Thelocal.de reports that this was not a difficult list to compile – Germans have literally hundreds of words that don't exist in other languages.
That's partly because of their wonderfully-logical habit of attaching words to one another like stickle-bricks - to make new, unwieldy creatures like Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän - but also because Germans just have very peculiar, precise notions that they prefer to describe in a single noun.
For instance, who knew that a husband who stays out too late might need a particular word to describe the gifts he needs appease the disgruntled wife who threw his dinner away?
(Cue the Herbert Hisel clip, please)
http://www.thelocal.de/gallery/culture/1509/
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Treppenwitz
Another wonderful German word, for a bittersweet situation familiar to everyone on the planet. The Treppenwitz, literally "stair-joke," is the brilliant comeback you think of when you're already out of the door and halfway down the stairs. "And you, sir, are a prick! Ach! If only I'd thought of that at the time!"
Photo: DPA
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