But it’s working quietly in the background to protect you while you’re at work! As part of Germany’s social security system, all employers are obliged to take out occupational accident insurance, which is governed by the occupational accident insurance law ( Arbeiterunfallversicherungsgesetz). Granted, this probably won’t be a word you’ll use everyday.

Practise it and use it to impress your German friends. That’s why videos of Germans and foreigners alike trying to pronounce “ tschechisches Streichholzschächtelchen” (small, Czech matchboxes) have become something of a sensation on the internet. You’ll be relieved to hear that even native German speakers find this one hard to pronounce. Even if you can’t pronounce it, don’t be caught without it!

Officially recognised by the Duden - Germany’s pre-eminent dictionary - as the longest word in German, Kraftfahrzeug-Haftpflichtversicherung is a 36-letter, tongue-tying way of describing a rather, mundane everyday concept: motor vehicle liability insurance. Kraftfahrzeug-Haftpflichtversicherung (36) No 1 is officially recognised as the longest German word. Germany’s most famous, Guinness-record-breaking, 63-letter word ( Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragunsgesetz) was made obsolete in 2013, but here are some other hilariously long German words to tide you over. It’s perfectly understandable, then, why American writer Mark Twain quipped, “These are not words they are alphabetical processions.” The longest German word Their language’s “Lego-like” grammatical structure allows the tacking together of an inordinate number of elements, so that it’s not unusual at all to be able to describe an ultra-specific concept with a single, ferociously long word in German. The Germans are well-known for having a soft spot for long words.

German words in english dictionary