(To paraphrase Psalm 18: 30.) I repent of ever looking on German as English’s poor, clunky, backward second cousin. I only thought that because I had zero feel for the language. Here are some of my favorite words:
- doch – your all purpose word to signal contradiction or resistance or concession or surprise of some kind, that I’m only just learning to use actively. You can just say “doch!” (~ “au contraire”) by itself if you disagree, or “das ist doch völlig klar!” (but that is completely clear!) if someone asks a stupid question, or “komm doch!” (come doch!) if someone says that they might not come, or “leck mich doch am Arsch!” (kiss my ass!) if someone makes you mad or if you can’t find your keys.
- scheinheilig – hypocrytical, lit. “holy-seeming”
- mangelhaft – deficient, lacking
- zauberhaft – enchanting
- bedauerlicherweise – regrettably
- dummerweise – unfortunately, annoyingly – lit. “dumbily” This is a completely standard, non-colloquial word.
- beziehungsweise – respectively, and/or
- Fürst – prince
- zwiegespalten – conflicted, lit. “divided in two”
- verzweifelt – desperate
- wahrhaftig – truly – e.g. “Er ist wahrhaftig auferstanden.” = “He is risen indeed.”
- beseitigen – eliminate (lit. I think “put aside”)
- tragfähig – sustainable.
- besänftigen – to conciliate, placate – e.g., an angry goddess.
- Hinterlist – cunning
- heilsam – salvific
- wachsam – vigilant
- pretty much any word that ends in -weise, -haft or -sam
