German has a reputation for gluing words together, and sometimes the result is a feeling nobody else has a name for. Kummerspeck is the weight you put on from comfort-eating — literally "grief bacon." Fernweh is homesickness for a place you've never been.
These aren't museum pieces. Every word on this page is in everyday use, and knowing them is one of the fastest ways to sound less like a textbook and more like someone who lives here.
Feelings With No English Word
Longing to be somewhere far away
das Fernweh
Homesickness
das Heimweh
Fear that time is running out for life goals
die Torschlusspanik
Embarrassment on someone else's behalf
das Fremdschämen
Pleasure at someone else's misfortune
die Schadenfreude
Sadness about the state of the world
der Weltschmerz
Deep, aching longing
Die Sehnsucht
The happiness of looking forward to something
Die Vorfreude
Practice these words
das Fernweh
Quick notes:
- Fernweh and Heimweh are a matched pair. Almost everyone who has moved to Germany knows both at once.
- Fremdschämen is what you feel watching a colleague's disastrous presentation. English speakers tend to recognise the feeling instantly and be delighted there's a word.
- Vorfreude is often called die schönste Freude — "the best kind of joy." Germans say it about holidays, Christmas and weekends.
Everyday Life
The moment work ends for the day (celebration evening)
der Feierabend
A working day between a holiday and a weekend, taken off
der Brückentag
Having the home to yourself
sturmfrei
A song stuck in your head
der Ohrwurm
Vividly imagining a scene
das Kopfkino
Weight gained from emotional eating
der Kummerspeck
The stamina to sit through something long
das Sitzfleisch
Practice these words
der Feierabend
Quick notes:
- Feierabend is the most useful word on this page. Schönen Feierabend! is how colleagues say goodbye at the end of the day, and Ich habe Feierabend means "I'm off." It gets a lesson of its own later in the series, because it says a lot about how Germans think about work.
- Brückentag is worth knowing before your first May in Germany. When a holiday falls on a Thursday, half the office takes the Friday off, and the whole country plans around it.
- Ohrwurm is so good that English borrowed it: "earworm" is a direct translation.
People and Their Habits
The lazy voice that stops you exercising or working
der innere Schweinehund
To make something worse by trying to fix it
verschlimmbessern
An idea that only seemed good at the time
die Schnapsidee
The perfect comeback you think of too late
der Treppenwitz
A gift to appease an annoyed partner
das Drachenfutter
A softie, someone who avoids discomfort
der Warmduscher
A know-it-all
der Besserwisser
Practice these words
der innere Schweinehund
Quick notes:
- Den inneren Schweinehund überwinden — "to overcome your inner pig-dog" — is what Germans say about getting to the gym on a cold morning. It's affectionate, not insulting.
- Verschlimmbessern is a verb every IT department in Germany uses weekly.
- Warmduscher is a mild, joking insult. Fine among friends; not for a colleague you don't know well.
Why German Makes So Many of These
It's the same machinery as the compound words lesson. German can glue any two ideas together and the result is instantly understandable to every speaker — so when a feeling or situation needs a name, the language just builds one. English tends to describe these things in a phrase ("the fear that time is running out"); German packs the phrase into a noun and moves on.
That's also why some of these are recent. Fremdschämen only became common in the 2000s, and new ones are being built all the time.
Three Mistakes to Avoid
Using Angst the English way. In German it's just fear. Ich habe Angst can mean you're nervous about an exam, not in an existential crisis.
Saying Wanderlust to Germans. They'll understand, but it sounds like an English word borrowed back. Fernweh is the natural choice.
Calling a colleague a Warmduscher. It's teasing, and teasing needs familiarity. Save it for friends.