• crispy_kilt@feddit.de
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      6 months ago

      Flugabwehrkanonenpanzerkampfwagen Gepard

      It literally means “aerial-defense-cannon-armoured-battle-vehicle cheetah”. Not shorter in English.

      German doesn’t have longer words, it’s just that you can stick together existing words to make up new words. For example, “the front door of the house” in German is “Haustür”, literally “housedoor”. It goes on logically, like “the handle of the front door of the house” is Haustürklinke, literally housedoorhandle. This way it is possible to make up arbitrarily long words which becime ever more specific, just without a tonne of “of” in between.