German Loan Words

These German words have sneaked into the English language. See if you can guess them.

Note: This quiz is in English. The German spellings or meanings may be different.

Quiz by

Featured Quiz

Rate:

Last updated: May 21, 2026

You have not attempted this quiz yet.

More quiz info >>

First submitted	March 4, 2010
Times taken	140,584
Average score	75.0%
Rating	4.27

Quiz and answer stats >>

Shared scores >>

5:00

Enter German word here:

/ 20 guessed

The quiz is paused. You have remaining.

Copied!

Scoring

You scored / = %

This beats or equals % of test takers also scored 100%

The average score is

Your high score is

Your fastest time is

more stats >>

shared scores >>

Keep scrolling down for answers and more stats ...

Definition

Word

School for children aged 4-6

Kindergarten

Fermented cabbage

Sauerkraut

"Lightning war"

Blitzkrieg

Mischievous, noisy type of ghost

Poltergeist

Dog breed called a "wiener dog"

Dachshund

A strong urge to travel

Wanderlust

Child prodigy

Wunderkind

Breaded veal cutlet

Schnitzel

The dots above this ü

Umlaut

The spirit of the times, literally "time ghost"

Zeitgeist

A person's double or look-alike

Doppelgänger

What you say when someone sneezes

Gesundheit

Element with symbol Co, its name comes from the German for "goblin"

Cobalt

Politics based on pragmatism, not idealism

Realpolitik

Pleasure from the misfortune of others

Schadenfreude

Recurring musical theme associated with a particular character or thing

Leitmotif

Musical instrument similar to a xylophone

Glockenspiel

German sourdough bread made from rye

Pumpernickel

Vague, philosophical anxiety (hint: starts with A)

Angst

Coup d'état (hint: starts with P)

Putsch

Save Your Stats

Your Next Quiz

Fast Typing 1 to 100

Clearly the most important "quiz" on JetPunk.

European Countries by First 2 Letters

Can you type the first two letters of every European country in just 45 seconds?

States of the German Confederation in 1848

With the help of a map, can you name all the states of the German Confederation in 1848?

Country Quiz on a Map - Germany

Hallo! Let's test your knowledge on Germany! Can you identify these places, people, and events on a map of Germany?

29 Comments

+11

Level ∞

May 21, 2026

I've reset this quiz to remove some tired WWII references which I'm sure the Germans are sick of hearing about.

Level 62

May 21, 2026

ü is an umlaut itself, not just the two dots.

It could just as well (or better) be translated as 'time spirit', which you already did, or 'time mind'. 'Ghost' is simply not what we mean when we say 'Geist' here.

Level 80

May 21, 2026

What do you call that two-dot diacritic by itself, then? In English, that's distinctly called an umlaut.

Level 90

May 21, 2026

Agreed that in German, the entire letter is called the Umlaut, and the diacritic itself is called the Umlautzeichen.

But this quiz isn't about German words per sé; it's about German words in English, and in English we make no distinction between the umlaut and (what would in German be) the umlautzeichen.

The umlaut, in English, validly refers to just the two marks above the letter.

(See also: the quiz description, which reads "This quiz is in English. The German spellings or meanings may be different." (emphasis mine))

Level ∞

May 21, 2026

Exactly.

Level 83

May 21, 2026

Any chance to give some more leeway on… daschund? I suppose this has taught me it’s spelled dachshund. Now to remember this I’ll always think it’s Dach’s hound.

Level 70

May 21, 2026

+1 I tried 10 different ways before looking it up on Google.

Level ∞

May 21, 2026

Added some more variations.

Level 98

May 21, 2026

Probably SchadenSfreude as well. It's the correct spelling.

Level 57

May 22, 2026

I hope this is irony, because no, it's not. But in case I fell into some irony trap here, then you might feel some Schadenfreude.

Level 70

May 22, 2026

A Dachs is a badger. A Dachshund is a badger dog

Level 86

May 22, 2026

Ein Dachs (m) is a badger in English.

Hund is a dog.

Think of it as a badger dog - 2 separate words yoked together.

Level 83

May 22, 2026

I’ll use my Dach’s hound system. Kirby Dach is an NHL player so I’ll just remember that he has a fictional wiener dog that may or may not hunt badgers.

Level 86

May 21, 2026

Regarding "Schadenfreude", "Pleasure from the misfortune of others" does sound kind of random and sadistically. We Germans are not like that (at least the most of us are not).

So in order to feel "Schadenfreude" that misfortune has to happen so someone who really deserved it for bad behavior. A pretty spot-on example would be the end of the skateboard-chase in Back to the future.

And in German, "Dachshund" sounds like the offspring of a badger (Dachs) and a dog (Hund). We call that dog Dackel instead.

Level 77

May 22, 2026

Schadenfreude can apply to anyone, regardles of deservedness. And Dackel is just the short form of Dachshund.

Level 86

May 22, 2026

Er, no, at least not in the german origin. There has to be some kind of "Yeah, that serves you right"-feel to that persons misfortune. Otherwise it would be just laughing at someone stupid doing something stupid.

Level 63

Jun 1, 2026

There's a fine line between Schadenfreude and situational humour.

Level 60

May 22, 2026

Sehr interessant!

Aber niemand hier in Deutschland sagt "Dachshund".

Level 68

May 23, 2026

I agree, at least it's quite rare. I tried putting Dackel and Teckel, but apparently it is more commonly called that in English (even though I've mostly heard wiener dog).

Level 56

May 22, 2026

Blitzkrieg does not mean "lightning war" the Blitzkrieg means a fast won war (fast as a "Blitz" (flash))

Level 47

May 23, 2026

Thank you Toby “Radiation” Fox for the help with the music one.

Level 88

May 23, 2026

I'm surprised that so many people got putsch. I've never heard that word before.

Level 71

May 24, 2026

Interestingly, "Wanderlust" has a different meaning in German ("a strong urge to hike"). But there are several German words for "a strong urge to travel": "Reiselust", "Reisefieber", "Fernweh".

Level 59

May 24, 2026

Genuine question, because I have never heard it:

Do you really say in American or British English "Gesundheit" when someone sneezes?

With German pronunciation?

(In my language and in some other languages I know people also say "for health!" when someone sneezes).

Level 80

May 24, 2026

I think they say that when someone says something unpronounceable. For example, if an American asks a Pole where he's from and the Pole says Bydgoszcz, they American might reply "Gesundheit". Which I think is funny but also a bit rude? But maybe I'm wrong about this.

Level 46

May 26, 2026

USAmerican here- I say gesundheit when someone sneezes (I did just this morning!) because I prefer it to the religious connotations of the alternative "bless you." Doing so is very common.

Level 81

May 30, 2026

Have heard it used in Australian English. Not common, but does exist.

Level 61

May 26, 2026

Fun Fact: Putsch derives not from Standard German but from Swiss German and means litteraly a push.

(obviously no correction, I just wanted to spread some siedenotes)

Level 79

May 26, 2026

"Zeitgeist" does not literally mean "time ghost". It just doesn't. "Geist" has multiple meanings, one of them happens to be "ghost". But not in the word "Zeitgeist". The best tranlsation is "spirit", which also happens to have the secondary meaning of "ghost". Which is neat.

I think most people, if they saw someone claim "Team-Spirit" (an English loanword into German) translated to the German equivalent of "team ghost", would say that is incorrect.