“What German words, phrases or gestures should be avoided, so as not to offend those being spoken to?”

I believe this is an important topic for people (like myself), who are trying to learn German. You may accidentally be trying to pronounce a word like ‘rag doll’ or ‘patch’, and accidentally let slip a vulgar word that would offend your audience. “…but as Goethe said, a lack of knowledge can be a dangerous thing.”

Using yahoo’s directory , I searched for ‘German Language’. My second result of this search was About.Com - German Language , which leads to a page about German Words to Avoid . This page includes all the types of avoidable German, such as words to avoid, cursing and swearing, gestures, sexual terms, xenophobic terms (racial slurs), confusing words, and false friends. About.com even included a Glossary of German Words to Avoid , listed alphabetically.

I performed several searches for any other sites that would maturely deal with how to avoid being insulting while speaking German, but most of the other sites were juvenile about the topic. The best site, without a doubt, was German Words to Avoid.

Some examples of phrases listed here are:

Mach sie doch an! (Why don't you hit on her!)

Ein Guter Fick (A good fuck or lay)

üppig Voluptuous (Big-breasted; Ample, Abundant)

Why am I telling you this? go to Glossary of German Words to Avoid yourself, eh?

Einen Feuchten