As a German I must say theese words are used. Some more some less of corse. The only one I never heard is the "Ruinenlust" even though a German would instantly know what it means.

"Luftschloss" is not only a castle in the air. it is a castle, which only consits of air. it has no foundation, no solid walls. it looks nice, like it sounds nice, when somebody is telling you his BIG dreams. But if you try to live in it, you will fall down to the ground with nothing left then air. It´s easy to build, but it is no good. Luftschlösser are often build from people, who only live in their dreams.

The fascinating thing with German compound words is, that in many cases, one can understand their meaning without ever having heard them before.

I'm from Germany and never heard Ruinenlust. Greetings from Hamburg/Germany!

My favorite IS Mutterseelenallein, which translate to mother's soul alone. The feeling of ultimate lonelyness and desperation , Not even the Soul of your Mother is able to be with you. Greetings from Germany to Malaysia ❤️

The Scots feel Schadenfreude every time the English national team loses...and so do we

Futterneid also describes when you have a sibling and you feel they got a bigger portion of the cake and start fighting about it.

for me, Futterneid was always only being about getting enough of the food when your siblings are around or when the plate is shared. I have never used it when I am envy of someones food choice in a restaurant. When we sit together in the cinema and share ONE bucket of popcorn, Futterneid begins :D

Regarding Lufthansa. The word Hansa is derived from the word Hanse/Hanseatic League . The Hanse/Hanseatic League was an association of trading cities on the North Sea and the Baltic Sea in the Middle Ages.

I moved to Sweden recently and we are joking about the lack of funny creative compound words in the swedish language and now my colleagues have adapted some of those who they thought were good, for example the german word “Staubfänger” is now “dammsamlare” or ”dustcollector” - a thing for decoration that has really no use but tends to collect dust so you have to clean it very often… 😊 I try to spread those german expressions 😅

I am a German living in Australia listening to a Scottish English reflecting on German words, all because of "Fernweh". Greetings.

I'm sorry to correct some of the comments here, on 'Futterneid', which some people mistakenly understand as food related only. In my lifelong experience, Futterneid is mostly used *not* in connection with food or eating or in the literally sense. That's why 'Futterneid' is mentioned in the video. It originates from the scene at the dining table or in the stables of course. 'Futter' isn't food for humans, it's for animals. It refers to a specific type of envy, like in a company with limited resources, when you see that another department is getting new equipment and yours doesn't, due to limited budgets. Or in a family, when your parents are buying a new car for your older brother and you've been begging/bugging them for a moped for a year or two, without success. Or within the government, where the finance ministry allocates extra funds to the defense ministry denying your ministry extra funds you applied for. Or ... you name it ...

In Danish we can make compound words as well (like in Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian etc.). But in German you do it more freely and you can create verbs out of nouns if you need one. Words for complex feelings like "Schadenfreude" we have fully similar in Danish (skadefryd) and Futterneid ("brødnid"), but "klammheimlich" has no Danish equivalent, nor "Weltschmerz", but for the last we just use the German word.

I really love the word "Wortschatz" wird treasure which describes the amount of words a person knows in a language

Actually Kummerspeck is the result of comfort eating 😅… you eat, because you are sad and then you gain weight - and that new fat on your hips is the Kummerspeck.

I for myself experienced "Futterneid" mostly not in restaurants but in my very home when my hawkeyed kids are high alert about how I'll fill our plates during mealtimes. One could have a slightly bigger portion, more meat, the bigger dessert bowl or things like that. Greetings from a german mom. 👋

I have never heard the term "Ruinenlust" and it seems artifical/construed to me. There is, however, the psychological term "Angstlust" (fear-lust or fear -enjoyment). This is what people feel watching a horror film or going on a scary ride/roller coaster. The motivation to enjoy otherwise frightening, horrifying things/sights etc. in a safe environment.

"Futter" isn't actually "food", but rather "fodder". "Ruinenlust" is used only in English speaking countries, not in Germany.

And as a German knowing and using all those words, you always have the feeling of beeing unable to express yourself properly because of the missing of those words in other languages.

Backpfeifengesicht is actually one of my favourites and i use it quite frequently. Donald Trump certainly has one in my opinion. 🤭😁

8:20 This is a word very, very dear to my heart. Weltschmerz is such a beautiful spot on term. But i learned a different connotation of it. For me it always meant feeling emotional pain due to the current state of the world (around you; it doesnt need to be about the entire world but can also refer your everyday surroundings). You are just tired and exhausted due to reading the news around the world, in your country, in the community you are interested in. Crisis here, bank failure there, earthquake there, famine here OR (sometimes additionally) your friend has become really sick, you have to work overtime again and again, routine everywhere, opportunities are rare .... etc. Its not a depressed state of mind, its a In-The-Moment-Feeling of deep sadness. Basically... You know the moments you just wanna cry for no particular reason? And after that you feel just so much better?

A great video and a joy to watch! I know "Backpfeifengesicht" and sometimes use it. :) 😂 "Ruinenlust" is very uncommon for me, but there are "Wanderlust" (zest for wandering) and "Reiselust" (zest for travelling) which are often used. And a very popular word for every employee or worker is "Feierabend" (which means roughly that you should know celebrate the evening when work is over). Viele Grüße!

Deer not only sounds similar to german *"Tier"* but also mean THE SAME in old english. "Small deer" ment *small creature* not a specific one! Also written! Old english: Dior < Tior old german ;)

They are all very common and more or less part of everyday language but I must admit that I haven't heard the word "Ruinenlust" in all of my 55 years of german life. By the way: The fact that many words sound similar in German and English simply comes from the fact that English is, sorry if I touch on that, more or less a German dialect. Think of the migration and settling of the Angles and Saxons roughly 1500 years ago. They brought their language with them and that language was a form of old lower German, a direct predecessor of modern Plattdeutsch (spoken on the north sea coast of Germany) or Dutch. Sure, Latin and old French also left their mark but a very large part of English (including the grammar) is of German origin.

You my friend, have the opposit of a Backpfeifengesicht [pronounced buck-pfifen-ge-sicht], because that word is reserved for unlikeable people. We use this quite often, but in southern Germany we say "Watsch(n)" instead of "Backpfeife" to a slap, so the word changes to "Watschngesicht" in our accent.

I love our compound words and we have thousands of them. It is really like you can express everything what´s in your mind with WORDS. It´s fantastic 😊🤩

I'm German and i'ver heard and used all these terms except of Ruinenlust which i have never heard/seen before. The beauty of this part of my language is that in compound words we cannot only link terms in a functional sense like Einkommenssteuer-Durchführungsverordnung (a collection of laws and regulations which govern the execution of the German income tax law (EStDV 1955)) but also words which have little to do with each other like Zugzwang (o force so.'s hand) which is often used in chess when you bring your opponent in a situation where he has to do something, but there are no longer any positives moves possible for him. It is the linkage of a situation of a game, which is meant to bring pleasure with total discomfort. Another great word has been Waldsterben (dying of the woods) which was invented when the first signs of the climate change brought so-called sour (acid) rain to our woods and damaged lots of trees. Again the combination of something with a highly positive connotation like wood with the term dying/death. I don't want to end this entry with the word death, so just another jolly Germanic term sterbensmüde - tired to death (being so tired that you question if it's even worth waking up after a sleep)

Living abroad I was amazed how others describe the simple German word "Kurschatten" - on point ;)

One thing about German compound words: You can absolutely just make them up. As long as it makes sense in the context you use it in, you can make up any compound word you like. It can become ridiculously specific though, and there’s a great poem about just that.

I am 55 and German and I never heard the word "Ruinenlust". Guess I learned something new today 😊

@08:09 The best definition of Weltschmerz I have ever heard is that Weltschmerz is the pain of feeling the difference between how we wish the world should be versus how the world actually is.

There are countless of these words in the German language and I use many of them almost daily.

Futterneid is usually used with animals. When you feed your pets/ horses/ any animal and they get aggressive and want to defend their portion or chase others away to eat their food because what the other one gets always tastes better.^^

Fernweh is not to be translated with pain, but with longing. Something youre soul just craves

There are endless compound words in the german language. And they are in use at least for a certain time period, like fashion. Some of my favourites are: Sesselfurzer -> armchair farter = a person that works sitting on his butt, mostly used for people in the administration/bureaucracy Warmduscher -> warm showerer = the opposite of a tough guy, a person too sensitive, sometimes also labelled as "Weichei", literally soft egg Heimweh -> home pain = the feeling every children knows, sitting in the tent of a holiday camp crying and wishing you would be at home a famous one used in the english language too is "Kindergarten" -> children garden and tons more... to be continued

Even though I don't use them all the time I am very happy to have them, because it gives me the opportunity to acknowledge my own feelings and share them with others without having to hold a monolog fist. And having official words for it tells me that I am not the only one who has such feelings and that it is totally normal to have this kind of feelings sometimes and that I don't need to feel bat about it.

A compound word that isn't really used today anymore but has historical context that I quite like is Gewalthaufen. Violence Pile. It's the term that was used for battle formations, specifically closed pike formations in the late medieval and early modern periods. As I said, not much used today outside of it's historical context but a beautiful word nontheless

Being a German I have never heard of "Ruinenlust" before. lol

German is very easy to learn. Here in Germany even Kids are quite fluent in it

One of the best words is still "Verschlimmbessert" - basically means you tried to fix something, but made it worse instead.

There are also such words in Low German. My favourite word is Dösbuddle. A mixture of Dösen and tolpatsch. Dösen means someone who falls asleep or is too slow, and Tollpatsch is someone who has two left hands. Together it is Dösebuddle. So someone who is also slow because they are clumsy. I often use it at work when a colleague can't get his feet under him (slippers).

9:37 I can honestly say that I never feel schadenfreude when people hurt themselves physically (but when enemies fail, I may...).

"Kummerspeck" often gets used to talk about the very real kilos you can put on when you are in sorrow over a longer period like after a break up or the death of a loved one

German is full of compound words. There are tens or hudreds of thousands of them in German language. They are used very often and on many situations because it's very great way to describe things. I think from the given list "Ruinenlust" I am using almost never. Even "Backpfeifengesicht" is used not very often.

You know *"Letter"* derived from german *"Buchstabe"* and this includes the reason why german *bind* words creating a new meaning. All rooted in *Runes* & *Rune binding.* ;)

There are also some examples of compound words from the German language that exist in the same way in English, but are then written separately. A great example is the word "Stuhlbein", which means "chair leg". (Stuhl=chair, Bein=leg)

Yoo just wanted to say i really love to see your reactions and opinions on germany and its culture. Keep up the great work, earned a sub!

Luftslott, förstörelselusta, tröstäta, skadeglädje, beslutsångest, prestationsångest, ... are some "german style" compound words used in my language.

Futterneid can also be understood figuratively as the feeling of not having received enough of something, especially when it comes to money, valuables or real estate. For example, inheritance disputes in most cases arise from Futterneid. Although all heirs are well off and all have received a fair share of the inheritance, one is jealous of the others because he thinks that his inheritance is worth less than what the others received.

I know about Backpfeifengesicht, but it's not used a lot in the part of Germany I live in. And Ruinenlust is a word I actually never heard before, but I understand it. The others are quite common.

Futterneid is not actually used concerning food ( except in jest maybe), but it's the phenomenon to begrudge someone elses (rightful) gain, even when we ourselves have enough. For example, if someone thinks that his colleague should earn less, than he does, and is badmouthing them, he could be admonished. "Lass Mal! Das ist doch reiner Futterneid! Cut it out! That's pure Futterneid!" Animals also can display Futterneid, when pushing each other away from the food bowl. P.S. nobody uses Backpfeifengesicht in real life.

I laughed my ass off at the word "Schildkröte". That's so awesome......a shield-toad.....^^

Deutsch ist eine Sprache, in der man einen Satz mit einem Wort sagen kann, und auch wenn der andere das Wort noch nicht kennt, ist die Chance hoch, das er sofort weis, was gemeint ist.

I’ve never heard Erklärungsnot used in the sense of existential angst…

Ruinenlust is new to me. And I dare to say that I got a great Wortschatz (Wort = word and Schatz = treasure) wich means that I know a lot of words.

wow thanks mate, now I have a huge Erklärungsnot about my Luftschloss, you silly Backpfeifengesicht

I've never heard of "Ruinenlust"!

Heimweh = Home"sickness" (more like a dicomfort) -->When you are in a foreign country and have a deep longing for home ......... And the opposite Fernweh = Desire for the Faraway --> A deep desire to go on a journey... (Greetings from Austria)

Erklärungsnot is commonly used but not to say that you're in that situation but rather someone else was. Futterneid is something you hear quite often when you're in a resturant with friends and the meal gets served and you see that someone has somthing on their plate which looks really nice. Then you could say: "Da könnte ich ja sofort Futterneid bekommen, wenn ich deinen Teller sehe.." which would translate into: "I could get food envy just by looking at your plate". Luftschloss is used quite often as well when you're talking about your dreams someone might state that you're "building air castles again" because your dreams are most probably out of reach I know Backpfeifengesicht but at least in the area i live it's not used often. You could probably hear old people saing that when they're having an argument I have never heard of Ruinenlust but since you can combine almost anything that makes sense...why not? Kummespeck is common as well. It's what some people do after their relationship got to an end. The one who is sad eats a lot and gains weight. The extra weight is the "Kummerspeck" Fremdschämen is known everywhere and everyone knows what it means i think. You explained it very well, too. Weltschmerz. Everyone has heard of it but it's quite dark and sad. Probably unhappy people know more about this one Schadenfreude is a great one. I love Schadenfreude.

Hello Mert, love to view your channel. i've started with it because of learning and unerstanding more of the Scottish English. (got lost a few times not unerstanding what Scots were saying). Thank you for that. So, German is a "LEGO" language, you can put things together, if you like, to express a circumstance or someting like that. That's the concept of it. Some terms you may build may only make sence in the moment you are in, but your, hopefully, dedicated listeners will understand what you'll intend to express. cwtsh from Germany..PS: This is the Welsh for hug.Martin

Compound words are used a lot, German being a conglomerative language, yet I think that it depends on the speaker‘s age, to a certain degree, which specific words are used. There are also regional differences. „Backpfeife“ is a more archaic form of „Ohrfeige“ (both are actually compound words in their own right), and in the German federal state of Bavaria you are probably going to hear the terms „Watschn“, „Schelln“ or „Fotzn“, each expressing a difference in force applied to the slap. Generalising from these examples, German allows very precise and nuanced expression, and it also makes non-native speakers easier to spot.

Never heard the word "Ruinenlust". I life in a region, surrounded by old castles. My parents in law worked in a museum in one of this castles. I never heard the word and they didn't use it. ;-) I'm new here, love your humor. Greets from the southwest of germany, next the french border (round about 20 miles south of Airbase Ramstein).

You pronounced "Erklärungsnot" very well! I'm impressed.

The explanation for "Futterneid" wasn't actually that good. It isn't only used in relation with food. It expresses the feeling of envy, like if you don't grant your neighbour his big house and his new sports car, when somebody's very successful and you hold a grudge against that person. Even if you have your own nice house and enough food on the table, you want more bc the other person has more than you. In that case you're having "Futterneid", being envious of another person's accomplishments. So mostly it comes with a negative connotation.

I can see Futterneid sometimes amongst my dogs, I feel Schadenfreude when I watch Brexit. I told you so😅and yes, we do use all those words. However I never heard the word Ruinenlust 😮

German compound words have technically no limit as to how many words are inside of it. So you can in theory have one words thats longer than a page in a book - and it will still make sense.

When I was in Kindergarten the word Backpfeifengesicht was still relatively commonly used but now that I think about it, it's been a while since I heard someone actually use outside of a video like this.

Hi! I really liked your video - and yes, we do use those words 😊

Usually you have a Luftschloss when you are living in a Elfenbeinturm 😂😂

Ruinenlust - never heard. And I’m German.

Mert, you're precious!😄 Kummerspeck is literally grief blubber :-D. And Backpfeifen-Gesicht is easier to read! Greetings from Germay :-D

Als Muttersprachler (Journalist/Autor) habe ich noch nie etwas von "Ruinenlust" gehört... Es scheint nur im Englischen verwandt zu werden. ;-)

Backpfeifengesicht and Ruinenlust never heard before!

a type of "Backpfeifengesicht" is this, "Ein Gesicht wie ein Feuermelder, zum reinschlagen" it`s means fire alarm. In many countries around the World you push out a Switch for fire alarm, in Germany you break a little glases to push a button for fire alarm....it`s funny this little things

Me as a german have never heard „Ruinenlust“ - but it’s absolutly easy to understand what this word means!

Maybe you want to have a look of something from "Dieter Nuhr". I think you would love his strict, honest and mostly political sarcasm.

"Schadenfreude" is not the happiness when other people failing or get unfortune. Something has to happen before. Imagine, your girlfriend has broken one of her legs. It's time for "Schadenfreude"? For sure not. 😮 But imagine, someone who always tortured you in the school has broken his leg.. Not a little smile worth? 😊

Ruinenlust hab ich selbst noch nie gehört, und ich bin Deutscher, bestimmt wieder so ein Begriff, der aus der ehemaligen römischen Provinz im Westen stammt. 😉😉😊

Most of the words are used very often. But words like "Weltschmerz" are quite rare. My favorite word is the "official" word for a wheelbarrow. The short form is "Schubkarre". But the official word which officers say is "Einachsiger Dreiseitenkipper". And the official word for a cow is "Raumverzehrende Nutzvieheinheit". Man... I love my native language 😂

I never used "Backpfeifengesicht" oder "Ruinenlust" before, but I know immediately what they mean. 🤗 But the other words are part of my life and I use them quite often. Learning other languages is a very interesting thing and I love all about it. ❤️

Yes, those and other words that describe or circumscribe complex actions are very common in colloquial or everyday language. You save us time to explain, that is, time that is lost if you have to explain too much! As a native German speaker from birth, I would say so.

The word „Ruinenlust“ does not exist in the german language, but we should think about including it.

Ruinenlust I have never heard. Backpfeiffengesicht is outdated or just not common, the rest are normal words. Also Backpfeiffe is used quite rarely nowadays.

Most of those words are not thaaat commonly used, but they are very specific. There are always people who dream of impossible things (and never do anything to achieve them) but, at some point, get on everybodys nerves because they would not shut up about it. At some point one might say "ugh, he/she is building air castles again 🙄" and I have never used Backpfeifengesicht. I usually use the term "face aggro" when you see a person whose facial expression just makes you want to slap them. .... or is it just me who sometimes has that urge? Eh... moving on. Fernweh is more commonly used, as many people love to travel and had to stay put due to the whole corona situation. Ruinenlust... never heard of that. But, well, yeah, I like visiting ruins, so maybe that word applies to me 😄 Kummerspeck...is a thing but it may not really be a word you use in a conversation. I mean... how would that look? "Oh, look at you! Did your date ditch you? Is that why you put on so much Kummerspeck?" Come on... Germans are pretty direct, but if someone said that to me, they'd better be prepared for a fight 😅 On the other hand... my female relatives might actually make comments like that. 🤨and fremdschämen, yeah, you hear that sometimes. Weltschmerz? No. Might have been a thing centuries ago with all those depressed people who fancied themselves as suffering poets or something. If you told a person "I am suffering from Weltschmerz" they might just advise you to schedule an appointment with a therapist... Schadenfreude? yeeeeeeeeeees. "Schadenfreude ist die schönste Freude" - schadenfreude is the best joy is a common saying. But schadenfreude - usually - has a limit. I would not feel schadenfreude if someone got actually badly hurt. But smaller mishaps if you don't like the person? Yeees. 😅

Futterneid exists mainly in between siblings,, where there's always the feeling of not getting enough food or getting less than the other(s)

5:13 The Word „Hansa“ means „Gruppe/Gefolge/Schar“ (group/enourage/flock) in the middle ages the „Hanse“ was a Federation of cities to provide the trading. Many German cities has the word „Hansestadt“ bevore its Name. For example Hansestadt Hamburg, Hansestadt Lübeck, Hansestadt Rostock etc,

Concerning the "whip face" "Backpfeifengesicht" I have another amusing example from the milieu of my youth. "Plasticine skull" "Knetschädel" Oh... Just see that deepl had a plastic translation at hand😄 A face made for kneating.

For me as a german Schadenfreude isn't the enjoyment of other people's misfortune per se, but rather a feeling of relief when I see that some (sorry for the hard words) cocky annoying bastard gets their just desserts.

4:35 we have the same meal, but i have the bigger Schnitzel, or the fresher one. Or I have got the last one, you have to take the other menu... ^^' Futterneid..

Suprisingly I came across the word Weltschmerz at least as often in english philosophical texts as in german.

The Anglosaxon language had a similar concept, the kenning. The most famous Anglosaxon story, the Beowulf, has one right in the title: beo-wulf, or bee-wolf, meaning a bear (looking for bee's honey). In many cases, kennings were used to overcome a taboo. As saying the word "bear" was considered tempting fate, it was replaced with a kenning, which did not contain the word itself.

Maybe important to say that "Futter" is better translated as "fodder". Like it's something animals eat. But you can use it in an informal way to also mean human food. So if you are at some bar or whatever and they don't have a menu and you get hungry and wonder if they have anything to eat, don't ask "Was für Futter habt ihr so?" (What kind of fodder do you have?). You would normally use "Essen" (from essen - to eat) , "Gericht" (dish) or maybe "Speise" (also dish; from speisen, which is like a fancy way to say essen). Also: "Schloss" specifically refers to a post-medieval type of castle that is more about showing off wealth instead of being a defensive structure and/or economical center of a manor. A Schloss may have been build as a Burg originally but was later modernized (relatively speaking, 'modernized' in the 16th century obviously means something different from modernized in the 20th century) to fit this new function as more of a fancy stately house.

Hail from the Fatherland. Some of the explanations in this video were a bit questionable. Kummerspeck (sorrow fat / grief bacon) is the fat you gain from trying to stuff your emotions with food after some negative event. It is used to refer to that ring of fat growing obove the hips which you call love handles in English. Lust can mean lust as it does in English, however that is only a special submeaning. It usually translates to "to be in the mood for", "to desire" or "to fancy". "Ich habe Lust auf XXX" -> "I'm in the mood for some XXX" or "I could go for some XXX". It is often used as a suffix in compound nouns, like "Wolllust" -> "Lust like one of the 7 deadly sins", "Wanderlust" -> "a mood to wander" (to modern German ears this literally means hiking-desire) though it is not used a lot. Futterneid is more commonly used for a situation where something is distributed to some people and there is that one guy who will make sure he's not getting any less than the other people. This is quite common amongst siblings. Schadenfreude is also applicable to watching someone who is a massive twat be befallen by some kind of misfortune. Fernweh, which was shown as an example in the beginning, is a twist on Heimweh (homesickness, lit. home woe). The fern part means far, remote or distant. It is different from Lagerkoller which you would express as cabin fever in English, as it expresses a far broader feeling longing for travel. Anyway, keep up the great videos. Cheers, mate.

Deutsche sprache kann sehr mächtig sein ,gerade weil die sprache auch sehr emotional ist, ich lebe in nordeutschland /Ostfriesland, es gibt in Deutschland nicht umsonst das sprichwort reden ist silber ,schweigen ist gold ! Hier im hohen norden sind wir eher sehr still und ruhig ,aber sehr herzlich ❤

I have never heard "Ruinenlust" before. And "Backpfeifengesicht" is quite alien to me. I guess I have heard it sometime in the past but it is far from being in my active vocabulary. All the other words are not used particularly often, but they are used sometimes and well known.

Well, the strength is the combination of words. Even no one hear it before, everybody would understand it. Like: "Donaudampfschiffahrtskapitänspatent" Which is the license of a captain for a steam powered ship on the Danube.

5:20 The Hanse was a trade Organisation between different Citys back in the 12th to 17th. century. Also the reason some german citys have an H in there licanceplate like Hamburg with HH standing for Hansestadt Hamburg.

I am German and never heard "Ruinenlust" but "Wanderlust" that is a thing.

In the 1990s we invented lovely words for "weak" persons like "Warmduscher" (warm showerer), "Laternenparker" (under street lamps parker), "Turnbeutelvergesser" (gym bag forgetter - in school), "Frauenversteher" (man who understands how women think)...

"Futterneid" is the reason why some pet owners put cat food in the dog's bowl and dog food in the cat's bowl.