"Hoarding like a hamster"? You bet the Germans do! At the start of the coronavirus outbreak, the world learned the quirky German verb "hamstern." A look at two world wars shows such hoarding has been done before.
Image: picture-alliance/Bildagentur-online/Ohde
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What Germans say for snatching, munching and flattering
At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the world picked up on the quirky colloquial German verb "hamstern" for panic-buying. Spoken like a true German: Here is a selection of odd German verbs.
Image: picture-alliance/VisualEyze/Nikky
Panic purchases
At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, people all over the world panic-bought household goods and started hoarding hand sanitizers, toilet paper, soap and canned food. Germans did too. The colloquial German verb is "hamstern." The apt imagery of a hamster greedily filling its cheeks with food meant led English-language media to quickly pick up on the quirky verb.
Image: imago images/Blaulicht News/S. Peters
Waste, fritter away
"Verplempern" — the colloquial German verb means to fritter away money, or waste time. It is commonly used, and despite being colloquial, it listed in Duden, the main dictionary of the German language. The verb, in a slightly different form but with a similar meaning, has been around since the 16th century.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Hitji
Pinch, snatch, swipe
Everybody is familiar with swiping a French fry from a friend's plate, nabbing a tantalizing freshly baked cookie, or snatching an apple from an orchard — and that's what the colloquial but widely used German verb "stibitzen" means. The exact origins of the term are unknown, but the word has reportedly been in use since the 18th century.
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Munch away
A colloquial German verb for nibbling, eating with relish, or munching away is "schnabulieren." If you know German, you will recognize the word for beak, "Schnabel" — the imagery is immediately clear.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Hoermann
Flatter
One German word paints a fitting image for flattering or fawning over someone, buttering them up, or schmoozing them: "Bauchpinseln." It literally means stroking the belly with a brush. Anything to make a good impression and get someone on your side!
Image: picture-alliance/Zoonar/R. Kneschke
Mess up, fail to remember
Germans who have their wires crossed, who have made a mistake or have simply forgotten to finish a task, often use the word "verbaseln." The colloquial verb is most popular in the northern part of the country. Whatever the case, it's all messed up!
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Mollycoddle
This word cannot be found in the German dictionary, despite being used in the north of Germany. Nonetheless, "betüddeln" is a common verb that means cosset, indulge or pamper. The swans in the boat (above), which usually live on a Hamburg inner-city lake, are a perfect example — when the cold season approaches, they are traditionally taken to their winter quarters.
Image: Reuters/F. Bimmer
Take someone for a ride
"Verarschen" is a coarse but commonly used German verb that means to fool, dupe or trick someone, to wind somebody up, take them for a ride or make fun of them. It is derived from the German noun for butt or ass: Arsch. An outraged "Du willst mich wohl verarschen" translates to "You have got to be kidding me." The above photo shows a fitting float in the March 2016 Düsseldorf Carnival parade.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Hitij
Muddle through
"Durchwurschteln" means to muddle or blunder along without any discernible plan, or to proceed ineffectually. It is the opposite of a goal-oriented plan. In an August 2020 article, Germany's "Der Spiegel" news magazine referred to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a "Durchwurschtler" — a man just muddling through.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Wüstneck
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At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in Germany, certain supermarket shelves stayed empty for weeks. Many people had panic-bought toilet paper, soap, pasta and canned food. The media picked up on the phenomenon and constantly used the colorful colloquial German word for hoarding, "hamstern," which means to store like a hamster.
The coronavirus pandemic was not the first time that Germans have panic-bought — though it's been a while.
Just over one century ago, in anticipation of World War I, people mainly bought durable food, far in excess of their needs.
This undated photo from the 1940s shows how desparate people from the cities clung to a train headed to the countryside Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Germany probably last saw panic-buying in any form in the post-war years. And unlike in the first weeks of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, when Germans stockpiled toilet paper and canned goods just to be on the safe side, survivors of WWII who lived in cities flocked by the thousands to farms in the countryside.
Desperate, they swapped jewelry, clothing and household goods for urgently needed potatoes, bacon, butter, fruit and vegetables. These excursions were called "Hamsterfahrten," or hoarding trips.
