Thoughts about language, love, and Berlin.  Since I arrived in
Germany, I’ve been thinking a lot about words. In German, there
is no word for “boyfriend” or “girlfriend”, and you refer to
your husband as “mein Mann” or “meine Frau” for a wife.
Boyfriends are “Freunde”, and girlfriends “Freundinnen.” So, how
do you know if someone is referring to their boyfriend, or just
a friend? Well, it’s pretty easy. Affection is less obvious in
German, you wouldn’t refer to someone as your friend unless you
loved them. Acquaintances, or most of the people in your life,
are simply “Bekannte.” You just don’t say that you love someone
or consider them your friend, unless it’s a deeper connection.
So the answer is, there’s no word for “boyfriend” because it
isn’t necessary. This has caused some problems that might seem
funny to an American, such as adding people on Facebook. A
Bundestag intern told me that he always feels awkward adding
friends, because they aren’t his friends, and he much prefers
Google+ because he can put p