Short German Words

German is notorious for its long words (although most of these are simply closed compounds). But there are also examples of the opposite: German words that are considerably shorter than their English counterpart. Can you guess what the following short German words mean in English?

Each German word has at least two syllables less than its English equivalent.

The answers are not exclusively single words but include compounds, which in English, unlike German, may consist of several individual words separated by spaces.

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Last updated: February 3, 2024

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First submitted	January 10, 2024
Times taken	7
Average score	46.7%
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Word	Hint	Answer
Bau	buildings are under it for some time	construction
Notfall	an urgent situation	emergency
elf	a number	eleven
Ziel	where you are heading	destination
Stau	commuters' bane	traffic jam / congestion
Trost	a shoulder to cry on, e.g.	consolation
Wahn	a fixed but false belief	delusion
Bagger	hole digger	excavator
Drehtür	office buildings' merry-go-round	revolving door
Raupe	larval stage of a beautiful creature with an "ugly" German name	caterpillar
Föhn	don't drop it in the bathtub	hairdryer / blow-dryer
sofort	without delay	immediately
Specht	Woody is one	woodpecker
Klärwerk	produces sludge as a by-product	wastewater treatment plant
Lupe	can make fire using sunlight	magnifying glass / magnifier