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GERMAN LANGUAGE

German words you need to know: Pappsatt

If you can appreciate a good meal, but perhaps in all the enjoyment forget to stop and end up feeling completely stuffed, you might want to describe yourself as feeling utterly pappsatt.

Published: 20 July 2021 11:06 CEST
Updated: 20 July 2021 13:06 CEST

German words you need to know: Pappsatt

Berlin's famous currywurst will leave you feeling pappsatt. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Jörg Carstensen

Pappsatt is a colloquial adjective used to describe feeling especially stuffed after eating: ‘as full as a tick’ or ‘fit to burst’, some may say in English. Other than being a rather satisfying word to say, its derivation is intriguing. Among other definitions, the word satt refers to feeling ‘full’ and ‘sated’, so it is papp which conveys the emphasis of feeling full to the point of bursting.

Papp in specific regions translates to the word ‘mush’, while Papp- as an attributive noun (from the German Pappe) translates to ‘cardboard’. The digital German dictionary Digitales Wörterbuch der Deutschen Sprache des 20. Jahrhunderts (DWDS) notes that it is also a nursery word which German children make to imitate the sounds of eating.

On the subject of papp, there is also the phrase: nicht mehr papp sagen können (translated to something like ‘can’t say mush anymore’) which is another way to express feeling very full. German dictionary Duden notes that this is likely to come from the idea that someone’s mouth is so full they can’t even say the word papp.

Maybe it’s worth stuffing yourself at dinner, just so you can use the word pappsatt in its full glory.

QUIZ: How well do you know German food culture?

Examples:

Ich bin ganz pappsatt!

I’m completely stuffed!

Ich kann nicht mehr papp sagen!

I’ve eaten far too much!

We’re aiming to help our readers improve their German by providing useful words and translating vocabulary from some of our news stories. Did you find this article useful? Let us know.

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German word of the day: Einbilden

Why do I need to know einbilden?

Einbilden a word that you’re likely to hear coming out of your German friends’ mouths on a regular basis, and which describes a fairly common scenario.

It’s also a great excuse to practice your separable and reflexive verbs, and contains a root verb that German learners just can’t do without.

What does it mean?

Used in the reflexive form, sich einbilden (pronounced like this) has multiple shades of meaning that all relate to deluding yourself in some way.

In its most neutral use, sich etwas einbilden means to imagine something or be convinced of something that isn’t true.

When someone could have sworn they had a conversation with you that never actually took place, they may say doubtfully: “Vielleicht habe ich mir das nur eingebildet”, meaning: “Maybe I just imagined it.”

If you already know the word imagined as sich vorstellen, then it’s worth thinking of sich einbilden as vorstellen’s badly behaved brother. While vorstellen involves having some imaginative and empathetic capacity, einbilden edges towards tricking or deluding yourself.

READ ALSO: German word of the day – Vorwurf

This is partly because sich einbilden also has numerous negative connotations, and can often be used to describe people who are particularly full of themselves, smug about something, or overly convinced of their own talents.

In this case, you’d often use einbilden as a separable verb, meaning that the root (bilden) is used separately from the prefix (ein). “Er bildet sich ein…, (etwas) zu sein” is a common formation you’ll hear, that roughly translates as, “He fancies himself to be (something)”.

If someone likes to blow their own trumpet in general, the construction you’ll need is: “Sich viel auf sich einbilden”, which could roughly translate as: “To pride yourself on a lot” or “To think a lot of yourself”.

Similarly, being smug about something simply involves swapping “auf sich” to “auf etwas” in that sentence, so you get something like: “Sie bildet viel auf ihre Leistung ein.” (“She’s very smug about her performance.”)

READ ALSO: German phrase of the day – Über den Tellerrand shauen

If you want to keep it snappy, then you can always use einbilden as an adjective instead. “Du bist so eingebildet” would translate as “you’re so full of yourself”, so keep this in your arsenal if you know someone like that.

A rooster in a field

A rooster strutting in a field in Turkey. If someone thinks they’re the “cock of the walk” they’re best described in German as “eingebildet”. Photo: Photo by Hulki Okan Tabak on Unsplash

Note that when you use sich einbilden, the pronoun (sich) is in the dative case, so you’ll need to reach for mir, dir, Ihnen, etc., instead of mich, dich, and Sie.

How can I remember it?

If you need help remembering einbilden, a good place to start would be to break it down to its components and think about what it literally means.

Most German learners will have heard the verb bilden, which means to form, build or create something, before.

Adding the prefix ein turns this inwards, so that someone who is eingebildet has formed an idea internally – usually that they are the most handsome, talented and charismatic person in the world.

Use it like it like this:

Hast du dein Auto hier gelassen, oder habe ich mir das nur eingebildet?

Did you leave your car here, or did I just imagine it?

Sie bildet sich ein, die beste Mathematikerin der Welt zu sein.

She fancies herself as the best mathematician in the world.

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