German word of the day: Kladderadatsch
Whether it’s a pile of clothes on the floor or even the downfall of a political system, this is a German word for all things messy and chaotic.
The German language is full of wonderful words that don’t have a true English translation: a personal favourite is Verschlimmbessern, which means to try and improve a situation only to end up making it worse. Der Kladderadatsch is another word which defies simple translation, meaning something like “unholy mess” or “clutter”, but also “chaos”, “collapse”, or “crash”.
The reason for this slightly strange combination of meanings is that Kladderadatsch is onomatopoeic: it describes the sound that disorganised things make. When the word is used to describe a crash, an English onomatopoeic equivalent would probably be “kerblam!” or something similar. When you’re explaining that your bedroom is a mess, however, you’re most likely instead hoping to convey the idea of clutter – not that your laundry is making a “kerblam” noise!
In a political sense, Kladderadatsch can also mean a particularly messy scandal.
Although Kladderadatsch can most likely trace its origin back to early 19th century Berlin, the word only became particularly popular following the first publication of a satirical magazine called Kladderadatsch in 1848. This magazine, published weekly from 1848 until 1944, was born out of the radical student protests of the time, which many believed were the signs of the old political system collapsing.
According to legend, the founders of the magazine - Albert Hofmann and David Kalisch - came up with the name after watching a dog jump up onto a tavern table, knocking over bottles and glasses alike. Watching the chaos before them, they recognised the parallels with their political times, and so Kladderadatsch was christened.
EXAMPLES:
Ich habe den ganzen Kladderadatsch in den Müll geschmissen.
I threw the whole mess into the rubbish
In unserer Stadt gab es deswegen einen großen Kladderadatsch
There was a big scandal in our town because of it
Seine Geschäfte endeten mit einem großen Kladderadatsch
His businesses ended in a big ‘crash!’
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The German language is full of wonderful words that don’t have a true English translation: a personal favourite is Verschlimmbessern, which means to try and improve a situation only to end up making it worse. Der Kladderadatsch is another word which defies simple translation, meaning something like “unholy mess” or “clutter”, but also “chaos”, “collapse”, or “crash”.
The reason for this slightly strange combination of meanings is that Kladderadatsch is onomatopoeic: it describes the sound that disorganised things make. When the word is used to describe a crash, an English onomatopoeic equivalent would probably be “kerblam!” or something similar. When you’re explaining that your bedroom is a mess, however, you’re most likely instead hoping to convey the idea of clutter – not that your laundry is making a “kerblam” noise!
In a political sense, Kladderadatsch can also mean a particularly messy scandal.
Although Kladderadatsch can most likely trace its origin back to early 19th century Berlin, the word only became particularly popular following the first publication of a satirical magazine called Kladderadatsch in 1848. This magazine, published weekly from 1848 until 1944, was born out of the radical student protests of the time, which many believed were the signs of the old political system collapsing.
According to legend, the founders of the magazine - Albert Hofmann and David Kalisch - came up with the name after watching a dog jump up onto a tavern table, knocking over bottles and glasses alike. Watching the chaos before them, they recognised the parallels with their political times, and so Kladderadatsch was christened.
EXAMPLES:
Ich habe den ganzen Kladderadatsch in den Müll geschmissen.
I threw the whole mess into the rubbish
In unserer Stadt gab es deswegen einen großen Kladderadatsch
There was a big scandal in our town because of it
Seine Geschäfte endeten mit einem großen Kladderadatsch
His businesses ended in a big ‘crash!’
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