"What's the german word" for as a joke is a good proxy search term for vocabulary holes in the english language, for terms that seem like they should exist, but don't
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German for sure has many such words. But Hindi/Urdu too - there is no good English translation for many ghazals, shayaaris or even some bollywood lyrics. Highly metaphorical constructions with nothing equivalent.
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A great list of 10 such german words: matadornetwork.com/read/10-untran w/ gems like:
Erklärugnot=Erklärug(“explanation”) + Not ( “emergency”) literally translates to that moment when you suddenly find yourself in a sticky spot & need an excuse or alibi for something you have failed to do.
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Chindogu dictionary: the words that seem to be useful yet, when invented, find no adoption.


