German Of The Day: Klassenbester

That means the best in class, the best pupil.

That’s how Germans like to see themselves. Aber das war einmal: But that was once upon a time.

Eurozone crisis in reverse as southern states scold Germany over gas – Analysis: Southern European countries were unwilling to sign up to homogenous 15% cut in gas.

A decade after its government admonished southern European states to “do their homework” of painful fiscal changes to end a sovereign debt crisis, Germany is slowly adapting to the humbling reality of being worst-in-class when it comes to reliance on Russian gas.

German Of The Day: “Schwelle zur Rezession”

That means cusp of recession, as in being on it.

Germany on cusp of recession, says ifo, after business sentiment falls – German business morale fell more than expected in July as high energy prices and impending gas shortages push Europe’s largest economy to the cusp of recession, a survey showed on Monday.

The Ifo institute said its business climax index was 88.6, its lowest level in more than two years. June had also seen an unexpected drop to a downwardly revised reading of 92.2.

German Of The Day: Knirschen

That means crunch.

And crunch here it soon will.

Implications of a German Energy Crunch (with added Supply-Chain Problems).

On Monday, utility Uniper SE, Germany’s biggest buyer of Russian gas, said it had received a letter from Russia’s state-owned Gazprom PJSC that claims force majeure—a legal declaration that exempts the company from fulfilling contractual obligations due to circumstances outside its control—to justify past and current shortfalls in gas deliveries.

German Of The Day: Fremdschämen

That means being embarrassed – for someone else.

And this particular embarrassment has less to do with a stupid song and its stupid song lyrics than it does with the fact that authorities feel the need to censor it.

Schlager louts? Row erupts over ‘sexist’ pop hit in Germany – Town festival authorities refuse to play chart-topping Layla by DJ Robin & Schürze, prompting complaints of censorship.

“People are being prescribed how they should talk, how to write, and now how to party. This prudish nannying of the politically correct bregade must stop. We are heading for an anti-fun society.”

And here you thought Germany was an anti-fun society already.

German Of The Day: Implodieren

That means to implode or implosion.

Germany’s Nuclear-Power Implosion – The eco-left eschews reliable, clean power in an energy crisis in favor of coal and hope.

Europe’s climate obsessions have led to an energy crisis, and who would have thought the Germans would choose to make it worse. That’s what happened last Thursday when the Bundestag voted to shut down the country’s remaining nuclear power plants by the end of the year.

German Of The Day: Runterfahren

That means to shut down. Or shut off. Or turn off. Or put on warm clothing this winter.

Ukraine Latest: Russian Gas Shipments to Germany Due to Stop – Russian natural gas shipments to Europe via the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany are due to stop on Monday for planned annual maintenance, and Western allies fear President Vladimir Putin will use the opportunity to cut off flows for good.

German Of The Day: Notfallplan

That means emergency plan. Another good one is Schutzschirm. That means protective shield.

But both euphemisms point to another one: Staatshilfe, meaning state support or government assistence. And all any of this means, of course, is taxpayer money. In this particular case, the government burning taxpayer money to fix a problem it created in the first place (see German dream world energy policy).

German Of The Day: Handelsbilanzdefizit

That means trade deficit.

Germany warns of ‘historic challenge’ as trade slides into deficit – Soaring energy prices and trading disruption push balance €1bn into the red for May.

Imports increased 2.7 per cent to €126.7bn from April to May while month-on-month exports fell 0.5 per cent to €125.8bn, according to data released on Monday by the federal statistical agency.

“In the past. Germany could always rely on strong exports to revive the economy and today’s numbers show the trade balance will not return as a positive element for growth for at least the next couple of years,”

German Of The Day: Rationierung

That means rationing.

German regulator hints at gas rationing priorities, Funke reports – Germany’s energy regulator has listed priority areas that would have protected access to power if there are severe gas shortfalls this winter, ranging from households and hospitals to pharmaceuticals companies and paper producers.

German Of The Day: Staatshilfe

That means state support or government assistence. And that means, of course, taxpayer money.

And this is ususally needed, as in this case, after the state and/or government burning the taxpayer money got the company that needs it into this situation in the first place (see “renewable energy”).

Germany in bailout talks with Uniper amid gas crisis – Germany’s Uniper (UN01.DE) is in talks about a possible government bailout as the financial fallout from dwindling supplies of Russian gas reverberates across Europe, sending shares in the energy company sliding.