What do you call someone who loves comfort, predictability and habitually avoids all risks? In other words – a pansy? A Warmduscher!
The German word Warmduscher literally translates to “warm showerer” – someone who takes warm showers. Metaphorically speaking, this term refers to someone who prefers to live a life of comfort. A cold shower – or anything else that creates discomfort – is something that this person avoids at all costs.
A Warmduscher is, in other words, a “wimp” or a “pansy” – and the term is not a nice one. The term was made popular during the 1998 World Cup, when German comedian Harald Schmidt called German national team player Jürgen Klinsmann a Warmduscher, thereby offending the soccer player and stirring up tensions.
But in the German language, there are also plenty of other ways to call someone a wimp (or unmanly). Some examples include der Sockenschläfer (“the sock sleeper”), der Damenradfahrer (“the women’s bike rider”), der Zebrastreifenbenutzer (“the crosswalk user”), der Beckenrandschwimmer (“the edge-of-the-pool-swimmer”) and der Frauenversteher (“the women-understander”). The list of synonyms is long, so to avoid being made fun of, make sure you toughen up in front of Germans!
By Nicole Glass, German Embassy
