Definitions and Audio

Autobahn

is a major high-speed road restricted to motor vehicles capable of driving at least 60 km/h (37 mph) and having full control of access, similar to a motorway or freeway in English-speaking countries. (1)

Bildungsroman

is a novelistic genre that arose during the German Enlightenment, in which the author presents the psychological, moral and social shaping of the personality of a (usually young) protagonist. (1)

Blitz

is originally German for lightning, but the name "Blitz" used for the German aerial attacks on Britain in WW II was subsequently applied to many individual campaigns and attacks. (1)

Bratwurst

is a sausage composed of pork, beef or veal. (1)

Dachshund

is a short-legged, elonated dog breed of the hound family. The breed's name is German and literally means "badger dog".(1)

Delicatessen

is a term meaning "delicacies" or "fine foods". (3)

Diesel

or diesel fuel in general is any fuel used in diesel engines. (1)

Doppelgaenger

or fetch is the ghostly double of a living person, a sinister form of bilocation. In the vernacular, "Doppelgänger" has come to refer to any double or look-alike of a person. (2)

Dreck

is (vulgar) worthless material, especially merchandise, "crap". (2)

Ersatz

is a German word literally meaning substitute or replacement. While the English term often implies that the substitution is of unsatisfactory or inferior quality, this connotation does not necessarily exist in the German context. (2)

Fahrvergnuegen

means "driving enjoyment". (2)

Fest

is a festival, organised by certain institutions such as educational institutes, colleges, senior secondary, secondary, or high schools in order to annually commemorate certain special events significant to their history. (1)

Foosball

is a table-top sport that is based on association football (soccer). (1)

Fraeulein

is used as a title for young girls. Historically, it was used as a title for unmarried women as opposed to “Frau” for married women. (2)

Frankfurter

is a prepared food, usually made from ground meat, animal fat, salt, and spices, typically packed in a casing. (3)

Gedankenexperiment

is a proposal for an experiment that would test a hypothesis or theory but cannot actually be performed due to practical limitations; its purpose is to explore the potential consequences of the principle in question. (1)

Gemeinschaft

is an association in which individuals are oriented to the large association as much if not more than to their own self interest. (1) 

Gemuetlichkeit

is almost equivalent to the word "coziness". However, rather than merely describing a place, gemütlichkeit connotes the notion of belonging, social acceptance, cheerfulness, the absence of anything hectic and the opportunity to spend quality time. (1)

Gesamtkunstwerk

is an operatic performance that encompasses music, theatre and the visual arts. (2)

Gesellschaft

describes associations in which, for the individual, the larger association never takes on more importance than individual self-interest, and lack the same level of shared mores. (2)

Gestalt

is a German word for form or shape. It is used in English to refer to a concept of 'wholeness'. (3)

Gesundheit

is the German and Yiddish word for health. When a person sneezes, German, Yiddish, and North American English speakers typically say “Gesundheit!” to wish them good health, serving much the same purpose as "bless you" in English. (1)

Glockenspiel

is a "set of bells" or "play-of-bells", also known as orchestra bells. In its portable form, bell lira or bell lyre is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It is similar to the xylophone, in that it has tuned bars laid out in a fashion resembling a piano keyboard. (2)

Goetterdaemmerung

is the last of the four operas that make up Wagner’s “The Ring of the Nibelung”. The title is a translation into German of the Old Norse phrase Ragnarök, which in Norse mythology refers to a prophesied war of the gods which brings about the end of the world. The term “Götterdämmerung“ is occasionally used in English, referring to a disastrous conclusion of events. (2)

Heiligenschein

is the German word for "aureole" or "halo", literally "Saint's shine", is an optical phenomenon which creates a bright spot around the shadow of the viewer's head. It is created when the surface on which the shadow falls has special optical characteristics. (1)

Hinterland

is the land or district behind the borders of a coast or river. (2)

Kaffeeklatsch

is a gathering of people to discuss news items of the day over cups of coffee and similar coffee drinks. (2)

Kaputt

means no longer effective, capable, or valuable. (3)

Katzenjammer

means "discordant sound" and is also sometimes used to indicate a general state of depression or bewilderment. It's sometimes used in reference to a hangover. (2)

Kindergarten

is a form of education for young children which serves as a transition from home to the commencement of more formal schooling. (3)

Kitsch

is used to categorize art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an existing style. The term is also used more loosely in referring to any art that is pretentious to the point of being in poor taste and also commercially produced items that are considered trite or crass. (1)

Kobold

is a sprite of German folklore. Although usually invisible, a kobold can materialise in the form of an animal, fire, a human being, and a mundane object. The most common depictions of kobolds show them as humanlike figures the size of small children. (3)

Kohlrabi

is a low, stout cultivar of the cabbage that will grow almost anywhere. (3)

Lager

is one of two main types of beer, which is traditionally stored for at least three weeks before beeing served.(1)

Lebkuchen

is a traditional German product baked for Christmas, somewhat resembling soft gingerbread. (3)

Lederhosen

are knee-breeches (knickerbockers or shorts) made of leather. (1)

Leitmotiv

is a recurring musical theme, associated with a particular person, place, or idea. The word has also been used by extension to mean any sort of recurring theme, whether in music, literature, or the life of a fictional character or a real person. (1)

Lied

means "song". The word is used primarily as a term for European romantic music songs, also known as art songs. (1)

Marzipan

is a confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal. (3)

Meister

the word originally means "master" in German. (1)

Muesli

is a popular breakfast cereal based on uncooked rolled oats, fruit and nuts. (1)

Oktoberfest

is a sixteen-day festival held each year in Munich, Germany during late September, running to early October. It is one of the most famous events in the city and the world's largest fair, with some six million people attending every year, and is an enjoyable event with an important part of Bavarian culture. (2)

Pils

is a pale Lager, developed in the 19th century in the city of Pilsen in Bohemia, Czech Republic. (1)

Poltergeist

is a bread pastry of Medieval European, probably of Italian and German origin, that has the shape of a three looped knot or twisted braid. (2) 

Pretzel

is a bread pastry of Medieval European, probably of Italian and German origin, that has the shape of a three looped knot or twisted braid. (2) 

Quark

is a type of fresh cheese of Central European origin. It is not the same thing as cream cheese or cottage cheese. (2)

Ratskeller

is a name in German-speaking countries for a bar below street level. The therm originally referred specifically to restaurents that were located in the basement of the city hall.(1)

Realpolitik

refers to politics or diplomacy based primarily on practical considerations, rather than ideological notions. (3)

Rucksack

is also called backpack, knapsack, packsack, pack, bookbag or Bergen. It is a cloth sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders. (3)

Sauerkraut

is finely shredded cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria. (1)

Schadenfreude

is pleasure taken from observing the misery of another. (1)

Schnauzer

is a German dog type that originated in Germany in the 1400s and 1500s. The term comes from "Schnauze," the German word for snout because of the dog's distinctly furry muzzle. (3)

Schnitzel

is a traditional Austrian veal or pork dish. (1)

Spiel

is a lengthy and extravagant speech or argument usually intended to persuade. (1) 

Streusel

in baking and pastry making, the therm refers to a crumb tobbing of butter, flour and sugar that is baked on top of muffins, breds and cakes.(1)

Strudel

is a type of sweet layered pastry with a filling inside. (1) 

Sturm und Drang

is the name of a movement in German literature and music taking place from the late 1760s through the early 1780s in which individual subjectivity and, in particular, extremes of emotion were given free expression in response to the confines of rationalism imposed by the Enlightenment and associated aesthetic movements. (1)

Torte

is a cake made with many eggs and usually ground nuts or even crumbs instead or in addition to flour. It derived from the German word "Torte", which was derived from the Italien word "torta", which was used to describe a round cake or bread.(1)

Voelkerwanderung

is the word used by historians for human migration that occurred within the period of roughly 300–700 CE in Europe marking the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. (1)

Wanderjahr

is a term that refers to a prolonged period between a life stage. (2)

Wanderlust

designates a strong desire for or impulse to wander, or, in modern usage, to travel and to explore the world. (3)

Weltanschauung

refers to a wide world perception as a framework of ideas and beliefs through which an individual interprets the world and interacts with it. (2)

Weltschmerz

denotes the kind of feeling experienced by someone who understands that physical reality can never satisfy the demands of the mind. (2)

Wunderkind

is someone who at an early age masters one or more skills at an adult level. (2)

Zeitgeist

describes the intellectual, cultural, ethical and political climate, ambiance and moral of an era or also a trend. (2)

Zeppelin

is a type of rigid airship. (2)

schlepp

means to move slowly or laboriosly. Refers to an arduous journey. (3) 

ueber

comes from the German language and means "over". (1)

Verboten

means prohibited, forbidden. (3)

Wunderbar

means wonderful. (2)

zickzack

is a line or course that proceeds by sharp turns in alternating directions. Also a road or design, that exhibits one or a series of sharp turns. (3)

Sources:

(1) wikipedia.org

(2) wiktionary.org

(3) answers.com

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Zeitgeist is... German!

Read more about the many ways in which Germany—the land of poets and thinkers—influenced the "spirit of the times" in the past and how it keeps shaping the global Zeitgeist today.

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You meet up with friends for a pils or lager at the local rathskeller or beer garden to discuss the latest news or simply soak up the zeitgeist. German words are simply a part of American life. In fact, there are times when a German word describes best what we wish to say.

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