How do I say “quirky” in German without sounding derogatory?How would one say that he has “finished” something?How do you structure a German sentence to represent the English construct “at [action]”?German word for “suspension” / “suspended harmony” (music theory)When did pathetic and pathetisch divert in meaning?Translations for Weather-DescriptionsTranslation of “to turn out”: “ausfallen”, “geraten”, “gelingen”?If “eng mit” means “closely related,” why would it be necessary to add the verb “zusammenhängen?”What is the German word for “binge”?How to “grow closer/get close to” somebody in GermanA box in packaging

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How do I say “quirky” in German without sounding derogatory?


How would one say that he has “finished” something?How do you structure a German sentence to represent the English construct “at [action]”?German word for “suspension” / “suspended harmony” (music theory)When did pathetic and pathetisch divert in meaning?Translations for Weather-DescriptionsTranslation of “to turn out”: “ausfallen”, “geraten”, “gelingen”?If “eng mit” means “closely related,” why would it be necessary to add the verb “zusammenhängen?”What is the German word for “binge”?How to “grow closer/get close to” somebody in GermanA box in packaging






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margin-bottom:0;

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18


















I've looked up a few translations of the word "quirky" as they all seem to have a bit of a negative connotation attached to them (e.g., skurril, verschroben, eigenartig, and sonderbar).



How can I convey a more positive image in German?



Example sentence:




I like her quirkiness.











share|improve this question






















  • 4





    Can you add some more context, please? help-info's "answer" is quite good, just a single sentence seems to less for an answer to distinguish meaning in context. verschroben and skuril can be used positivly - in proper context.

    – Shegit Brahm
    Sep 11 at 6:31






  • 1





    You should indeed add a definition of quirky in the sense you want it translated or expressed in German. Could a characterise a person that is quirky in the sense you mean?

    – Christian Geiselmann
    Sep 11 at 10:20












  • @help-info.de: You should leave that as an answer (and support it), not as a comment.

    – V2Blast
    Sep 13 at 10:17











  • The translations you found are no more derogatory in German than 'quirkiness' in English, really. Context here is everything and you gave none.

    – TaW
    Sep 13 at 21:50


















18


















I've looked up a few translations of the word "quirky" as they all seem to have a bit of a negative connotation attached to them (e.g., skurril, verschroben, eigenartig, and sonderbar).



How can I convey a more positive image in German?



Example sentence:




I like her quirkiness.











share|improve this question






















  • 4





    Can you add some more context, please? help-info's "answer" is quite good, just a single sentence seems to less for an answer to distinguish meaning in context. verschroben and skuril can be used positivly - in proper context.

    – Shegit Brahm
    Sep 11 at 6:31






  • 1





    You should indeed add a definition of quirky in the sense you want it translated or expressed in German. Could a characterise a person that is quirky in the sense you mean?

    – Christian Geiselmann
    Sep 11 at 10:20












  • @help-info.de: You should leave that as an answer (and support it), not as a comment.

    – V2Blast
    Sep 13 at 10:17











  • The translations you found are no more derogatory in German than 'quirkiness' in English, really. Context here is everything and you gave none.

    – TaW
    Sep 13 at 21:50














18













18









18


4






I've looked up a few translations of the word "quirky" as they all seem to have a bit of a negative connotation attached to them (e.g., skurril, verschroben, eigenartig, and sonderbar).



How can I convey a more positive image in German?



Example sentence:




I like her quirkiness.











share|improve this question
















I've looked up a few translations of the word "quirky" as they all seem to have a bit of a negative connotation attached to them (e.g., skurril, verschroben, eigenartig, and sonderbar).



How can I convey a more positive image in German?



Example sentence:




I like her quirkiness.








translation english-to-german single-word-request






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited Sep 12 at 14:03









Peter Mortensen

18612 bronze badges




18612 bronze badges










asked Sep 10 at 21:34









TheJanzapTheJanzap

1891 silver badge3 bronze badges




1891 silver badge3 bronze badges










  • 4





    Can you add some more context, please? help-info's "answer" is quite good, just a single sentence seems to less for an answer to distinguish meaning in context. verschroben and skuril can be used positivly - in proper context.

    – Shegit Brahm
    Sep 11 at 6:31






  • 1





    You should indeed add a definition of quirky in the sense you want it translated or expressed in German. Could a characterise a person that is quirky in the sense you mean?

    – Christian Geiselmann
    Sep 11 at 10:20












  • @help-info.de: You should leave that as an answer (and support it), not as a comment.

    – V2Blast
    Sep 13 at 10:17











  • The translations you found are no more derogatory in German than 'quirkiness' in English, really. Context here is everything and you gave none.

    – TaW
    Sep 13 at 21:50













  • 4





    Can you add some more context, please? help-info's "answer" is quite good, just a single sentence seems to less for an answer to distinguish meaning in context. verschroben and skuril can be used positivly - in proper context.

    – Shegit Brahm
    Sep 11 at 6:31






  • 1





    You should indeed add a definition of quirky in the sense you want it translated or expressed in German. Could a characterise a person that is quirky in the sense you mean?

    – Christian Geiselmann
    Sep 11 at 10:20












  • @help-info.de: You should leave that as an answer (and support it), not as a comment.

    – V2Blast
    Sep 13 at 10:17











  • The translations you found are no more derogatory in German than 'quirkiness' in English, really. Context here is everything and you gave none.

    – TaW
    Sep 13 at 21:50








4




4





Can you add some more context, please? help-info's "answer" is quite good, just a single sentence seems to less for an answer to distinguish meaning in context. verschroben and skuril can be used positivly - in proper context.

– Shegit Brahm
Sep 11 at 6:31





Can you add some more context, please? help-info's "answer" is quite good, just a single sentence seems to less for an answer to distinguish meaning in context. verschroben and skuril can be used positivly - in proper context.

– Shegit Brahm
Sep 11 at 6:31




1




1





You should indeed add a definition of quirky in the sense you want it translated or expressed in German. Could a characterise a person that is quirky in the sense you mean?

– Christian Geiselmann
Sep 11 at 10:20






You should indeed add a definition of quirky in the sense you want it translated or expressed in German. Could a characterise a person that is quirky in the sense you mean?

– Christian Geiselmann
Sep 11 at 10:20














@help-info.de: You should leave that as an answer (and support it), not as a comment.

– V2Blast
Sep 13 at 10:17





@help-info.de: You should leave that as an answer (and support it), not as a comment.

– V2Blast
Sep 13 at 10:17













The translations you found are no more derogatory in German than 'quirkiness' in English, really. Context here is everything and you gave none.

– TaW
Sep 13 at 21:50






The translations you found are no more derogatory in German than 'quirkiness' in English, really. Context here is everything and you gave none.

– TaW
Sep 13 at 21:50











10 Answers
10






active

oldest

votes


















30



















All languages have words that are unique and hard to translate, because most other languages don't have a perfect matching translation for it. The German word Gemütlichkeit is one of them. You can translate is as "cosiness, snugness, sociability, comfortability, warmth, friendliness, slowliness, homelikeliness, ..." but all of those words matches only parts of the meaning of Gemütlichkeit. Other German words that are hard to translate are fremdschämen, Schadenfreude, Nervensäge, Weltschmerz, Erklärungsnot, Mahlzeit!, Fernweh, Fiesling, Schönwetterfreund and some of them even are used a foreign words in English: doppelganger (from German Doppelgänger literally: double walker), kindergarten (Kindergarten = children's garden) and many others.



The adjective quirky is one of the English words that are hard to translate into German. Others are mind, awkward, doggy bag, no-brainer, serendipity, bromance.



All you can do with such words is to step away from the word-to-word translation level and enter the "meaning level". Some call it free translation. You have to analyze, what is the meaning and intention of the speaker or writer, and then you have to re-think this meaning in the other language and express this meaning and intention in the other language. If you have to express ideas, that are easy to express with one of the words discussed here in one language, you maybe have to build complete new sentences in the other language.



This is what makes translation so hard. Every language has a set of words, and this set limits the way of thinking. Other languages have different sets with different meanings. So, speakers of other languages have other limitation of how they think. (And multilingual people have less limits of thinking, because they have more possibilities to think.)



If you grow up in an environment, where being gemütlich (adjective) and Gemütlichkeit (noun) are part of your everyday life, and then you want to say: "Simon ist ein sehr gemütlicher Mensch" or "Dieses Café strahlt eine angenehme Gemütlichkeit aus." or "Ich trinke erst mal ganz gemütlich ein Bier." in an other language than German, then you will get into trouble, because the idea that is connected with Gemütlichkeit is spread over many different words in other languages, and you have to find not only the best matching word for the actual context, but you also sometimes must provide the right context, that already is built into the original word.



The concept of quirkiness does not exist in German. (It exists in variations, but not in exactly the same way as in English.) Every German translation that is sufficiently close to the original meaning has a negative connotation. To be quirky means to be out of the norm, and being out of the norm is negatively connoted in most situations.



I don't really know the English word quirky, so I have no idea how positive or negative connoted it is, but the phrase "I like her ..." (in German: "Ich mag ihr(e(n)) ...") already provides a very positive context.



So, although all nouns in this list are negative connoted in other contexts, the whole sentence still is positive:




Ich mag ihre Verschrobenheit.

Ich mag ihre Schrulligkeit.

Ich mag ihre Ticks.

Ich mag ihre Marotten.

Ich mag ihre exzentrische Art.





  • Verschrobenheit - eccentricity, crankiness


  • Schrulligkeit - crankiness


  • Ticks (plural of Tick) - quirks, spleens, tics, fads


  • Marotten (plural of Marotte) - foibles, whims, fads, quirks


  • exzentrische Art - eccentric nature, cranky nature, bizarre nature (also manner instead of nature)





share|improve this answer























  • 11





    I'd say 'quirky' combines a degree of eccentricity with some amount of cuteness or an affable nature.

    – J...
    Sep 11 at 13:43






  • 5





    I think you could drop the first and fourth paragraph to make the answer more concise.

    – TheSexyMenhir
    Sep 11 at 13:59






  • 6





    Better leave out the part about language limiting thinking. Thought is not restricted by language, only expression of thought is. It's not like we could not appreciate a person's quirkiness, the direct way to express this is just a bit awkward (at least, if trying to translate from English instead of starting the process in German).

    – Chieron
    Sep 11 at 14:40






  • 4





    @Chieron - uh, no. It's been shown by research, many times over, that thought is limited by language. That's why bilingualism is so useful, far beyond just being able to speak to more people.

    – Davor
    Sep 11 at 15:25






  • 2





    you can continue this discussion over at linguistics SE if you will, but you won't find a satisfying answer over there either, ultimately because neither term is well defined, whether in speech or thought.

    – vectory
    Sep 11 at 17:15


















18



















I would use




Ich mag ihre Eigenheiten




it is relatively neutral in meaning so it doesn't have any negative connotation.
But of course it could be too neutral for "quirky".






share|improve this answer

































    15



















    Of course, Hubert Schölnast is right about the problems of translation in general, and he also suggests a few good attempts at translating quirky.



    The first word that came to my mind though was ausgeflippt.




    Ich mag ihre Ausgeflipptheit. Ich mag ihre ausgeflippte Art.




    Used as a verb it can mean that someone lost their temper, but as an adjective it could also mean that a person is a bit out of the norm, unpredictable in a creative way, very active or of an agile mind, maybe a little hyped up. It's colloquial than what Hubert suggested.






    share|improve this answer





















    • 4





      Ausgephilippt wäre auch noch eine Variante.

      – Christian Geiselmann
      Sep 11 at 10:21






    • 8





      @christiangeiselmann Ich fürchte, mit dem Vorschlag waren meine Eltern ein paar Jahrzehnte schneller als du.

      – Philipp
      Sep 11 at 12:31











    • Du wirst ihre Erfindergabe wohl tatkräftig unterstützt haben.

      – Christian Geiselmann
      Sep 11 at 15:57











    • I don't think this really fits. In my opinion "ausgeflippt" describes a rather extrovert person, while a "quirky" one can also be introvert

      – Michael A. Schaffrath
      Sep 12 at 12:18






    • 2





      @MichaelA.Schaffrath As Hubert Schölnast points out in his answer, there’s not one translation that fits all the meanings.

      – Philipp
      Sep 12 at 13:00


















    9



















    Merriam-Webster's entry for quirky describes it as "unusual in especially an interesting or appealing way".



    So one could simply say:




    Ich mag ihre ungewöhnliche Art.




    An even better fit, because it usually has a positive connotation even in German (I think Volker Landgraf has a point with Germans disrespecting deviations from the norm, except perhaps in Berlin) would be:




    Ich mag ihre originelle Art.







    share|improve this answer



































      6



















      In a humorous context I would use ulkig.




      Ich mag ihre ulkige Art.




      Some examples from Wiktionary:




      Seine Kleidungsstücke passten farblich überhaupt nicht zusammen, das sah ulkig aus.



      Renate ist schon eine ulkige Nudel, die gratuliert keinem zum Geburtstag.




      and from Duden:




      mit der Pappnase sah er wirklich ulkig aus



      er ist ein ulkiger Mensch, Vogel







      share|improve this answer

































        5



















        As a supplement of Hubert's answer, it is a social phenomenon in German(y) that beeing too different from others is generally regarded negatively, therefore you will hardly find any word for "quirk" that has a positve or neutral connotation unless combined with something like "I like...".

        This is different from e.g. England, where it seems to be perfectly socially accepted that virtually everyone has a spleen or two.






        share|improve this answer


























        • Not sure why this was downvoted -- it rings true to my ears.

          – Peter - Reinstate Monica
          Sep 11 at 14:32






        • 2





          Everyone has a spleen (Milz), only psychopaths should have more. (spleen meaning eccentricity is old-fashioned, and othwise it tends to mean Zorn or schlechte Laune)

          – Chieron
          Sep 11 at 14:45






        • 3





          I think you are drawing German society too single-sided. There are sectors of society where some Ausgeflipptheit, some Exzentrik, some being unkonventionell or some Extravaganz, or even some Unangepasstheit, Eigenwilligkeit or Verrücktheit are well-received.

          – Christian Geiselmann
          Sep 11 at 16:00






        • 3





          Dennis Rodman, a very quirky basketball player, has been called a "Paradisvogel". Your remark about bein different is undue, it would merely shift the question to a discussion about how different different really is. By the way quirky to me just means the IE 8 quirk-mode. That's not ausgeflippt nor paradiesisch. It's not queer either (and thus no Querkopf as would fit your answer). It's just schräg, ein schräger Vogel sozusagen. Das muss man nicht mögen, aber Worte dafür gibt es reichlich. Quark reden ist dann nurnoch negativ besetzt. Wie wärs mit komisch, wirklich komisch?

          – vectory
          Sep 11 at 16:51











        • ... die Deutschen stehen ja auch in dem Ruf, keinen Humor zu kennen. Dann muss komisch doch, aus deutscher Sicht zumindest mer-kwürd-ig sein.

          – vectory
          Sep 11 at 16:52



















        1




















        Ich mag ihre unkonventionelle Art




        ... which puts an emphasis on defying convention without suggesting open rebellion. The extent of the defiance remains open to interpretation and in general the phrase suggests ingenuity, initiative, and thinking outside the box.



        Credits



        ... go to @ChristianGeiselmann who noted the positive connotation of 'unkonventionell' in one of his comments.






        share|improve this answer

































          0



















          It really depends on the context (as many others have pointed out). If you don't need to keep the same sentence structure, you could say "Ich mag, dass sie nicht 08/15 ist, das macht sie interessant!"






          share|improve this answer

































            0



















            DeepL recommends "Ich mag ihre Eigenart." in the first try. If you are not satisfied with "Eigenart", it recommends "Macken" as the first alternative - which sounds better to my ears:




            Ich mag ihre Macken.




            If you don't like "mag", the first alternative is




            Ich steh auf ihre Macken.




            which sounds even better to me, but might express a little too much sympathy :) !






            share|improve this answer

































              0



















              I would go with "eigenwillig" for "quirky" and "Eigenwilligkeit" for "quirkiness". Literally it means "with a mind of one's own". It doesn't reach into the negative as "Sturköpfigkeit", "boneheadedness" does and is more about a refusal to be pinned down into a category rather than refusing to consider changing categories.






              share|improve this answer



























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                10 Answers
                10






                active

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                10 Answers
                10






                active

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                active

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                active

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                30



















                All languages have words that are unique and hard to translate, because most other languages don't have a perfect matching translation for it. The German word Gemütlichkeit is one of them. You can translate is as "cosiness, snugness, sociability, comfortability, warmth, friendliness, slowliness, homelikeliness, ..." but all of those words matches only parts of the meaning of Gemütlichkeit. Other German words that are hard to translate are fremdschämen, Schadenfreude, Nervensäge, Weltschmerz, Erklärungsnot, Mahlzeit!, Fernweh, Fiesling, Schönwetterfreund and some of them even are used a foreign words in English: doppelganger (from German Doppelgänger literally: double walker), kindergarten (Kindergarten = children's garden) and many others.



                The adjective quirky is one of the English words that are hard to translate into German. Others are mind, awkward, doggy bag, no-brainer, serendipity, bromance.



                All you can do with such words is to step away from the word-to-word translation level and enter the "meaning level". Some call it free translation. You have to analyze, what is the meaning and intention of the speaker or writer, and then you have to re-think this meaning in the other language and express this meaning and intention in the other language. If you have to express ideas, that are easy to express with one of the words discussed here in one language, you maybe have to build complete new sentences in the other language.



                This is what makes translation so hard. Every language has a set of words, and this set limits the way of thinking. Other languages have different sets with different meanings. So, speakers of other languages have other limitation of how they think. (And multilingual people have less limits of thinking, because they have more possibilities to think.)



                If you grow up in an environment, where being gemütlich (adjective) and Gemütlichkeit (noun) are part of your everyday life, and then you want to say: "Simon ist ein sehr gemütlicher Mensch" or "Dieses Café strahlt eine angenehme Gemütlichkeit aus." or "Ich trinke erst mal ganz gemütlich ein Bier." in an other language than German, then you will get into trouble, because the idea that is connected with Gemütlichkeit is spread over many different words in other languages, and you have to find not only the best matching word for the actual context, but you also sometimes must provide the right context, that already is built into the original word.



                The concept of quirkiness does not exist in German. (It exists in variations, but not in exactly the same way as in English.) Every German translation that is sufficiently close to the original meaning has a negative connotation. To be quirky means to be out of the norm, and being out of the norm is negatively connoted in most situations.



                I don't really know the English word quirky, so I have no idea how positive or negative connoted it is, but the phrase "I like her ..." (in German: "Ich mag ihr(e(n)) ...") already provides a very positive context.



                So, although all nouns in this list are negative connoted in other contexts, the whole sentence still is positive:




                Ich mag ihre Verschrobenheit.

                Ich mag ihre Schrulligkeit.

                Ich mag ihre Ticks.

                Ich mag ihre Marotten.

                Ich mag ihre exzentrische Art.





                • Verschrobenheit - eccentricity, crankiness


                • Schrulligkeit - crankiness


                • Ticks (plural of Tick) - quirks, spleens, tics, fads


                • Marotten (plural of Marotte) - foibles, whims, fads, quirks


                • exzentrische Art - eccentric nature, cranky nature, bizarre nature (also manner instead of nature)





                share|improve this answer























                • 11





                  I'd say 'quirky' combines a degree of eccentricity with some amount of cuteness or an affable nature.

                  – J...
                  Sep 11 at 13:43






                • 5





                  I think you could drop the first and fourth paragraph to make the answer more concise.

                  – TheSexyMenhir
                  Sep 11 at 13:59






                • 6





                  Better leave out the part about language limiting thinking. Thought is not restricted by language, only expression of thought is. It's not like we could not appreciate a person's quirkiness, the direct way to express this is just a bit awkward (at least, if trying to translate from English instead of starting the process in German).

                  – Chieron
                  Sep 11 at 14:40






                • 4





                  @Chieron - uh, no. It's been shown by research, many times over, that thought is limited by language. That's why bilingualism is so useful, far beyond just being able to speak to more people.

                  – Davor
                  Sep 11 at 15:25






                • 2





                  you can continue this discussion over at linguistics SE if you will, but you won't find a satisfying answer over there either, ultimately because neither term is well defined, whether in speech or thought.

                  – vectory
                  Sep 11 at 17:15















                30



















                All languages have words that are unique and hard to translate, because most other languages don't have a perfect matching translation for it. The German word Gemütlichkeit is one of them. You can translate is as "cosiness, snugness, sociability, comfortability, warmth, friendliness, slowliness, homelikeliness, ..." but all of those words matches only parts of the meaning of Gemütlichkeit. Other German words that are hard to translate are fremdschämen, Schadenfreude, Nervensäge, Weltschmerz, Erklärungsnot, Mahlzeit!, Fernweh, Fiesling, Schönwetterfreund and some of them even are used a foreign words in English: doppelganger (from German Doppelgänger literally: double walker), kindergarten (Kindergarten = children's garden) and many others.



                The adjective quirky is one of the English words that are hard to translate into German. Others are mind, awkward, doggy bag, no-brainer, serendipity, bromance.



                All you can do with such words is to step away from the word-to-word translation level and enter the "meaning level". Some call it free translation. You have to analyze, what is the meaning and intention of the speaker or writer, and then you have to re-think this meaning in the other language and express this meaning and intention in the other language. If you have to express ideas, that are easy to express with one of the words discussed here in one language, you maybe have to build complete new sentences in the other language.



                This is what makes translation so hard. Every language has a set of words, and this set limits the way of thinking. Other languages have different sets with different meanings. So, speakers of other languages have other limitation of how they think. (And multilingual people have less limits of thinking, because they have more possibilities to think.)



                If you grow up in an environment, where being gemütlich (adjective) and Gemütlichkeit (noun) are part of your everyday life, and then you want to say: "Simon ist ein sehr gemütlicher Mensch" or "Dieses Café strahlt eine angenehme Gemütlichkeit aus." or "Ich trinke erst mal ganz gemütlich ein Bier." in an other language than German, then you will get into trouble, because the idea that is connected with Gemütlichkeit is spread over many different words in other languages, and you have to find not only the best matching word for the actual context, but you also sometimes must provide the right context, that already is built into the original word.



                The concept of quirkiness does not exist in German. (It exists in variations, but not in exactly the same way as in English.) Every German translation that is sufficiently close to the original meaning has a negative connotation. To be quirky means to be out of the norm, and being out of the norm is negatively connoted in most situations.



                I don't really know the English word quirky, so I have no idea how positive or negative connoted it is, but the phrase "I like her ..." (in German: "Ich mag ihr(e(n)) ...") already provides a very positive context.



                So, although all nouns in this list are negative connoted in other contexts, the whole sentence still is positive:




                Ich mag ihre Verschrobenheit.

                Ich mag ihre Schrulligkeit.

                Ich mag ihre Ticks.

                Ich mag ihre Marotten.

                Ich mag ihre exzentrische Art.





                • Verschrobenheit - eccentricity, crankiness


                • Schrulligkeit - crankiness


                • Ticks (plural of Tick) - quirks, spleens, tics, fads


                • Marotten (plural of Marotte) - foibles, whims, fads, quirks


                • exzentrische Art - eccentric nature, cranky nature, bizarre nature (also manner instead of nature)





                share|improve this answer























                • 11





                  I'd say 'quirky' combines a degree of eccentricity with some amount of cuteness or an affable nature.

                  – J...
                  Sep 11 at 13:43






                • 5





                  I think you could drop the first and fourth paragraph to make the answer more concise.

                  – TheSexyMenhir
                  Sep 11 at 13:59






                • 6





                  Better leave out the part about language limiting thinking. Thought is not restricted by language, only expression of thought is. It's not like we could not appreciate a person's quirkiness, the direct way to express this is just a bit awkward (at least, if trying to translate from English instead of starting the process in German).

                  – Chieron
                  Sep 11 at 14:40






                • 4





                  @Chieron - uh, no. It's been shown by research, many times over, that thought is limited by language. That's why bilingualism is so useful, far beyond just being able to speak to more people.

                  – Davor
                  Sep 11 at 15:25






                • 2





                  you can continue this discussion over at linguistics SE if you will, but you won't find a satisfying answer over there either, ultimately because neither term is well defined, whether in speech or thought.

                  – vectory
                  Sep 11 at 17:15













                30















                30











                30









                All languages have words that are unique and hard to translate, because most other languages don't have a perfect matching translation for it. The German word Gemütlichkeit is one of them. You can translate is as "cosiness, snugness, sociability, comfortability, warmth, friendliness, slowliness, homelikeliness, ..." but all of those words matches only parts of the meaning of Gemütlichkeit. Other German words that are hard to translate are fremdschämen, Schadenfreude, Nervensäge, Weltschmerz, Erklärungsnot, Mahlzeit!, Fernweh, Fiesling, Schönwetterfreund and some of them even are used a foreign words in English: doppelganger (from German Doppelgänger literally: double walker), kindergarten (Kindergarten = children's garden) and many others.



                The adjective quirky is one of the English words that are hard to translate into German. Others are mind, awkward, doggy bag, no-brainer, serendipity, bromance.



                All you can do with such words is to step away from the word-to-word translation level and enter the "meaning level". Some call it free translation. You have to analyze, what is the meaning and intention of the speaker or writer, and then you have to re-think this meaning in the other language and express this meaning and intention in the other language. If you have to express ideas, that are easy to express with one of the words discussed here in one language, you maybe have to build complete new sentences in the other language.



                This is what makes translation so hard. Every language has a set of words, and this set limits the way of thinking. Other languages have different sets with different meanings. So, speakers of other languages have other limitation of how they think. (And multilingual people have less limits of thinking, because they have more possibilities to think.)



                If you grow up in an environment, where being gemütlich (adjective) and Gemütlichkeit (noun) are part of your everyday life, and then you want to say: "Simon ist ein sehr gemütlicher Mensch" or "Dieses Café strahlt eine angenehme Gemütlichkeit aus." or "Ich trinke erst mal ganz gemütlich ein Bier." in an other language than German, then you will get into trouble, because the idea that is connected with Gemütlichkeit is spread over many different words in other languages, and you have to find not only the best matching word for the actual context, but you also sometimes must provide the right context, that already is built into the original word.



                The concept of quirkiness does not exist in German. (It exists in variations, but not in exactly the same way as in English.) Every German translation that is sufficiently close to the original meaning has a negative connotation. To be quirky means to be out of the norm, and being out of the norm is negatively connoted in most situations.



                I don't really know the English word quirky, so I have no idea how positive or negative connoted it is, but the phrase "I like her ..." (in German: "Ich mag ihr(e(n)) ...") already provides a very positive context.



                So, although all nouns in this list are negative connoted in other contexts, the whole sentence still is positive:




                Ich mag ihre Verschrobenheit.

                Ich mag ihre Schrulligkeit.

                Ich mag ihre Ticks.

                Ich mag ihre Marotten.

                Ich mag ihre exzentrische Art.





                • Verschrobenheit - eccentricity, crankiness


                • Schrulligkeit - crankiness


                • Ticks (plural of Tick) - quirks, spleens, tics, fads


                • Marotten (plural of Marotte) - foibles, whims, fads, quirks


                • exzentrische Art - eccentric nature, cranky nature, bizarre nature (also manner instead of nature)





                share|improve this answer
















                All languages have words that are unique and hard to translate, because most other languages don't have a perfect matching translation for it. The German word Gemütlichkeit is one of them. You can translate is as "cosiness, snugness, sociability, comfortability, warmth, friendliness, slowliness, homelikeliness, ..." but all of those words matches only parts of the meaning of Gemütlichkeit. Other German words that are hard to translate are fremdschämen, Schadenfreude, Nervensäge, Weltschmerz, Erklärungsnot, Mahlzeit!, Fernweh, Fiesling, Schönwetterfreund and some of them even are used a foreign words in English: doppelganger (from German Doppelgänger literally: double walker), kindergarten (Kindergarten = children's garden) and many others.



                The adjective quirky is one of the English words that are hard to translate into German. Others are mind, awkward, doggy bag, no-brainer, serendipity, bromance.



                All you can do with such words is to step away from the word-to-word translation level and enter the "meaning level". Some call it free translation. You have to analyze, what is the meaning and intention of the speaker or writer, and then you have to re-think this meaning in the other language and express this meaning and intention in the other language. If you have to express ideas, that are easy to express with one of the words discussed here in one language, you maybe have to build complete new sentences in the other language.



                This is what makes translation so hard. Every language has a set of words, and this set limits the way of thinking. Other languages have different sets with different meanings. So, speakers of other languages have other limitation of how they think. (And multilingual people have less limits of thinking, because they have more possibilities to think.)



                If you grow up in an environment, where being gemütlich (adjective) and Gemütlichkeit (noun) are part of your everyday life, and then you want to say: "Simon ist ein sehr gemütlicher Mensch" or "Dieses Café strahlt eine angenehme Gemütlichkeit aus." or "Ich trinke erst mal ganz gemütlich ein Bier." in an other language than German, then you will get into trouble, because the idea that is connected with Gemütlichkeit is spread over many different words in other languages, and you have to find not only the best matching word for the actual context, but you also sometimes must provide the right context, that already is built into the original word.



                The concept of quirkiness does not exist in German. (It exists in variations, but not in exactly the same way as in English.) Every German translation that is sufficiently close to the original meaning has a negative connotation. To be quirky means to be out of the norm, and being out of the norm is negatively connoted in most situations.



                I don't really know the English word quirky, so I have no idea how positive or negative connoted it is, but the phrase "I like her ..." (in German: "Ich mag ihr(e(n)) ...") already provides a very positive context.



                So, although all nouns in this list are negative connoted in other contexts, the whole sentence still is positive:




                Ich mag ihre Verschrobenheit.

                Ich mag ihre Schrulligkeit.

                Ich mag ihre Ticks.

                Ich mag ihre Marotten.

                Ich mag ihre exzentrische Art.





                • Verschrobenheit - eccentricity, crankiness


                • Schrulligkeit - crankiness


                • Ticks (plural of Tick) - quirks, spleens, tics, fads


                • Marotten (plural of Marotte) - foibles, whims, fads, quirks


                • exzentrische Art - eccentric nature, cranky nature, bizarre nature (also manner instead of nature)






                share|improve this answer















                share|improve this answer




                share|improve this answer








                edited Sep 13 at 21:18









                dlatikay

                6823 silver badges6 bronze badges




                6823 silver badges6 bronze badges










                answered Sep 11 at 7:00









                Hubert SchölnastHubert Schölnast

                83.7k8 gold badges124 silver badges269 bronze badges




                83.7k8 gold badges124 silver badges269 bronze badges










                • 11





                  I'd say 'quirky' combines a degree of eccentricity with some amount of cuteness or an affable nature.

                  – J...
                  Sep 11 at 13:43






                • 5





                  I think you could drop the first and fourth paragraph to make the answer more concise.

                  – TheSexyMenhir
                  Sep 11 at 13:59






                • 6





                  Better leave out the part about language limiting thinking. Thought is not restricted by language, only expression of thought is. It's not like we could not appreciate a person's quirkiness, the direct way to express this is just a bit awkward (at least, if trying to translate from English instead of starting the process in German).

                  – Chieron
                  Sep 11 at 14:40






                • 4





                  @Chieron - uh, no. It's been shown by research, many times over, that thought is limited by language. That's why bilingualism is so useful, far beyond just being able to speak to more people.

                  – Davor
                  Sep 11 at 15:25






                • 2





                  you can continue this discussion over at linguistics SE if you will, but you won't find a satisfying answer over there either, ultimately because neither term is well defined, whether in speech or thought.

                  – vectory
                  Sep 11 at 17:15












                • 11





                  I'd say 'quirky' combines a degree of eccentricity with some amount of cuteness or an affable nature.

                  – J...
                  Sep 11 at 13:43






                • 5





                  I think you could drop the first and fourth paragraph to make the answer more concise.

                  – TheSexyMenhir
                  Sep 11 at 13:59






                • 6





                  Better leave out the part about language limiting thinking. Thought is not restricted by language, only expression of thought is. It's not like we could not appreciate a person's quirkiness, the direct way to express this is just a bit awkward (at least, if trying to translate from English instead of starting the process in German).

                  – Chieron
                  Sep 11 at 14:40






                • 4





                  @Chieron - uh, no. It's been shown by research, many times over, that thought is limited by language. That's why bilingualism is so useful, far beyond just being able to speak to more people.

                  – Davor
                  Sep 11 at 15:25






                • 2





                  you can continue this discussion over at linguistics SE if you will, but you won't find a satisfying answer over there either, ultimately because neither term is well defined, whether in speech or thought.

                  – vectory
                  Sep 11 at 17:15







                11




                11





                I'd say 'quirky' combines a degree of eccentricity with some amount of cuteness or an affable nature.

                – J...
                Sep 11 at 13:43





                I'd say 'quirky' combines a degree of eccentricity with some amount of cuteness or an affable nature.

                – J...
                Sep 11 at 13:43




                5




                5





                I think you could drop the first and fourth paragraph to make the answer more concise.

                – TheSexyMenhir
                Sep 11 at 13:59





                I think you could drop the first and fourth paragraph to make the answer more concise.

                – TheSexyMenhir
                Sep 11 at 13:59




                6




                6





                Better leave out the part about language limiting thinking. Thought is not restricted by language, only expression of thought is. It's not like we could not appreciate a person's quirkiness, the direct way to express this is just a bit awkward (at least, if trying to translate from English instead of starting the process in German).

                – Chieron
                Sep 11 at 14:40





                Better leave out the part about language limiting thinking. Thought is not restricted by language, only expression of thought is. It's not like we could not appreciate a person's quirkiness, the direct way to express this is just a bit awkward (at least, if trying to translate from English instead of starting the process in German).

                – Chieron
                Sep 11 at 14:40




                4




                4





                @Chieron - uh, no. It's been shown by research, many times over, that thought is limited by language. That's why bilingualism is so useful, far beyond just being able to speak to more people.

                – Davor
                Sep 11 at 15:25





                @Chieron - uh, no. It's been shown by research, many times over, that thought is limited by language. That's why bilingualism is so useful, far beyond just being able to speak to more people.

                – Davor
                Sep 11 at 15:25




                2




                2





                you can continue this discussion over at linguistics SE if you will, but you won't find a satisfying answer over there either, ultimately because neither term is well defined, whether in speech or thought.

                – vectory
                Sep 11 at 17:15





                you can continue this discussion over at linguistics SE if you will, but you won't find a satisfying answer over there either, ultimately because neither term is well defined, whether in speech or thought.

                – vectory
                Sep 11 at 17:15













                18



















                I would use




                Ich mag ihre Eigenheiten




                it is relatively neutral in meaning so it doesn't have any negative connotation.
                But of course it could be too neutral for "quirky".






                share|improve this answer






























                  18



















                  I would use




                  Ich mag ihre Eigenheiten




                  it is relatively neutral in meaning so it doesn't have any negative connotation.
                  But of course it could be too neutral for "quirky".






                  share|improve this answer




























                    18















                    18











                    18









                    I would use




                    Ich mag ihre Eigenheiten




                    it is relatively neutral in meaning so it doesn't have any negative connotation.
                    But of course it could be too neutral for "quirky".






                    share|improve this answer














                    I would use




                    Ich mag ihre Eigenheiten




                    it is relatively neutral in meaning so it doesn't have any negative connotation.
                    But of course it could be too neutral for "quirky".







                    share|improve this answer













                    share|improve this answer




                    share|improve this answer










                    answered Sep 11 at 11:27









                    Steve MeyerSteve Meyer

                    1804 bronze badges




                    1804 bronze badges
























                        15



















                        Of course, Hubert Schölnast is right about the problems of translation in general, and he also suggests a few good attempts at translating quirky.



                        The first word that came to my mind though was ausgeflippt.




                        Ich mag ihre Ausgeflipptheit. Ich mag ihre ausgeflippte Art.




                        Used as a verb it can mean that someone lost their temper, but as an adjective it could also mean that a person is a bit out of the norm, unpredictable in a creative way, very active or of an agile mind, maybe a little hyped up. It's colloquial than what Hubert suggested.






                        share|improve this answer





















                        • 4





                          Ausgephilippt wäre auch noch eine Variante.

                          – Christian Geiselmann
                          Sep 11 at 10:21






                        • 8





                          @christiangeiselmann Ich fürchte, mit dem Vorschlag waren meine Eltern ein paar Jahrzehnte schneller als du.

                          – Philipp
                          Sep 11 at 12:31











                        • Du wirst ihre Erfindergabe wohl tatkräftig unterstützt haben.

                          – Christian Geiselmann
                          Sep 11 at 15:57











                        • I don't think this really fits. In my opinion "ausgeflippt" describes a rather extrovert person, while a "quirky" one can also be introvert

                          – Michael A. Schaffrath
                          Sep 12 at 12:18






                        • 2





                          @MichaelA.Schaffrath As Hubert Schölnast points out in his answer, there’s not one translation that fits all the meanings.

                          – Philipp
                          Sep 12 at 13:00















                        15



















                        Of course, Hubert Schölnast is right about the problems of translation in general, and he also suggests a few good attempts at translating quirky.



                        The first word that came to my mind though was ausgeflippt.




                        Ich mag ihre Ausgeflipptheit. Ich mag ihre ausgeflippte Art.




                        Used as a verb it can mean that someone lost their temper, but as an adjective it could also mean that a person is a bit out of the norm, unpredictable in a creative way, very active or of an agile mind, maybe a little hyped up. It's colloquial than what Hubert suggested.






                        share|improve this answer





















                        • 4





                          Ausgephilippt wäre auch noch eine Variante.

                          – Christian Geiselmann
                          Sep 11 at 10:21






                        • 8





                          @christiangeiselmann Ich fürchte, mit dem Vorschlag waren meine Eltern ein paar Jahrzehnte schneller als du.

                          – Philipp
                          Sep 11 at 12:31











                        • Du wirst ihre Erfindergabe wohl tatkräftig unterstützt haben.

                          – Christian Geiselmann
                          Sep 11 at 15:57











                        • I don't think this really fits. In my opinion "ausgeflippt" describes a rather extrovert person, while a "quirky" one can also be introvert

                          – Michael A. Schaffrath
                          Sep 12 at 12:18






                        • 2





                          @MichaelA.Schaffrath As Hubert Schölnast points out in his answer, there’s not one translation that fits all the meanings.

                          – Philipp
                          Sep 12 at 13:00













                        15















                        15











                        15









                        Of course, Hubert Schölnast is right about the problems of translation in general, and he also suggests a few good attempts at translating quirky.



                        The first word that came to my mind though was ausgeflippt.




                        Ich mag ihre Ausgeflipptheit. Ich mag ihre ausgeflippte Art.




                        Used as a verb it can mean that someone lost their temper, but as an adjective it could also mean that a person is a bit out of the norm, unpredictable in a creative way, very active or of an agile mind, maybe a little hyped up. It's colloquial than what Hubert suggested.






                        share|improve this answer














                        Of course, Hubert Schölnast is right about the problems of translation in general, and he also suggests a few good attempts at translating quirky.



                        The first word that came to my mind though was ausgeflippt.




                        Ich mag ihre Ausgeflipptheit. Ich mag ihre ausgeflippte Art.




                        Used as a verb it can mean that someone lost their temper, but as an adjective it could also mean that a person is a bit out of the norm, unpredictable in a creative way, very active or of an agile mind, maybe a little hyped up. It's colloquial than what Hubert suggested.







                        share|improve this answer













                        share|improve this answer




                        share|improve this answer










                        answered Sep 11 at 7:55









                        PhilippPhilipp

                        4,9832 gold badges12 silver badges40 bronze badges




                        4,9832 gold badges12 silver badges40 bronze badges










                        • 4





                          Ausgephilippt wäre auch noch eine Variante.

                          – Christian Geiselmann
                          Sep 11 at 10:21






                        • 8





                          @christiangeiselmann Ich fürchte, mit dem Vorschlag waren meine Eltern ein paar Jahrzehnte schneller als du.

                          – Philipp
                          Sep 11 at 12:31











                        • Du wirst ihre Erfindergabe wohl tatkräftig unterstützt haben.

                          – Christian Geiselmann
                          Sep 11 at 15:57











                        • I don't think this really fits. In my opinion "ausgeflippt" describes a rather extrovert person, while a "quirky" one can also be introvert

                          – Michael A. Schaffrath
                          Sep 12 at 12:18






                        • 2





                          @MichaelA.Schaffrath As Hubert Schölnast points out in his answer, there’s not one translation that fits all the meanings.

                          – Philipp
                          Sep 12 at 13:00












                        • 4





                          Ausgephilippt wäre auch noch eine Variante.

                          – Christian Geiselmann
                          Sep 11 at 10:21






                        • 8





                          @christiangeiselmann Ich fürchte, mit dem Vorschlag waren meine Eltern ein paar Jahrzehnte schneller als du.

                          – Philipp
                          Sep 11 at 12:31











                        • Du wirst ihre Erfindergabe wohl tatkräftig unterstützt haben.

                          – Christian Geiselmann
                          Sep 11 at 15:57











                        • I don't think this really fits. In my opinion "ausgeflippt" describes a rather extrovert person, while a "quirky" one can also be introvert

                          – Michael A. Schaffrath
                          Sep 12 at 12:18






                        • 2





                          @MichaelA.Schaffrath As Hubert Schölnast points out in his answer, there’s not one translation that fits all the meanings.

                          – Philipp
                          Sep 12 at 13:00







                        4




                        4





                        Ausgephilippt wäre auch noch eine Variante.

                        – Christian Geiselmann
                        Sep 11 at 10:21





                        Ausgephilippt wäre auch noch eine Variante.

                        – Christian Geiselmann
                        Sep 11 at 10:21




                        8




                        8





                        @christiangeiselmann Ich fürchte, mit dem Vorschlag waren meine Eltern ein paar Jahrzehnte schneller als du.

                        – Philipp
                        Sep 11 at 12:31





                        @christiangeiselmann Ich fürchte, mit dem Vorschlag waren meine Eltern ein paar Jahrzehnte schneller als du.

                        – Philipp
                        Sep 11 at 12:31













                        Du wirst ihre Erfindergabe wohl tatkräftig unterstützt haben.

                        – Christian Geiselmann
                        Sep 11 at 15:57





                        Du wirst ihre Erfindergabe wohl tatkräftig unterstützt haben.

                        – Christian Geiselmann
                        Sep 11 at 15:57













                        I don't think this really fits. In my opinion "ausgeflippt" describes a rather extrovert person, while a "quirky" one can also be introvert

                        – Michael A. Schaffrath
                        Sep 12 at 12:18





                        I don't think this really fits. In my opinion "ausgeflippt" describes a rather extrovert person, while a "quirky" one can also be introvert

                        – Michael A. Schaffrath
                        Sep 12 at 12:18




                        2




                        2





                        @MichaelA.Schaffrath As Hubert Schölnast points out in his answer, there’s not one translation that fits all the meanings.

                        – Philipp
                        Sep 12 at 13:00





                        @MichaelA.Schaffrath As Hubert Schölnast points out in his answer, there’s not one translation that fits all the meanings.

                        – Philipp
                        Sep 12 at 13:00











                        9



















                        Merriam-Webster's entry for quirky describes it as "unusual in especially an interesting or appealing way".



                        So one could simply say:




                        Ich mag ihre ungewöhnliche Art.




                        An even better fit, because it usually has a positive connotation even in German (I think Volker Landgraf has a point with Germans disrespecting deviations from the norm, except perhaps in Berlin) would be:




                        Ich mag ihre originelle Art.







                        share|improve this answer
































                          9



















                          Merriam-Webster's entry for quirky describes it as "unusual in especially an interesting or appealing way".



                          So one could simply say:




                          Ich mag ihre ungewöhnliche Art.




                          An even better fit, because it usually has a positive connotation even in German (I think Volker Landgraf has a point with Germans disrespecting deviations from the norm, except perhaps in Berlin) would be:




                          Ich mag ihre originelle Art.







                          share|improve this answer






























                            9















                            9











                            9









                            Merriam-Webster's entry for quirky describes it as "unusual in especially an interesting or appealing way".



                            So one could simply say:




                            Ich mag ihre ungewöhnliche Art.




                            An even better fit, because it usually has a positive connotation even in German (I think Volker Landgraf has a point with Germans disrespecting deviations from the norm, except perhaps in Berlin) would be:




                            Ich mag ihre originelle Art.







                            share|improve this answer
















                            Merriam-Webster's entry for quirky describes it as "unusual in especially an interesting or appealing way".



                            So one could simply say:




                            Ich mag ihre ungewöhnliche Art.




                            An even better fit, because it usually has a positive connotation even in German (I think Volker Landgraf has a point with Germans disrespecting deviations from the norm, except perhaps in Berlin) would be:




                            Ich mag ihre originelle Art.








                            share|improve this answer















                            share|improve this answer




                            share|improve this answer








                            edited Sep 12 at 8:40

























                            answered Sep 11 at 14:37









                            Peter - Reinstate MonicaPeter - Reinstate Monica

                            1,3525 silver badges10 bronze badges




                            1,3525 silver badges10 bronze badges
























                                6



















                                In a humorous context I would use ulkig.




                                Ich mag ihre ulkige Art.




                                Some examples from Wiktionary:




                                Seine Kleidungsstücke passten farblich überhaupt nicht zusammen, das sah ulkig aus.



                                Renate ist schon eine ulkige Nudel, die gratuliert keinem zum Geburtstag.




                                and from Duden:




                                mit der Pappnase sah er wirklich ulkig aus



                                er ist ein ulkiger Mensch, Vogel







                                share|improve this answer






























                                  6



















                                  In a humorous context I would use ulkig.




                                  Ich mag ihre ulkige Art.




                                  Some examples from Wiktionary:




                                  Seine Kleidungsstücke passten farblich überhaupt nicht zusammen, das sah ulkig aus.



                                  Renate ist schon eine ulkige Nudel, die gratuliert keinem zum Geburtstag.




                                  and from Duden:




                                  mit der Pappnase sah er wirklich ulkig aus



                                  er ist ein ulkiger Mensch, Vogel







                                  share|improve this answer




























                                    6















                                    6











                                    6









                                    In a humorous context I would use ulkig.




                                    Ich mag ihre ulkige Art.




                                    Some examples from Wiktionary:




                                    Seine Kleidungsstücke passten farblich überhaupt nicht zusammen, das sah ulkig aus.



                                    Renate ist schon eine ulkige Nudel, die gratuliert keinem zum Geburtstag.




                                    and from Duden:




                                    mit der Pappnase sah er wirklich ulkig aus



                                    er ist ein ulkiger Mensch, Vogel







                                    share|improve this answer














                                    In a humorous context I would use ulkig.




                                    Ich mag ihre ulkige Art.




                                    Some examples from Wiktionary:




                                    Seine Kleidungsstücke passten farblich überhaupt nicht zusammen, das sah ulkig aus.



                                    Renate ist schon eine ulkige Nudel, die gratuliert keinem zum Geburtstag.




                                    and from Duden:




                                    mit der Pappnase sah er wirklich ulkig aus



                                    er ist ein ulkiger Mensch, Vogel








                                    share|improve this answer













                                    share|improve this answer




                                    share|improve this answer










                                    answered Sep 12 at 8:55









                                    ge0tramge0tram

                                    611 bronze badge




                                    611 bronze badge
























                                        5



















                                        As a supplement of Hubert's answer, it is a social phenomenon in German(y) that beeing too different from others is generally regarded negatively, therefore you will hardly find any word for "quirk" that has a positve or neutral connotation unless combined with something like "I like...".

                                        This is different from e.g. England, where it seems to be perfectly socially accepted that virtually everyone has a spleen or two.






                                        share|improve this answer


























                                        • Not sure why this was downvoted -- it rings true to my ears.

                                          – Peter - Reinstate Monica
                                          Sep 11 at 14:32






                                        • 2





                                          Everyone has a spleen (Milz), only psychopaths should have more. (spleen meaning eccentricity is old-fashioned, and othwise it tends to mean Zorn or schlechte Laune)

                                          – Chieron
                                          Sep 11 at 14:45






                                        • 3





                                          I think you are drawing German society too single-sided. There are sectors of society where some Ausgeflipptheit, some Exzentrik, some being unkonventionell or some Extravaganz, or even some Unangepasstheit, Eigenwilligkeit or Verrücktheit are well-received.

                                          – Christian Geiselmann
                                          Sep 11 at 16:00






                                        • 3





                                          Dennis Rodman, a very quirky basketball player, has been called a "Paradisvogel". Your remark about bein different is undue, it would merely shift the question to a discussion about how different different really is. By the way quirky to me just means the IE 8 quirk-mode. That's not ausgeflippt nor paradiesisch. It's not queer either (and thus no Querkopf as would fit your answer). It's just schräg, ein schräger Vogel sozusagen. Das muss man nicht mögen, aber Worte dafür gibt es reichlich. Quark reden ist dann nurnoch negativ besetzt. Wie wärs mit komisch, wirklich komisch?

                                          – vectory
                                          Sep 11 at 16:51











                                        • ... die Deutschen stehen ja auch in dem Ruf, keinen Humor zu kennen. Dann muss komisch doch, aus deutscher Sicht zumindest mer-kwürd-ig sein.

                                          – vectory
                                          Sep 11 at 16:52
















                                        5



















                                        As a supplement of Hubert's answer, it is a social phenomenon in German(y) that beeing too different from others is generally regarded negatively, therefore you will hardly find any word for "quirk" that has a positve or neutral connotation unless combined with something like "I like...".

                                        This is different from e.g. England, where it seems to be perfectly socially accepted that virtually everyone has a spleen or two.






                                        share|improve this answer


























                                        • Not sure why this was downvoted -- it rings true to my ears.

                                          – Peter - Reinstate Monica
                                          Sep 11 at 14:32






                                        • 2





                                          Everyone has a spleen (Milz), only psychopaths should have more. (spleen meaning eccentricity is old-fashioned, and othwise it tends to mean Zorn or schlechte Laune)

                                          – Chieron
                                          Sep 11 at 14:45






                                        • 3





                                          I think you are drawing German society too single-sided. There are sectors of society where some Ausgeflipptheit, some Exzentrik, some being unkonventionell or some Extravaganz, or even some Unangepasstheit, Eigenwilligkeit or Verrücktheit are well-received.

                                          – Christian Geiselmann
                                          Sep 11 at 16:00






                                        • 3





                                          Dennis Rodman, a very quirky basketball player, has been called a "Paradisvogel". Your remark about bein different is undue, it would merely shift the question to a discussion about how different different really is. By the way quirky to me just means the IE 8 quirk-mode. That's not ausgeflippt nor paradiesisch. It's not queer either (and thus no Querkopf as would fit your answer). It's just schräg, ein schräger Vogel sozusagen. Das muss man nicht mögen, aber Worte dafür gibt es reichlich. Quark reden ist dann nurnoch negativ besetzt. Wie wärs mit komisch, wirklich komisch?

                                          – vectory
                                          Sep 11 at 16:51











                                        • ... die Deutschen stehen ja auch in dem Ruf, keinen Humor zu kennen. Dann muss komisch doch, aus deutscher Sicht zumindest mer-kwürd-ig sein.

                                          – vectory
                                          Sep 11 at 16:52














                                        5















                                        5











                                        5









                                        As a supplement of Hubert's answer, it is a social phenomenon in German(y) that beeing too different from others is generally regarded negatively, therefore you will hardly find any word for "quirk" that has a positve or neutral connotation unless combined with something like "I like...".

                                        This is different from e.g. England, where it seems to be perfectly socially accepted that virtually everyone has a spleen or two.






                                        share|improve this answer














                                        As a supplement of Hubert's answer, it is a social phenomenon in German(y) that beeing too different from others is generally regarded negatively, therefore you will hardly find any word for "quirk" that has a positve or neutral connotation unless combined with something like "I like...".

                                        This is different from e.g. England, where it seems to be perfectly socially accepted that virtually everyone has a spleen or two.







                                        share|improve this answer













                                        share|improve this answer




                                        share|improve this answer










                                        answered Sep 11 at 11:15









                                        Volker LandgrafVolker Landgraf

                                        5,4969 silver badges34 bronze badges




                                        5,4969 silver badges34 bronze badges















                                        • Not sure why this was downvoted -- it rings true to my ears.

                                          – Peter - Reinstate Monica
                                          Sep 11 at 14:32






                                        • 2





                                          Everyone has a spleen (Milz), only psychopaths should have more. (spleen meaning eccentricity is old-fashioned, and othwise it tends to mean Zorn or schlechte Laune)

                                          – Chieron
                                          Sep 11 at 14:45






                                        • 3





                                          I think you are drawing German society too single-sided. There are sectors of society where some Ausgeflipptheit, some Exzentrik, some being unkonventionell or some Extravaganz, or even some Unangepasstheit, Eigenwilligkeit or Verrücktheit are well-received.

                                          – Christian Geiselmann
                                          Sep 11 at 16:00






                                        • 3





                                          Dennis Rodman, a very quirky basketball player, has been called a "Paradisvogel". Your remark about bein different is undue, it would merely shift the question to a discussion about how different different really is. By the way quirky to me just means the IE 8 quirk-mode. That's not ausgeflippt nor paradiesisch. It's not queer either (and thus no Querkopf as would fit your answer). It's just schräg, ein schräger Vogel sozusagen. Das muss man nicht mögen, aber Worte dafür gibt es reichlich. Quark reden ist dann nurnoch negativ besetzt. Wie wärs mit komisch, wirklich komisch?

                                          – vectory
                                          Sep 11 at 16:51











                                        • ... die Deutschen stehen ja auch in dem Ruf, keinen Humor zu kennen. Dann muss komisch doch, aus deutscher Sicht zumindest mer-kwürd-ig sein.

                                          – vectory
                                          Sep 11 at 16:52


















                                        • Not sure why this was downvoted -- it rings true to my ears.

                                          – Peter - Reinstate Monica
                                          Sep 11 at 14:32






                                        • 2





                                          Everyone has a spleen (Milz), only psychopaths should have more. (spleen meaning eccentricity is old-fashioned, and othwise it tends to mean Zorn or schlechte Laune)

                                          – Chieron
                                          Sep 11 at 14:45






                                        • 3





                                          I think you are drawing German society too single-sided. There are sectors of society where some Ausgeflipptheit, some Exzentrik, some being unkonventionell or some Extravaganz, or even some Unangepasstheit, Eigenwilligkeit or Verrücktheit are well-received.

                                          – Christian Geiselmann
                                          Sep 11 at 16:00






                                        • 3





                                          Dennis Rodman, a very quirky basketball player, has been called a "Paradisvogel". Your remark about bein different is undue, it would merely shift the question to a discussion about how different different really is. By the way quirky to me just means the IE 8 quirk-mode. That's not ausgeflippt nor paradiesisch. It's not queer either (and thus no Querkopf as would fit your answer). It's just schräg, ein schräger Vogel sozusagen. Das muss man nicht mögen, aber Worte dafür gibt es reichlich. Quark reden ist dann nurnoch negativ besetzt. Wie wärs mit komisch, wirklich komisch?

                                          – vectory
                                          Sep 11 at 16:51











                                        • ... die Deutschen stehen ja auch in dem Ruf, keinen Humor zu kennen. Dann muss komisch doch, aus deutscher Sicht zumindest mer-kwürd-ig sein.

                                          – vectory
                                          Sep 11 at 16:52

















                                        Not sure why this was downvoted -- it rings true to my ears.

                                        – Peter - Reinstate Monica
                                        Sep 11 at 14:32





                                        Not sure why this was downvoted -- it rings true to my ears.

                                        – Peter - Reinstate Monica
                                        Sep 11 at 14:32




                                        2




                                        2





                                        Everyone has a spleen (Milz), only psychopaths should have more. (spleen meaning eccentricity is old-fashioned, and othwise it tends to mean Zorn or schlechte Laune)

                                        – Chieron
                                        Sep 11 at 14:45





                                        Everyone has a spleen (Milz), only psychopaths should have more. (spleen meaning eccentricity is old-fashioned, and othwise it tends to mean Zorn or schlechte Laune)

                                        – Chieron
                                        Sep 11 at 14:45




                                        3




                                        3





                                        I think you are drawing German society too single-sided. There are sectors of society where some Ausgeflipptheit, some Exzentrik, some being unkonventionell or some Extravaganz, or even some Unangepasstheit, Eigenwilligkeit or Verrücktheit are well-received.

                                        – Christian Geiselmann
                                        Sep 11 at 16:00





                                        I think you are drawing German society too single-sided. There are sectors of society where some Ausgeflipptheit, some Exzentrik, some being unkonventionell or some Extravaganz, or even some Unangepasstheit, Eigenwilligkeit or Verrücktheit are well-received.

                                        – Christian Geiselmann
                                        Sep 11 at 16:00




                                        3




                                        3





                                        Dennis Rodman, a very quirky basketball player, has been called a "Paradisvogel". Your remark about bein different is undue, it would merely shift the question to a discussion about how different different really is. By the way quirky to me just means the IE 8 quirk-mode. That's not ausgeflippt nor paradiesisch. It's not queer either (and thus no Querkopf as would fit your answer). It's just schräg, ein schräger Vogel sozusagen. Das muss man nicht mögen, aber Worte dafür gibt es reichlich. Quark reden ist dann nurnoch negativ besetzt. Wie wärs mit komisch, wirklich komisch?

                                        – vectory
                                        Sep 11 at 16:51





                                        Dennis Rodman, a very quirky basketball player, has been called a "Paradisvogel". Your remark about bein different is undue, it would merely shift the question to a discussion about how different different really is. By the way quirky to me just means the IE 8 quirk-mode. That's not ausgeflippt nor paradiesisch. It's not queer either (and thus no Querkopf as would fit your answer). It's just schräg, ein schräger Vogel sozusagen. Das muss man nicht mögen, aber Worte dafür gibt es reichlich. Quark reden ist dann nurnoch negativ besetzt. Wie wärs mit komisch, wirklich komisch?

                                        – vectory
                                        Sep 11 at 16:51













                                        ... die Deutschen stehen ja auch in dem Ruf, keinen Humor zu kennen. Dann muss komisch doch, aus deutscher Sicht zumindest mer-kwürd-ig sein.

                                        – vectory
                                        Sep 11 at 16:52






                                        ... die Deutschen stehen ja auch in dem Ruf, keinen Humor zu kennen. Dann muss komisch doch, aus deutscher Sicht zumindest mer-kwürd-ig sein.

                                        – vectory
                                        Sep 11 at 16:52












                                        1




















                                        Ich mag ihre unkonventionelle Art




                                        ... which puts an emphasis on defying convention without suggesting open rebellion. The extent of the defiance remains open to interpretation and in general the phrase suggests ingenuity, initiative, and thinking outside the box.



                                        Credits



                                        ... go to @ChristianGeiselmann who noted the positive connotation of 'unkonventionell' in one of his comments.






                                        share|improve this answer






























                                          1




















                                          Ich mag ihre unkonventionelle Art




                                          ... which puts an emphasis on defying convention without suggesting open rebellion. The extent of the defiance remains open to interpretation and in general the phrase suggests ingenuity, initiative, and thinking outside the box.



                                          Credits



                                          ... go to @ChristianGeiselmann who noted the positive connotation of 'unkonventionell' in one of his comments.






                                          share|improve this answer




























                                            1















                                            1











                                            1










                                            Ich mag ihre unkonventionelle Art




                                            ... which puts an emphasis on defying convention without suggesting open rebellion. The extent of the defiance remains open to interpretation and in general the phrase suggests ingenuity, initiative, and thinking outside the box.



                                            Credits



                                            ... go to @ChristianGeiselmann who noted the positive connotation of 'unkonventionell' in one of his comments.






                                            share|improve this answer















                                            Ich mag ihre unkonventionelle Art




                                            ... which puts an emphasis on defying convention without suggesting open rebellion. The extent of the defiance remains open to interpretation and in general the phrase suggests ingenuity, initiative, and thinking outside the box.



                                            Credits



                                            ... go to @ChristianGeiselmann who noted the positive connotation of 'unkonventionell' in one of his comments.







                                            share|improve this answer













                                            share|improve this answer




                                            share|improve this answer










                                            answered Oct 3 at 16:05









                                            collapsarcollapsar

                                            1,8755 silver badges10 bronze badges




                                            1,8755 silver badges10 bronze badges
























                                                0



















                                                It really depends on the context (as many others have pointed out). If you don't need to keep the same sentence structure, you could say "Ich mag, dass sie nicht 08/15 ist, das macht sie interessant!"






                                                share|improve this answer






























                                                  0



















                                                  It really depends on the context (as many others have pointed out). If you don't need to keep the same sentence structure, you could say "Ich mag, dass sie nicht 08/15 ist, das macht sie interessant!"






                                                  share|improve this answer




























                                                    0















                                                    0











                                                    0









                                                    It really depends on the context (as many others have pointed out). If you don't need to keep the same sentence structure, you could say "Ich mag, dass sie nicht 08/15 ist, das macht sie interessant!"






                                                    share|improve this answer














                                                    It really depends on the context (as many others have pointed out). If you don't need to keep the same sentence structure, you could say "Ich mag, dass sie nicht 08/15 ist, das macht sie interessant!"







                                                    share|improve this answer













                                                    share|improve this answer




                                                    share|improve this answer










                                                    answered Sep 13 at 17:32









                                                    ChrisChris

                                                    1




                                                    1
























                                                        0



















                                                        DeepL recommends "Ich mag ihre Eigenart." in the first try. If you are not satisfied with "Eigenart", it recommends "Macken" as the first alternative - which sounds better to my ears:




                                                        Ich mag ihre Macken.




                                                        If you don't like "mag", the first alternative is




                                                        Ich steh auf ihre Macken.




                                                        which sounds even better to me, but might express a little too much sympathy :) !






                                                        share|improve this answer






























                                                          0



















                                                          DeepL recommends "Ich mag ihre Eigenart." in the first try. If you are not satisfied with "Eigenart", it recommends "Macken" as the first alternative - which sounds better to my ears:




                                                          Ich mag ihre Macken.




                                                          If you don't like "mag", the first alternative is




                                                          Ich steh auf ihre Macken.




                                                          which sounds even better to me, but might express a little too much sympathy :) !






                                                          share|improve this answer




























                                                            0















                                                            0











                                                            0









                                                            DeepL recommends "Ich mag ihre Eigenart." in the first try. If you are not satisfied with "Eigenart", it recommends "Macken" as the first alternative - which sounds better to my ears:




                                                            Ich mag ihre Macken.




                                                            If you don't like "mag", the first alternative is




                                                            Ich steh auf ihre Macken.




                                                            which sounds even better to me, but might express a little too much sympathy :) !






                                                            share|improve this answer














                                                            DeepL recommends "Ich mag ihre Eigenart." in the first try. If you are not satisfied with "Eigenart", it recommends "Macken" as the first alternative - which sounds better to my ears:




                                                            Ich mag ihre Macken.




                                                            If you don't like "mag", the first alternative is




                                                            Ich steh auf ihre Macken.




                                                            which sounds even better to me, but might express a little too much sympathy :) !







                                                            share|improve this answer













                                                            share|improve this answer




                                                            share|improve this answer










                                                            answered Oct 3 at 13:17









                                                            BrockiBrocki

                                                            1




                                                            1
























                                                                0



















                                                                I would go with "eigenwillig" for "quirky" and "Eigenwilligkeit" for "quirkiness". Literally it means "with a mind of one's own". It doesn't reach into the negative as "Sturköpfigkeit", "boneheadedness" does and is more about a refusal to be pinned down into a category rather than refusing to consider changing categories.






                                                                share|improve this answer






























                                                                  0



















                                                                  I would go with "eigenwillig" for "quirky" and "Eigenwilligkeit" for "quirkiness". Literally it means "with a mind of one's own". It doesn't reach into the negative as "Sturköpfigkeit", "boneheadedness" does and is more about a refusal to be pinned down into a category rather than refusing to consider changing categories.






                                                                  share|improve this answer




























                                                                    0















                                                                    0











                                                                    0









                                                                    I would go with "eigenwillig" for "quirky" and "Eigenwilligkeit" for "quirkiness". Literally it means "with a mind of one's own". It doesn't reach into the negative as "Sturköpfigkeit", "boneheadedness" does and is more about a refusal to be pinned down into a category rather than refusing to consider changing categories.






                                                                    share|improve this answer














                                                                    I would go with "eigenwillig" for "quirky" and "Eigenwilligkeit" for "quirkiness". Literally it means "with a mind of one's own". It doesn't reach into the negative as "Sturköpfigkeit", "boneheadedness" does and is more about a refusal to be pinned down into a category rather than refusing to consider changing categories.







                                                                    share|improve this answer













                                                                    share|improve this answer




                                                                    share|improve this answer










                                                                    answered Oct 3 at 18:58







                                                                    user40118user40118






































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