German Slang (in Context)

Question 1

“Alter” - translate: Dude! Is that your car?

Answer 1

“Dude!” (from “Alter Schwede” - Old Swede, used with familiarity toward a person) - Alter! Ist das dein Auto?

Question 2

“Moin” - translate: Hey, how’s it going?

Answer 2

“Hey” (from “Guten Morgen” but used as a general greeting word) - Moin, wie geht’s?

Question 3

“Geil” - translate: Man, that food was amazing!

Answer 3

lit. “Horny:” general expression of great, cool, interesting - Man, das Essen war geil! (Think of how English uses “sick” to describe something cool)

Question 4

“Irre” - translate: I found it crazy how bad their customer service was

Answer 4

“Crazy, Lunatic” (generally negative, but can be used in a positive context) - Ich fand es Irre, wie schlecht ihren Kundendienst war

Question 5

“Krass” - translate: The food here is great, I love it! But the restaurant is awful.

Answer 5

Modal marker indicating negative or positive based on context - Das Essen hier ist krass, ich liebe es! Aber das Restaurant ist krass

Question 6

“Klasse!”

Answer 6

“Great, Brilliant, Neat, Perf(ect)” -

Question 7

“Kerl”

Answer 7

“Fella, guy, dude, bloke” -

Question 8

“Jungs”

Answer 8

“Guys, dudes, lads, bros”

Question 9

“Hast du was?”

Answer 9

Is it not going well for you? A shortened version of “Geht es dir nicht gut?”

Question 10

“Ist was?”

Answer 10

Is there a problem? Is something upsetting you?

Question 11

“Ich muss dir mal was sagen”

Answer 11

I have something important to say to you.