Guten Tag! Are you a Katzenliebhaber (cat lover)? If so, this post about cats is for you!
Photo by Erik-Jan Leusink on Unsplash
Last summer, a TikTok video showing a man calling cats in different languages went viral. The video shows Dennis, or g.catt.eng as he is called on TikTok, trying to get various cats’ attention with different languages. None of them work, except for German. He ends each video by saying ‘German always works’.
The magical, cat-charming, German word he uses is Stardenburdenhardenbart. This word, however, is completely made up! It is vaguely German-sounding Unsinn (nonsense). But because the video shows the cats responding to it every time, people are starting to question things, such as… Sprechen alle Katzen Deutsch?! Do all cats speak German?!
You can watch the videos here:
Of course, this is just a bit of fun. But I thought it would lead us nicely onto ways you can talk about – or to – cats in German.
Die Katze
This is the ordinary, learn-it-from-a-textbook way to say cat in German.
Der Kater
Der Kater refers specifically to a male cat. It is also the German word for hangover. You can read more on this subject by clicking here!
Das Kätzchen
This is the word for kitten. It’s also a diminutive of die Katze, so even if your cat is not a kitten, but you want to talk about them affectionately, you can call them a Kätzchen. Click through to this post to learn about German diminutives.
Die Mieze
Mieze is the equivalent to kitty in German. It is more affectionate than Katze. You could even go one step further with your affection by calling your cat die Miezekatze, or das Miezekätzchen (‘kitty cat’ equivalents)!
Der Stubentiger
Some Germans call their cat a Stubentiger, which translates to ‘room tiger’ (die Stube – room/lounge; der Tiger – tiger).
Meow is miau in German.
And finally, how do you call a cat in German? If you want the equivalent to ‘here, kitty, kitty kitty’, try ‘miez miez miez’!
However, if that doesn’t work, you could always give Stardenburdenhardenbart a go.
Photo by Cyrus Chew on Unsplash
Bis bald!
Constanze
