“Someone who is obsessed with details and a bit of a control freak.” I think this is pretty self explanatory, and anyone who’s on your bad list can be labeled as such. People who throw snowballs without gloves are pretty hardcore and should therefore be feared, right? That’s exactly the opposite of a Handschuhschneeballwerfer who is, pardon my French, a wimp. Most people tend to throw snowballs with gloves on. Oh, how I was wrong: an Ohrwurm is what happens when you get a song stuck in your head, and you (have to) keep singing it over and over again.

The first time I heard this, I thought my friend had an actual worm in his ear that he probably caught during one of his latest backpacking trips. Now, in English, we would probably just say “party time” or “home alone,” but sturmfrei takes it to the next level: it’s basically equivalent to the saying, “When the cat’s away, the mice will play.” 2.

“When your parents are away, and you have the whole house to yourself.” Even though that sounds like a pain, it’s actually refreshing to be able to explain an emotion or situation on a deeper level. Another struggle with learning German in Germany is that there are several words that have no actual English equivalent or proper translation. Firstly, the grammar is – uhm – challenging. I recently moved to the German-speaking part of Switzerland, and as a result, I’ve been trying to pick up German, which is a tricky endeavor.

German words in english and in german