kitsch - in English, this word refers to a kind of style that is gaudy or garish, but in German it originally just meant “trash”.wanderlust - the desire to travel and move around, though English speakers now use this word much more often than German speakers do.zeitgeist - Zeit (“time”) + Geist (“spirit”), roughly meaning “the spirit of the time”.Germany has had a wide-ranging impact on culture and politics, and you can see that influence just by looking at the German words that have been adopted by English speakers. hamburger - named after Hamburg, a city in Germany.

bundt cake - anglicization of Bundkuchen.lager - a shortened version of Lagerbier, which means “warehouse beer” because it was meant to be brewed and stored for future consumption.pilsner - a kind of beer named after the German town Pilsen, which is located in the Czech Republic.frankfurter - a shortening of Frankfurter Wurst (“Frankfurter sausage”).biergarten - Bier (“beer”) + Garten (“garden”).pumpernickel - a type of rye bread, though where the word comes from exactly is a matter of some debate.wiener (as in hot dog) - from Wiener Würstchen (“Viennese sausage”).seltzer - comes from the German village Selters.gummy bear - adapted from the Gummibärchen (“little gummy bears”) first made by German company Haribo.sauerkraut - sauer (“sour”) + Kraut (“cabbage”).Even if you know that, though, there might be a few on this list you weren’t expecting. It shouldn’t come as any surprise that a lot of the English words that are actually German refer to food and beer. schnauzer - from the German schnauzen, meaning “to growl”.rottweiler - a dog breed named after Rottweil, a town in Germany.poodle - from Pudel, literally meaning “puddle”.hamster - at one point in history, English speakers called hamsters “German rats”.Ironically, most Germans call this type of dog a Dackel today. dachshund - Dachs (“badger”) + Hund (“dog”).German animal names are a fascinating topic all on their own, but the few terms English has imported create a captivating little menagerie. English Words That Are Actually German Animals

Comon used german words in english