A story in one word
Some compounds are not technical labels but small jokes or images. Kummerspeck (grief bacon) is the weight you put on from comfort eating. These words are everywhere in conversation, columns and advertising, and Germans keep inventing new ones. Your task is to understand them quickly.
Four kinds you will meet
Pictures
Das Lied ist ein echter Ohrwurm.
That song is a real earworm.
der Ohrwurm: a tune that won't leave your head. English borrowed this one.
Bei seiner Beschreibung ging sofort das Kopfkino los.
His description set my imagination running straight away.
das Kopfkino: vivid imagining, often of something embarrassing or tempting.
Mit dem Fahrrad nach Rom? Das war eine Schnapsidee.
Cycling to Rome? That was a crazy idea.
die Schnapsidee: an idea you'd only have after a few drinks.
Types of people
Sei keine Spaßbremse, komm mit!
Don't be a killjoy, come along!
die Spaßbremse: fun brake.
Er spielt mal wieder den Erklärbär.
He's playing the know-it-all explainer again.
der Erklärbär: someone who explains things nobody asked about. Rhymes, slightly mocking.
Blends
Two words fused so that they share a piece: verschlimmern (make worse) + verbessern (improve) = Verschlimmbesserung.
Das neue Update ist eine reine Verschlimmbesserung.
The new update is an improvement that makes everything worse.
Feelings without an English word
Die Rede war zum Fremdschämen.
The speech was cringeworthy.
das Fremdschämen: being embarrassed on someone else's behalf.
Mit vierzig bekam er plötzlich Torschlusspanik.
At forty he suddenly panicked that time was running out.
die Torschlusspanik: panic before the gate closes.
Nach der Trennung hat sie ein bisschen Kummerspeck angesetzt.
After the break-up she put on a bit of weight from comfort eating.
Compounds made on the spot
Writers and speakers coin compounds for the moment. With hyphens, even a whole phrase can become the first part. The head still decides the meaning and the gender: der Ich-weiß-alles-Blick is a look.
Er hat mir diesen Ich-weiß-alles-Blick zugeworfen.
He gave me that know-it-all look.
Ich habe heute echte Montagmorgenlaune.
I'm in a real Monday-morning mood today.
