Understand what German teenagers say in the schoolyard, in chats and on social media.
If you have teenagers at home, work with young colleagues or watch German YouTube and TikTok, you will meet Jugendsprache: a mix of English words, abbreviations, borrowings from Turkish and Arabic, and German words with new meanings. Every year the publisher Langenscheidt runs a vote for the Jugendwort des Jahres, and the results are discussed in the national news.
Youth language changes quickly, and words that were cool five years ago now sound old-fashioned. At C1 the goal is understanding, not imitation: recognise the words, understand the attitude behind them, and be careful about using them yourself. An adult who says Digga in a meeting will probably get a cringe in return.
Learn every noun together with its article and plural. Use the flashcards to test yourself: the German word on the front, the meaning on the back.
| Word | Plural | English | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| krass | – | extreme / wow (positive or negative) | Krass, du hast die Prüfung mit 1,0 bestanden? |
| cringe | – | embarrassing / awkward | Das Video von meinem Vater ist so cringe. |
| lost | – | clueless / lost | In Mathe bin ich total lost. |
| sus | – | suspicious | Der neue Typ in der Gruppe ist irgendwie sus. |
| goofy | – | silly / clumsy | Mein kleiner Bruder ist so goofy. |
| random | – | random / odd | Das war ein total randomer Kommentar. |
| safe | – | definitely / for sure | Kommst du morgen? – Safe! |
| lowkey | – | a little / secretly | Ich bin lowkey müde. |
| chillig | – | relaxed | Die Party war ganz chillig. |
| geil | – | awesome (very informal) | Das Konzert war richtig geil. |
| Digga! | – | Bro! / Dude! | Digga, wo bist du? |
| Alter! | – | Dude! / Wow! | Alter, hast du das gesehen? |
| Sheesh! | – | Wow! (impressed) | Sheesh, das neue Handy ist ja teuer! |
| Wallah! | – | I swear! | Wallah, ich habe das nicht gemacht! |
| No front! | – | No offence! | No front, aber dein Outfit ist komisch. |
| Läuft bei dir! | – | You've got it going on! / Well done! | Neuer Job und neue Wohnung? Läuft bei dir! |
| Gönn dir! | – | Treat yourself! / Go for it! | Du willst noch ein Eis? Gönn dir! |
| etwas feiern | – | to really love something | Ich feier diesen Song total. |
| abhängen | – | to hang out | Wir hängen am Wochenende einfach ab. |
| die Aura | – | aura / charisma | Der Typ hat richtig viel Aura. |
| der Ehrenmann | die Ehrenmänner | a real gentleman (someone decent) | Er hat mir sein Ladekabel geliehen, Ehrenmann! |
| die Ehrenfrau | die Ehrenfrauen | a real lady (someone decent) | Sie hat für alle Pizza bestellt, echte Ehrenfrau. |
| der Bro | die Bros | bro / close friend | Das ist mein Bro aus der Schule. |
| der Babo | die Babos | boss / leader | Er denkt, er ist der Babo hier. |
| der Crush | die Crushes | crush | Sie ist sein Crush seit der siebten Klasse. |
| der Vibe | die Vibes | vibe / atmosphere | Das Café hat einen guten Vibe. |
| der Smombie | die Smombies | smartphone zombie | Überall auf der Straße laufen Smombies herum. |
Many words come from English, but German teenagers adapt them: random gets German endings (ein randomer Kommentar), and feiern (to celebrate) now also means to love something. Others come from Turkish and Arabic through multi-ethnic city neighbourhoods: Wallah (I swear), and Digga from Hamburg street language.
Recent Jugendwörter des Jahres include Babo (2013), Läuft bei dir (2014), Smombie (2015), Ehrenmann/Ehrenfrau (2018), lost (2020), cringe (2021), goofy (2023) and Aura (2024).
Tone warning: geil originally had a sexual meaning and still sounds vulgar to many older people. Use these words only with friends, never in emails, exams or at work.
1. What does „safe“ mean?
2. What does „der Vibe“ mean?
3. What does „Läuft bei dir!“ mean?
4. What does „die Ehrenfrau“ mean?
5. What does „Gönn dir!“ mean?
6. What does „der Ehrenmann“ mean?
7. Which article does „Ehrenmann“ (a real gentleman (someone decent)) take?
8. Which article does „Aura“ (aura / charisma) take?
9. Which article does „Bro“ (bro / close friend) take?
10. Which article does „Smombie“ (smartphone zombie) take?
More vocabulary: Colloquial German, Social media, Anglicisms in German.
Check any noun with the noun gender lookup, or browse the vocabulary index.
Original practice questions written by the Desi European Tales editorial team; they are not the official exam questions. Checked 1 November 2026.
Related: German vocabulary by topic · German C1 lessons · Colloquial German
