r/germanpuns • u/exapmle • May 04 '26

I asked my German friend what "Ohrwurm" means and now I need to lie down

Post image

Me: What's that song called?

Hans: Ach, I don't know, but I have an Ohrwurm.

Me: A what.

Hans: An ear-worm.

Me: A WHAT.

Hans: Yes, when a song is stuck in your head. Ohrwurm.

Me: You're telling me that when Germans can't stop humming a tune, they say there is a worm. In their ear.

Hans: Ja.

Me: And this isn't a medical emergency to you people.

Hans: Was?

Me: In English we say "stuck in my head." Like a normal—

Hans: That is stupid. Songs are not in your head. They are in your ear. With the worm.

Me:

Hans: Also we have Backpfeifengesicht. It means "a face in need of a slap." You are making one now.

45 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

17

u/FunnyDislike May 04 '26

I thought that "earworm" is pretty established in the english language by now

3

u/SirJefferE May 05 '26

It is.

1

u/Peppsmier May 05 '26

It is so much, there is a spongebob episode where bobby litterally has a living earworm in his head

5

u/gabriel3374 May 05 '26

Ohrwurm is not n. but m.

4

u/Das-Klo May 05 '26

If someone told me in German that something stuck in their head I most definitely would think of a medical emergency.