” (literally shine-thrower) they do not mean some kind of crazy person throwing lights around. So try to remember next time you turn on your tap in the kitchen, you may be toying with some kind of weird little rooster.

But who knows why this word literally means a water rooster.

Here’s another one of these times when the German language proves it’s not always the most logical one. One of those that often looks like it’s going to fall apart completely. But mainly when speaking about an old, rusty bike. A wire-donkey? In German, you would actually use this word to talk about a bike. Knowing that “Draht” means wire and “Esel” means donkey doesn’t really help you understand what “der Drahtesel” is supposed to be. Let’s review 15 of those most German words and expressions. Germans have always constructed words with implacable logic… although sometimes the combinations of words are more than questionable. If you want more, be sure to check out our Instagram! And if you want even more, sign up here for a free language lesson with a private tutor! We’ll be bringing you some of our favorite words and expressions from the languages we teach every month. One of the joys of learning another language is discovering all of its quirky, unusual, and sometimes unexpectedly logical words, idioms, and expressions.

Comon used german words in english