Alles Guddes!

Best wishes! Whether it’s a birthday, wedding, New Year’s Eve or any other happy occasion, it’s all good with ‘Alles Guddes.’ This handy phrase always works. This is your day and moment! Let’s celebrate it!

Décke Gas

For anything that amazes, astounds or astonishes you. When you’re stunned, staggered or surprised. If your awe has been inspired, your breath taken away, your jaw has dropped or your heart has been stopped. This is your all-round slang phrase of choice! Wow, times ten. Cool, to the power of n. In short, an all-time favourite, which you’ll hear quite often.

Merci

In Luxembourg, as it is around the world, showing gratitude is the nuts and bolts of politeness. If you want to go one step further and thank ‘many times’, try a ‘villmools Merci!’. The French influence of the word ‘Merci’ will not have eluded you. Like many other expressions, this famous little word has found its way into the Luxembourgish language. But beware the pronunciation! Unlike the standard French way of pronouncing it, Luxembourgish-speakers put the stress on the first syllable. Meeerci!

Moien

This is the very first word to learn and use in Luxembourgish. ‘Wéi geet et?’ would be a nice addition to it, together meaning: ‘Morning! How are you?’.

Nowadays, ‘Moien’ is used throughout the day, from dawn to dusk and beyond, whereas less and less people use ‘Mëtteg’ and ‘Nowend’ for the afternoon or evening, respectively.

If you like to mix things up, ‘salut’, ‘hallo’ or ‘hey’ are perfectly acceptable alternatives. You pick! Anyway: Moien, and welcome to the world of Emoxies!

Äddi

‘Äddi’ is the counterpart to ‘Moien’ and very close to the French ‘Adieu’, even though Luxembourgers use it more casually.

For your pronunciation, just think of an Eddy you know, and you’ll be spot on! ‘Bis dann!’ (‘see you!’) or ‘Bis geschwënn!’ (‘see you soon!’) are also commonly used.

Don’t leave just yet though, there are quite a few Emoxies left for you to discover!

Immens

In Luxembourgish, ‘immens‘ is used in two ways. It either intensifies perceptions: ‘Immens gutt’! Very good!

Or it’s used as a short and popular exclamation, suggesting great appreciation, be it for the beauty you see, tastes you enjoy or sympathy you feel.

May we recommend an ‘immens’ Luxembourgish dish? Try a Gromperekichelche! It‘s ‘immens gutt’.

Mega

On some levels, like the country size for instance, the colloquial expression of ‘mega‘ just doesn’t apply.

We need to be realistic. On other levels, however, several achievements of the last few decades have been quite ‘mega’. Think of RTL, for example. Did you know it started out as a small station in Luxembourg, before becoming a leading international broadcaster? The acronym actually means ‘Radio Television Luxembourg.’

If that isn’t mega… and it’s not the only example… what does the future have in store?

Tipptopp

You certainly get the idea. Most of the time, ‘Tipptopp’ expresses a kind of pragmatic acknowledgement. Okay. The use of the word is spreading.

Non-native speakers in and around Luxembourg have adopted the term, and are fond of making Luxembourgers acknowledge their linguistic skills with yet another, ‘Tipptopp’!

Cool

Cool doesn’t need much of an introduction. Neither confined to Millennials, nor teens of any generation, cool is very much multi-functional and still widely used.

Luxembourg didn’t escape this particular phenomenon. Coolness has many faces. In a way, it’s the equivalent of ‘thumbs up’ in digital chats, but even cooler.

Go Go Go

Whether you attend the internationally renowned Night Marathon in Luxembourg-City, line the streets as the Tour de France passes through Luxembourg or cheer at a local sports event, you’ll find people in Luxembourg to be very loyal and effective supporters.

They know how to motivate each other, ensuring progress is always made. In a multicultural society such as Luxembourg, this works in different languages: Go Go Go!

Dëlpes

You may mean it, or may not. Nowadays, the Luxembourgish equivalent of ‘fool‘ usually comes with a touch of love and irony.

But beware, some may not be joking when using such a beautiful word.

Tutebatti

Not far off the ‘Dëlpes’, ‘Tutebatti’ refers to a talker or a braggart. In other words, a person not to be taken too seriously.

Another one of these delightfully quaint Luxembourgish expressions, which nowadays tend to be used with a hint of irony, but can just as easily can be employed with plain-speaking frankness.

Elo

Meaning, now. Or maybe tomorrow, after all? … As a famous phrase has it: ‘Kënns de net haut, kënns de muer‘. This means, ‘if you don’t come today, you’ll come tomorrow.’

But generally speaking, in Luxembourg, you will find hands-on, pragmatic people keen to get things done. Elo.

Gromperekichelchen

A favourite from Luxembourg’s culinary culture, and not merely for its phonetics.

For most Luxembourgers, these fried potato cakes bring back childhood memories, and of course Grand Ma’s are always the best.

There is no local fair or Schueberfouer without our tasty ‘Gromperekichelcher‘, rounded off with some delicious apple compote.

Make sure you try one, or make your friends try. And please keep trying to pronounce the word!

%#*?!

Astonished? Puzzled? Perplexed? Sometimes, one plainly and simply is left without words. Here is one option: express yourself as our comic hero Superjhemp would probably do.

Just make your feelings known by invoking this internationally standardized phrase!