{"id":3984,"date":"2019-11-10T19:24:23","date_gmt":"2019-11-10T19:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/?p=3984"},"modified":"2023-09-12T06:35:11","modified_gmt":"2023-09-12T06:35:11","slug":"the-meaning-of-geil-in-german","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/the-meaning-of-geil-in-german\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cGeil\u201d 101: What Germans REALLY Mean when they Say \u201cGEIL!\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>img#mv-trellis-img-1::before{padding-top:51.470588235294%; }img#mv-trellis-img-1{display:block;}img#mv-trellis-img-2::before{padding-top:66.470588235294%; }img#mv-trellis-img-2{display:block;}<\/style><h2><em style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Geil<\/em><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"> is one of these words in German that you absolutely need to master if you want to talk like a native. Yes, it is rather informal but it is widely used among young people all over Germany and in most of the cases, <\/span><em style=\"font-size: 16px;\">geil <\/em><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">simply means awesome\/cool\/great rather than referring to its other, somehow derogative meanings.<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We will get there, don&rsquo;t worry. Let&rsquo;s tackle the different meanings of <em>geil<\/em> one by one.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is the meaning of <em>Geil<\/em>?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Geil has the following four basic meanings:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><em>1. gro&szlig;artig, toll&nbsp; <\/em>(great, awesome, cool, etc&hellip;)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><em>2. &uuml;ppig, wuchernd <\/em>(lush, rampant)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><em>3. stark ged&uuml;ngt <\/em>(heavily fertilized)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><em>4. sexuell erregt <\/em>(sexually aroused, horny)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The funny thing is that two of them I have never even used in my whole life.<\/p>\n<p>Number 1 is by far the most common of these four basic meanings of <em>geil.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So let&rsquo;s just dive right into the subject matter and have some fun!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong><em>GEIL<\/em> in the sense of great, awesome, cool and so on&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3989 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/What-does-GEIL-mean-in-German-.jpg\" alt=\"What does GEIL mean in German?\" width=\"680\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/What-does-GEIL-mean-in-German-.jpg 680w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/What-does-GEIL-mean-in-German--300x154.jpg 300w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/What-does-GEIL-mean-in-German--561x289.jpg 561w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/What-does-GEIL-mean-in-German--364x187.jpg 364w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/What-does-GEIL-mean-in-German--608x313.jpg 608w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/What-does-GEIL-mean-in-German-.jpg\"><\/noscript><img loading=\"eager\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3989 aligncenter eager-load\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20680%20350'%3E%3Crect%20width='680'%20height='350'%20style='fill:%23e3e3e3'\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"What does GEIL mean in German?\" width=\"680\" height=\"350\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/What-does-GEIL-mean-in-German-.jpg\" id=\"mv-trellis-img-1\" data-src=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/What-does-GEIL-mean-in-German-.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/What-does-GEIL-mean-in-German-.jpg 680w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/What-does-GEIL-mean-in-German--300x154.jpg 300w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/What-does-GEIL-mean-in-German--561x289.jpg 561w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/What-does-GEIL-mean-in-German--364x187.jpg 364w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/What-does-GEIL-mean-in-German--608x313.jpg 608w\" data-svg=\"1\" data-trellis-processed=\"1\"><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Have a look at the picture above:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Was f&uuml;r ein geiles Spiel!<\/strong> (What an awesome game!)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>In this case, <em>geil<\/em> simply means gro&szlig;artig\/cool and is used as an attributive adjective.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Teenagers and young people love to use the word <em>geil<\/em> in this way. And this is by far the most commonly used <em>geil<\/em> of all the <em>geils<\/em> that we are talking about. Please have a look at the last section of this article to get some nice sample sentences, illustrating the use of <em>geil<\/em> as just discussed.<\/p>\n<p>If you use geil in this way, you should know that it is<strong> pretty informal<\/strong>. You can definitely use this with your friends and maybe also with your family (maybe not if you are 12 and are talking to your mother, though) but it wouldn&rsquo;t necessarily be the most suitable word in your toolshed when talking to your teacher or your 85-year old neighbor.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What <em>geil<\/em> has to do with agriculture&hellip;<\/strong><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_4028\" style=\"width: 690px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4028\" class=\"wp-image-4028 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Rampant-plant-as-example-of-geil.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"680\" height=\"452\" srcset=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Rampant-plant-as-example-of-geil.jpeg 680w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Rampant-plant-as-example-of-geil-300x199.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Rampant-plant-as-example-of-geil-180x120.jpeg 180w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Rampant-plant-as-example-of-geil-561x373.jpeg 561w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Rampant-plant-as-example-of-geil-364x242.jpeg 364w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Rampant-plant-as-example-of-geil-608x404.jpeg 608w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Rampant-plant-as-example-of-geil.jpeg\"><\/noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4028\" class=\"wp-image-4028 size-full lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Rampant-plant-as-example-of-geil.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"680\" height=\"452\" srcset=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Rampant-plant-as-example-of-geil.jpeg 680w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Rampant-plant-as-example-of-geil-300x199.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Rampant-plant-as-example-of-geil-180x120.jpeg 180w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Rampant-plant-as-example-of-geil-561x373.jpeg 561w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Rampant-plant-as-example-of-geil-364x242.jpeg 364w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Rampant-plant-as-example-of-geil-608x404.jpeg 608w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Rampant-plant-as-example-of-geil.jpeg\" id=\"mv-trellis-img-2\" data-trellis-processed=\"1\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-4028\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>What the&hellip;.? What does this plant have to do with the German word &ldquo;geil&rdquo;? Well, read on to find out!<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Well, meaning two and three of <em>geil<\/em> are <strong>closely tied to agriculture<\/strong>. And this is maybe also why I have never even heard about this usage of geil. But apparently, <em>geil<\/em> can be used to say <strong>&ldquo;rampant plants.&rdquo;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>So the plants that you see you in the picture above are literally <em>geile Pflanzen<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>On top of that, it is apparently also possible to use <em>geil<\/em> to get the meaning of <strong>&ldquo;heavily fertilized&rdquo;<\/strong> across. Duden, one of the most popular German dictionaries, illustrates this with the following sample sentence:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Der Boden ist feucht und geil.<\/strong> (The soil is wet and heavily fertilized.)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It seems that if <em>geil<\/em> is used in this sense, then it usually functions as an adjective to describe <strong>soil<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Ok, this is the one you have been waiting for&hellip;<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Yes, it is true that <em>geil<\/em> <strong>can also mean horny<\/strong>. But there is a but, a biiiiig BUT&hellip;(but with one t, just to make that clear).<\/p>\n<p>To tell you the truth, dear Linguaholics, <strong><em>geil<\/em>&nbsp;is rarely used in that way<\/strong>. So whenever you are dropping a <em>geil<\/em>, Germans won&rsquo;t immediately think that you use it to express your &ldquo;hornyness&rdquo; (does that word even exist?; well, if it doesn&rsquo;t, let&rsquo;s call it a neologism), unless&hellip;<\/p>\n<p>&hellip;the context in which you say that kinda supports the fact that it should mean just that.<\/p>\n<p>What is that supposed to mean?<\/p>\n<p>Well, if you will ever hear someone saying <em>geil<\/em> in some xxx-rated material, you can be pretty damn sure that it is meant in that way&hellip;<\/p>\n<p>In everyday speech, though, <strong><em>geil<\/em> signifying &ldquo;horny&rdquo; is rarely used.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>You are just so&hellip;HOT or well&hellip;<em>GEIL<\/em>!<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Well, I said that there are four basic meanings of geil. And that is true. But let me add another one at this point because I feel that <em>geil<\/em> is very often used in that way, too.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In which way?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>To express how hot a guy or a woman is (looks like).&nbsp;<\/strong>It is very common among young people to refer to a good-looking woman or man as <em>geil<\/em>, therefore HOT.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Lennox: Kennst du Sabine? Die ist voll geil.&nbsp;<\/strong> (Do you know Sabine? She&rsquo;s hot as hell)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Me: Sorry, die kenn ich nicht.<\/strong> (I am sorry, I don&rsquo;t know her. )<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong><em>Geil<\/em>: Wrapping it all up&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>There you have it. All the different meanings of <em>geil<\/em> that you could ever wish for. Well almost. But first things first.<\/p>\n<p>Let&rsquo;s have a look at our arsenal of <em>geil<\/em> vocabulary so far (in terms of what <em>geil<\/em> can signify):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>good<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>great!<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>cool!<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>awesome!<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>nice!<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>horny<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>sexy<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>hot<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>rampant (e.g. plants)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>heavily fertilized (soil)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>And now, Ladies and Gentleman, as a bonus, we will have a look at some more<em> geil<\/em> words. This time around <em>geil<\/em> will <strong>function as a suffix&nbsp;<\/strong>(<em>geil<\/em> will be slapped at the end of another word to create yet another new awesome <em>geil<\/em> word).<\/p>\n<p>Drop one of these the next time you are having a discussion in German and people will be impressed (or maybe shocked&hellip;).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How to take <em>Geil<\/em> to the NEXT LEVEL!<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Geil is already a pretty strong statement but you can take this even further by slapping an <em>ober<\/em>&nbsp;in front of <em>geil<\/em>, and you will have something even more <em>geil<\/em> than <em>geil<\/em>:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Jason: Hast du die Serie Peaky Blinders gesehen, <a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/7-ways-to-say-friend-in-german\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alter<\/a>? <\/strong><\/em>(Have you seen the TV Series Peaky Blinders, bro?)<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Me: Ja, die ist echt obergeil!<\/em>&nbsp;<\/strong>(Yes, this series ROCKS!)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>You think that&rsquo;s all? Not so fast! Slap an<em> affen<\/em> between <em>ober<\/em> &amp; <em>geil<\/em> and you can take this even further:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Tina: Wie war dein Urlaub in Vietnam? <\/strong><\/em>(How was your vacation in Vietnam?)<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Me: War echt oberaffengeil!<\/em>&nbsp;<\/strong>(It has been abso-*******-lutely amazing!)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So that&rsquo;s it? ALMOST! Instead of <em>ober&rdquo; <\/em>you can also use &ldquo;end&rdquo; to get the same meaning as <em>obergeil<\/em> across:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Kevin: Kennst du das Forum 4chan? <\/strong><\/em>(Do you know the forum 4chan?)<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>James: Ja, das ist echt endgeil!&nbsp;<\/strong><\/em>(Yes. It is the bomb. )<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So, there you go. We just learned that <em>geil<\/em> can also <strong>function as a suffix<\/strong> and can, therefore, be slapped at the end of some words to intensify their meaning.<\/p>\n<p>Now, have a look at the picture above (the one with the pig inside). This is yet another word that you can construct with <em>geil.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>So what does<\/em> <em>saugeil mean? It simply means that something is <strong>extremely (very) geil.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>You gotta love <strong>the flexibility of the German language<\/strong>, right? Truly one of a kind!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Example Sentences using <em>GEIL<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Richtig geil, dieses Spiel. Vor allem der Multiplayer-Modus macht richtig Spa&szlig;!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Translation:<\/span> This game is so cool!. Especially the multiplayer mode rocks!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Ist das Kleid neu? Sieht richtig geil aus!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Translation:<\/span> Is that a new dress? Looks so nice!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Lennie: Ich habe gestern im Lotto gewonnen,&nbsp; Lennie!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Me: Wie geil ist das denn!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Translation:<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Lennie: I won the lottery yesterday, Lennie!<\/p>\n<p>Me: Just how awesome is that, man!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Die Party gestern bei Kim war richtig geil! Ich kam erst um f&uuml;nf Uhr morgens nach Hause.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Translation: <\/span>The party yesterday at Kim&rsquo;s place was really awesome! I didn&rsquo;t come home until five o&rsquo;clock in the morning.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Me: Kennst du Shu Qi?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Bernd: Ja! Noch selten so ne geile Frau gesehen!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Translation:<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Me: Do you know Shu Qi?<\/p>\n<p>Bernd: Yes! What a hotty!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Ich find die Serie Breaking Bad richtig geil! Vor allem Bryan Cranston in der Rolle von Heisenberg!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Translation:<\/span> The Breaking Bad series is <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/16-ways-to-say-amazing-in-german\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">amazing<\/a><\/strong>! Especially Bryan Cranston in the role of Heisenberg!<br>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nothing but the TRUTH about the German word GEIL!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable-in-feed":false,"article-schema-type":"","disable-critical-css":false,"_convertkit_action_broadcast_export":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-german"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3984"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3984\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27345,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3984\/revisions\/27345"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}