German word of the day: Die Erklärungsnot

Let’s start this with an example: You and your friend are in an argument, both of you have different points to make.

You just presented a killer argument and asked a follow up question. Your friend is now starting to sweat, struggling to find the right words to answer that question.

Congratulations, you just brought your friend into a situation of Erklärungsnot.

Erklärungsnot is a combination of the words Erklärung (“explanation”) and Not (in this case best translated with “need.”)

Hence it means the (urgent) need to explain something. That can be either yourself or a situation. It’s the feeling of being pressured into presenting a situation, as you want it to be. As for this explanation, it can also mean to struggle explaining something.

Erklärungsnot therefore can be a situation that is good for you if you win the argument, but you might want to avoid getting into Erklärungsnot yourself.

It seems like this woman has found herself in an Erklärungsnot. Photo: depositphotos

Example:

Als ich sie gefragt habe, wo sie gestern Nacht war, ist sie in Erklärungsnot geraten.

When I asked her where she was last night, she struggled to explain.

Do you have a favourite word you'd like to see us cover? If so, please email our editor Rachel Stern with your suggestion.