Learning from German--los geht's! It is estimated the English language comprises 600,000 words, yet there are times when its paucity is hard to ignore. This usually happens when you learn a new word in the (more compact) German language for which there's no English equivalent. German speakers know how this confounds us, and describe that smug sense of satisfaction with the useful word Schadenfreude.

Swiss News › Nbr. 2011, January 2011

Author: De Faoite, Diarmuid

Position:: Humour

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Humour

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Learning from German--los geht's! It is estimated the English language comprises 600,000 words, yet there are times when its paucity is hard to ignore. This usually happens when you learn a new word in the (more compact) German language for which there's no English equivalent. German speakers know how this confounds us, and describe that smug sense of satisfaction with the useful word Schadenfreude.

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Other words we have no equivalent for include Geisterfahrer (lit. ghost driver)--when a car drives the wrong direction along a motorwa...

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