Words Sorely Needed in German

[This is part of my series of posts on languages. You can find an overview here that I will keep updated: “Synopsis: Language Posts.”]

In my post “Words Sorely Needed in English,” I wrote about a few words in German that are very practical and where I don’t see a handy equivalent in English. But then often it is also the other way around. I would say that in general the English language has an edge here. Since German is rather open about importing foreign words, the simple solution would be to just adopt the English words, which also fit in well because the two languages are rather similar. Maybe that is already the case. Here is a random list of such words:

Smug

I find that so great. You can almost spit it out. It is not so that there are no German words that capture a similar idea, but none as far as I can see that condense the idea so well. There is “selbstgefällig” (self-pleasing), “selbstzufrieden” (self-content) or “eingebildet” (conceited, literally: imagined), but they are all rather complicated and draw on different ideas, not one, to make the point. Germans in the past seem to have felt the need for such a word already, and so there is also “blasiert” (blasé) or “süffisant” (kind of: said with a smirk on your face), which have come from the French. Most of these words also have the connotation that someone feels socially superior, though, but “smug” does not need that. It is only about the discrepancy between how smart something is meant to be and how stupid it actually is.

Item

The beauty of this word is that it actually means nothing and is just a placeholder. When I think about how to translate it, my mind goes around and has this feeling that there should be such a word also in German. Only then do I realize that you have to be more precise or even more general. If you accept that, there are plenty of German words, too, but you bring in a concreteness or generality that is not there in English. “Objekt” or “Gegenstand” (also object, literally something that stands in opposition, I guess to a subject) are also general purpose. But “item” has this connotation that it is something on a list you can count though. There are “Eintrag” (entry, eg. on a list or in a dictionary), “Element” or “Posten” (in a commercial setting). However, they would not translate back to “item,” but some other word in the first place.

Issue

This one is similar. It again means little by itself, only that something is salient in some way. There are plenty of words in German you could use, but they all have more specific connotations, eg. “Problem” and “Thema,” both from the Greek, or “Frage” (question). In a legal setting, “Streitfall” (literally: dispute-case) might do or very literary: “Causa,” from the Latin. There are also some rather meaningless placeholders like “Sachverhalt” (matter-conduct) or “Angelegenheit” (something that is pending). However, those are awkward and sound bureaucratic. Or you could become more precise and stress the saliency: “Streitpunkt” (dispute-point) or “Problemkreis” (problem-circle). But none is really where you can just state the issue. And you cannot have “issues” either.

Breast and Chest

The previous two words were handy because they were placeholders, but sometimes English is also more precise than German. This one here is actually a trap for Germans because the German word “Brust” means both. Of course, the plural “Brüste” would make it clear. There are also words specifically for “chest,” but they are only used if you want to be clear: “Brustkasten” (breast-chest) or “Brustkorb” (breast-basket) where the latter is what a physician would say and when you think about the ribs. Maybe it is good for gender-neutrality, so German men can also do breastfeeding, they just have to put the food on their chest. “Breastfeeding” in German is “Stillen,” though, which is literally that you make the baby quiet.

Borrow and Lend

When I come to this point I am always shell-shocked for a moment: Don’t get this wrong! You borrow something from someone else, but you lend it to them. The reason this confuses me as a native speaker of German is that in German it is both “leihen,” which is basically the same word as “lend” in English. It is kind of when someone asks for a fast answer to “On the right or on the left?” and I know I will get it wrong and have this split second where I try to concentrate. And then I say the opposite and it is still wrong.

Impeachment

I don’t know why I have to think of that. And so it has been also a lot in the German press. But then the concept plays much less of a role here. It is in principle also possible to impeach a German president. No, this is not Angela Merkel, she is the chancellor. The current President of Germany is Frank-Walter Steinmeier. However, it has never happened, so I had to read up on how it would work:

Either the Lower House (the Bundestag) or the Upper House (the Bundesrat) can start impeachment. At least a quarter of the deputies have to support it, and then a two-thirds majority is needed. The case is next referred to the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht). It can only be for breach of the Constitution (Grundgesetz, ie. the Basic Law) or a law on the books, not for unspecified “high crimes and misdemeanors.” The court can bar the president from exercising his office immediately by an interim injunction (einstweilige Verfügung). If it rules that there was a breach of the law, the president can be removed from office.

The President of Germany has some important functions, eg. he appoints the chancellor and ministers, and has some veto powers, but mostly the office is ceremonial. It is not like in the Weimar Republic where the president had vast powers and was jokingly called an “Ersatzkaiser.” There was also a public vote then while the Federal President is now elected indirectly. Both things did not work out well in the Weimar Republic.

The really important post in Germany is the chancellor as the head of the executive. But since it is a parliamentary system you only need a majority in the Lower House (Bundestag) to vote someone in. The Weimar Republic also had a chancellor, but one problem: It was easy to vote one out, but no way there would be a new one with a majority behind him. This could then result in a stale-mate where the president took over.

Now, it is different: There has to be a “constructive vote of no-confidence” (konstruktives Mißtrauensvotum), which means a chancellor only has to go when another has a majority. Hence to answer the recurrent question: What happens with Angela Merkel? — Nothing, she will remain “managing” chancellor until the end of time or someone else can get a majority in parliament. The German word is actually the long “geschäftsführend” (business-conducting), which is in most contexts edged out by the handier “managend” from the English. But here officialese rules.

After this digression back to the word “impeachment.” There are also German equivalents, but they are monstruous, eg. “Amtsenthebungsverfahren” (office-suspension-procedure) or “Amtsenthebungsklage” (office-suspension-suit). It becomes even more awkward when you want to use a verb: “ein Amtsenthebungsverfahren einleiten” (to initiate a office-suspension-procedure). English “to impeach” is such a relief by comparison. I guess that one of the inadvertent outcomes of the Trump presidency is that whole forests will be chopped down in Germany to report on the matter. But then I and many others just use “Impeachment” or “impeachen” most of the time where the English word is somewhat made to fit German spelling and grammar.