Germany
6 German slang terms for approval & praise, each with its meaning, how it is pronounced and an example of it in use.
Words for saying something is good, impressive or exactly right. Nearly every language builds a large vocabulary here, and the words turn over fast — yesterday’s compliment is this year’s cringe.
noun, adjective · Informal · HAH-mer
Something outstanding: 'das ist der Hammer' is the German for 'that's amazing'. Used bare as an adjective too — 'Der Abend war hammer' — which is grammatically odd and entirely normal in speech.
+1 more sense
noun · Informal · AIR-en-man
Someone who did you a solid — held a seat, covered a round, returned the charger. Roughly 'absolute legend', and about as sincere as that English phrase, which is to say half-ironic.
+1 more sense
adjective · Informal · GYLE — rhymes with 'mile'
Great, brilliant, fantastic. The default all-purpose German word of approval, and by some distance the most-used slang adjective in the language.
+1 more sense
Use with care
phrase, interjection · Informal · GURN deer
Treat yourself; go on, you've earned it. Said to encourage someone to indulge — the second dessert, the expensive trainers, the day off.
+1 more sense
adjective, interjection · Informal · KRAHSS
Extreme, intense, out of the ordinary — and evaluatively neutral. A krasse Party and a krasser Unfall are equally krass; only tone and context tell you whether the speaker approves.
+2 more senses
adverb, adjective · Informal · FOL
Totally, really — the workhorse intensifier of German youth and casual speech: voll gut, voll nervig, voll der Stress.
+2 more senses
Germany