Teufelshund
To say devil dog in German, use Teufelshund.
Teufelshund literally means devil dog. Devil Dog is a well known nickname of the United States Marines, said to come from German soldiers in the First World War.
What does it mean word for word?
Teufelshund is a compound of the word for devil and the word for dog, joined by an s.
How does it change in a sentence?
Teufelshund is a masculine noun and is written with a capital letter like every German noun.
Did you know?
- The word Teufel is an etymological relative of the English word 'deuce', which is used in card games to represent the number two.
- The word Hund is used in many German idioms to describe someone's character, such as calling a brave person a tapferer Hund, whereas in English, calling someone a 'dog' is often an insult.
- The word Teufel is a translation of the Greek diabolos, which literally means 'slanderer' or 'accuser'.
Example conversation
Julian and Hannah are looking at a scary dog in a park.
- JulianSchau dir diesen Teufelshund an!Look at that devil dog!
- HannahEr sieht wirklich sehr wild aus.He really looks very wild.
- JulianIch gehe lieber einen Bogen um ihn.I'd rather walk around him.
- HannahDas ist eine gute Idee, Julian.That is a good idea, Julian.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries Teufelshund, CC BY-SA 4.0.
