# Question for German-speakers

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-german-speakers/749984>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [March 23, 2016, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-german-speakers/749984 "2016-03-23T22:45:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-german-speakers/749984/1 "2016-03-23T22:45:47Z")

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Back when I first started learning German, my teacher said there was a particular colloquialism for songs like “The Pina Colada Song,” where you might hear it for the first time in a cafe or something and think to yourself “Wow, that’s kinda catchy and cute,” and then you loathe and despise the thing after you’ve heard it for the umpteenth time in less than a week.

For the life of me, I can’t remember the word after 40+ years. Ring a bell with anyone?

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**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-german-speakers/749984/2 "2016-03-23T22:57:39Z")

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[Ohrwurm?](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Ohrwurm)

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**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-german-speakers/749984/3 "2016-03-24T01:40:30Z")

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No, don’t think so.

To the best of my recollection, it was a (something) _Lied_, the latter being the word for “song.”

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**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-german-speakers/749984/4 "2016-03-24T08:36:35Z")

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I would also have gone with Ohrwurm and looking at synonyms did not help either (some of them are synonyms for earwig):

Synonyme:

1. Ohrenwurm, Ohrenkneifer, Ohrenpitscher, Zangenkäfer, Ohrkäfer, Ohrhöhler, Ohrling, Öhrling, Gaffeltange, in der Schweiz: Ohrenmittel, Mittel 2. Schmeichler, Kriecher 3. eingängige Melodie, eingängiges Lied, Schlager, Hit 4. Kopfhörer 6. Ohrenzwang

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**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-german-speakers/749984/5 "2016-03-24T10:44:21Z")

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I hereby neologize _Dauernlied_, which is a song that persists.

But I don’t know of any actual existing word for that.

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**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-german-speakers/749984/6 "2016-03-24T12:17:40Z")

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> [@Miller](#):
>
> [Ohrwurm?](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Ohrwurm)

So, apparently I’m retarded. I’ve enjoyed the YouTube covers done by a duo called [**Ohrwurm**](http://youtu.be/JlhX4wZAGbU) for years. I never realized what the name meant.:smack: