Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft
Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft is a compound word that serves as an example of the virtually unlimited compounding of nouns that is possible in many Germanic languages. According to the 1996 "Guinness Book of World Records", it is the longest word published in the German language.
List of terms used for Germans
The term Marmeladinger originated in the trenches of World War I. It is derived from the German word "Marmelade", which is a fruit preserve. While Austrian infantry rations included butter and lard as spread, German troops had to make do with cheaper "Marmelade" as ersatz. They disdainfully called it "Heldenbutter" "hero's butter" or "Hindenburgfett". This earned them ridicule from their Austrian allies who would call them "Marmeladebrüder" (jam brothers) or "Marmeladinger" (-"inger" being an Austrian derivational suffix describing a person through a characteristic item or action). Germans would conversely call Austrians "Kamerad Schnürschuh" "comrade lace-up shoe" because the Austrian infantry boots used laces while the German boots did not. This term has survived, but it is rarely used.