The German publisher Langenscheidt declared smombie as the Youth Word of the Year for 2015. A portmanteau of the German borrowings smartphone and zombie, Smombie denotes someone so absorbed in their small, glowing screen that they’re oblivious...
When an Austrian candy maker needed a name for his new line of mints, he took the first, middle, and last letters of the German word pfefferminz, or “peppermint,” to form the brand name PEZ. He later marketed the candies as an alternative for...
Victoria from Dallas, Texas, asks whether kibitz means “to joke,” “to chat,” or “to offer advice from the sidelines.” All three senses appear in English influenced by Yiddish, where the word has ranged from casual talk to wisecracking to meddlesome...
The Spanish version of being a “fifth wheel” on a date is “toca el violin,” which translates to being the one who plays the violin, as in, they provide the background music. In German, there’s a version that translates...
The German idiom, “Ich bin fast im Dreieck gesprungen!” is a way of indicating that you’re outraged. Literally, though, it means “I almost jumped in triangles.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
The mealtime admonition “someone has to finish this up so the sun shines tomorrow” comes from a German saying that goes back at least 150 years. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “So the Sun Shines Tomorrow” Hello, you...