Of course, you can always use Tram or Strassenbahn to describe Vienna’s iconic streetcars in German.

But for an Austrian German local treat, it might be more fun to simply call them what the locals often do – Bims.

Easy to remember and it rolls off the tongue, calling a tram a Bim instead will also signal to Vienna locals that you’re at least a little familiar with local lingo and Austrian German – as opposed to standard high German that a tourist from Munich or Berlin would normally sport.

Where does it come from?

No one knows for sure. But one theory is that Viennese youth started calling the city’s trams Bims sometime in the 1970s, apparently for the bim-bim-bim noise they apparently make while making their way through traffic.

This could – of course – also just be an urban legend. But either way, Bim is here to stay.