German word of the day: Missgeschick

No, this isn’t a new accident-prone character from the Mr Men books. It’s the German word you need when you’ve spilt coffee, missed a train or spent 20 minutes standing in the wrong queue.

From minor mishaps to full-blown disasters, here’s how to choose the right word in German for the accident you’re describing.

Das Missgeschick is a noun describing a minor mishap or unfortunate slip-up, generally something which is embarrassing or inconvenient, but usually not disastrous.

In German, the prefix Miss- usually signals that something has gone wrong. For example, the verb missverstehen means “to misunderstand” and missbrauchen means “to misuse”.

Das Geschick, on the other hand, generally refers to skill or dexterity, as in handwerkliches Geschick (craftsmanship) or ein Geschick für Sprachen (an aptitude for languages). In more elevated language, it can also mean fate or destiny.

Who doesn’t suffer from the occasional mishap? Missgeschick is a handy word to have in your vocabulary whenever you select the wrong ticket on a machine, put salt in your coffee or confidently join the wrong queue.

It acknowledges an error without suggesting that emergency services should be called.

It can also be helpful to know the difference between ein Missgeschick, ein Unfall and ein Unglück.

Ein Unfall is a sudden physical incident, often involving injury or damage. It readily forms compounds such as Autounfall (car accident), Verkehrsunfall (traffic accident) and Arbeitsunfall (workplace accident).

Ein Unglück is weightier still. The term describes a serious misfortune, tragedy or disaster such as a Zugunglück (train disaster), Grubenunglück (mining disaster) and Schiffsunglück (shipping disaster).

Durch ein dummes Missgeschick habe ich meine Schlüssel im Auto eingeschlossen.

Through a silly mishap, I managed to lock my keys in the car.

Ein Missgeschick in der Küche setzte den Rauchmelder in Gang.