A language learners’ forum

Share the last German word you learned. It should help you remember it, as well as benefitting other learners. Anything fun, curious, confusing, unusual, or just the basic necessities of the language. You can include a little extra background information or example sentences to help make it more memorable.

Der Tunnelzug - drawstring (e.g. in a duffel bag, jacket waist, pair of jogging pants)

Just read it in a story about a character who couldn't tie bows a s a kid, who now obsessively ties bows in all any clothes items with undone drawstrings he finds.

[corrections obviously welcome and necessary, but consider using PM for anything minor, e.g. spelling, or for any older posts, so as not to interupt the flow]

Die Untertasse - saucer

Literally translates to 'under cup', which makes me smile

sjintje wrote:Der Tunnelzug - drawstring (e.g. in a duffel bag, jacket waist, pair of jogging pants)

I don't think that I've ever encountered this word and without any context I would have guessed that it refers to a train in a tunnel.

Atinkoriko wrote:Die Untertasse - saucer

BTW, you might find "fliegende Untertasse" = "flying saucer" in older German books and dubbed English movies.

Doitsujin wrote:

sjintje wrote:Der Tunnelzug - drawstring (e.g. in a duffel bag, jacket waist, pair of jogging pants)

I don't think that I've ever encountered this word and without any context I would have guessed that it refers to a train in a tunnel.

So what have you been using all this time to stop your jogging pants falling down?

sjintje wrote:So what have you been using all this time to stop your jogging pants falling down?

I usually don't wear jogging pants, but if I had to wear one, I'd probably use a Kordel or a (Durchzieh)band.
Tunnelzug appears to be technical term that is only used by garment dealers.

Computer games can be a great source of new vocabulary. One of the more recent words I learnt in German via an adventure game was schroff (brusque), having to chat with a couple of fantastical eccentric creatures in the game called Schröfe. It didn't seem that useful beyond the context of the game at first, but then the word reappeared several times over the following week across a variety of contexts and media. Bonus post-game credit!

Teango wrote:...but then the word reappeared several times over the following week across a variety of contexts and media....

I find that happens weirdly often. Makes me realise how much my brain must just be ignoring stuff it doesn't recognise, but it even seems to happen with fairly obscure words. Admittedly, I haven't met "Tunnelzug" again. Yet. Maybe it's time to pay a visit to the haberdasher.

My last German word is:

der Hochstapler = eine Person, die bewusst (mit oder ohne betrügerische Absicht) vorgibt, eine Person höheren Ansehens (meist akademischer Grad) zu sein, um persönlische Vorteile daraus zu ziehen. (English: swindler, imposter)

Der Flügel - grand piano, which I guess looks like a wing

This is a word that seems to crop up surprisingly often in novels.

Unzurechnungsfähigkeit - unsound of mind, what Meursault in L'Etranger experiences in his cell from his sentence to be executed and the hot sun.

Er spinnt.