However, a little further research revealed that Gemütlichkeit is just one of those words which you wish we had in English… but don’t! If you’ve heard anything about the Danish concept of Hygge recently, then you can think of this as the German equivalent… #3 Kopfkino (n.) When I checked the dictionary definition, it simply returned ‘friendliness or geniality’.

Gemütlichkeit is all about achieving the perfect balance between cozy, warm and comfortable. #2 Gemütlichkeit (n.)Īlthough this word is often translated as simply ‘cozy,’ the word conveys so much more than this, and would be immediately obvious to any German speaker. The word was originally a German verb ‘Wandern’ (‘to hike’) and still means this in German to this day. Ironically, Wanderlust is a loan word from German which came to have a different meaning in English. If you were to translate Fernweh into English, then its equivalent would be ‘wanderlust’. You know those feelings of itchy feet, opening up every travel deal that finds its way into your email inbox and daydreaming a little too much about your next adventure during your coffee break? Well, the word ‘Fernweh’ sums up all these feelings and more.

Indeed, the word Fernweh is one of those compound words I was talking about that are so common in the German language! German Travel Words You’ll Wish We Had in English! #1 Fernweh (n.)Īlthough there’s no direct translation for ‘Fernweh’ in the English language, the literal translation is ‘far-sickness’.

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German Travel Words You’ll Wish We Had in English!.

Long german words in english