Slang words in the German language

Hi Guys

This is a Friday off-topic. So feel free to skip if you are bothered.

In my native language family (Hindi, Urdu, Bangla) there are 100s of slang words, some of which are quite disturbing . In English also, there are 100s of ways to express anger, annoyance etc. On the other hand, though German is a quite rude-sounding, assertive language, I can find only a handful of slang words(may be 10 in total, like Arschloch, Schwein,Scheiße, dumb etc.) which are regularly used by Germans. I recently had a quite bad verbal-fight with a native German, and although she was very mad with me, the worst words she could use on me were "dumb, strange" etc...laughable in my language's standerds . Germans are quite "sane" in using the language, how many of them do you know who uses words like fick, shit-head on a regular basis (I mean on every 3rd sentence)?

I do find that German, as a language, have lot of infelxibility, stiffness when it comes to expressing anger, hate or feelings (good or bad).
What do you think? compare with your own language...

I am not really sure if you understand the meaning of "slang".

Up until recently I would have agreed with you. Then someone called me an 'arschgefickte Suppenhuhn'. That sounds pretty flexible to me.

Feel free to add to my knowledge base. Anyway, appart fom the "technicallity", I hope you were able to get the point I was trying to make,

Thanks. You have added a valuable part in my arsennal .

You are referring only to swearing/cursing, that's not really the meaning of slang. German has actually lot of slang words (Kohle/Eier meaning money, Alter, Bumsen meaning to have sex / to fuck, etc, etc)

You dont live in bavaria, so your lack of knowledge might be excusable.

Gerhard Polt

Nope, you just need to keep learning the language better and you'll see that you can be very creative, even with German.

There's an old TV series on DVD that I'd recommend to improve your slagocity, called Kalkofe's Mattscheibe, that I enjoy it immensely. The presenter casts a cruel eye over other TV shows, and is very creative in the language he uses to put them down. He wound up in court after calling one tubby schlager singer a "Speck Bulette", won the case, and apologised on TV for hurting the Speck Bulette's feelings, realised how cruel it was to call him a Speck Bulette, and promised never again to call him a Speck Bulette, and never again to use the words, Speck Bulette.

FANTASTIC CHOICE!!

You have to be careful who you insult. Call a man an Arschloch or a woman a blöde Ziege, and you could be taken to court (angezeigt) for being insulting. Insulting someone here, especially a policeman, is a criminal offence.
Just Google Beleidigung (German for insult) and Strafrecht (criminal law) and you will see what I mean. One page said that you could be fined or imprisoned for a year for insulting somebody.
Therefore don't say the slang word Bulle to a policeman's face!

learn the local dialect and you find a pandoras box of imaginary expressions. I just think to use the f..k word in every sentence is not very impressive.

There is a massive selection of good, insulting slang words available in German, depending on how you happen to use them - intonation and the like. I recently called someone an Arschgeweih, which caused him to look at me and demand to know what was meant. An Arschgeweih, I informed him, is an incredibly annoying stain which, despite high hopes and dreams, didn't even make it to the level of an Arsch.

Practically anything can be turned into an insult, but this isn't the same as slang, which is the use of pet buzz / unrelated words to get a meaning across without giving information to those not 'in', rather like the cockney language used to be in London.

Isn't Arschgeweih plural ... or is is like Hose or Brille? Edit: Should have looked here first.

The best direct tranlation is up on Leo, although someone should add "Panama City License Plate".

Trampstamp : yes, I like that translation. A lot.

Legally it makes almost no difference (if you insult me in my position as a civil servant for example, my boss could sue you) wether you insult a policeman or any other person.

http://dejure.org/gesetze/StGB/185.html

Some people are just more likely to report it than others. Id also be carefull with pensioners and foreigners from western countries (who will immidiately claim it was nazi-racism). In my opinion these groups are together with civil servants of any kind the most likely to report you. It is also not limited to Germany. I wouldn't just go around and insult people, especially policeman in any other country as well.

in other countries they simply taser you

LOL!! Now I know what to say to the next German asshat who calls me a dumb cow... Thank you! That might actually be worth going to prison.

My Mother always used to say "if the hat fits, wear it", but quite honoestly M, you would be behaving worse than the said German ass hat if you were to come back with that!
Why not come up with something a bit more original, and less outright rude - how about replying with "oh, my Father used to keep cows - they really are more intelligent than SOME human beings y´know?"
- that might just take the smirk off their face!!

I know it's best to turn the other cheek, but being American, I have a hard time keeping the "stiff upper lip"... more likely a stiff middle finger. I just asked my husband to translate "sit and spin!", something we like to say to douchebags (like that guy on the plane) when displaying said finger.

Or maybe we should have just reported him to the stewardess, since insulting is illegal and this was a German airline.

Hey, why not just forget it M?
Soon you´ll be able to say that it happened "last year", and since you won´t be in Germany that much longer, sit back, have a sip of wine and laugh about it - and then FORGET IT!

haha, yeah, you're right, R. But in the meantime, I need to prepare a good comeback for if/when it happens again. Judging from my husband's reaction to the poor soup chicken, it's a really good one!