How-to – Short Notes on a (new) German Anglicism

Anglicisms have become an indispensable part of the German language. From ‘action film’ to ‘baby’ to ‘T-shirt’, they have enriched the German vocabulary, even if they are used incorrectly or become ‘Denglish’ (a mixture of German and English) – as in ‘handy’ (for ‘mobile phone’) or ‘oldtimer’ (for ‘vintage car’). In recent times ‘how-to’ has also become a familiar (and correctly used) term in German. No translation required! Until a few years ago, when it came to practical knowledge and coping with everyday life, the terms ‘know-how’ and ‘do it yourself’ were more likely to be used. The fact that ‘how-to’ has now become the ubiquitous magic word is shown by a poster that Radio Berlin-Brandenburg (rbb) posted on X (formerly Twitter) on 11 November 2025, under the heading: HOW TO ELECT.

On 6 November, the government in Germany collapsed – an event that rarely occurs in this country (the last time was in 1982). Now, an election has to be conjured out of thin air at a rather inopportune time of year. As the poster says, the district officers have to mobilise election helpers: In Berlin alone, 27,000 election workers are needed to ensure that the elections run smoothly. The parties have to nominate candidates, which takes time. Parties have to put up candidates, which takes time. Normally, you have six to nine months to do all this, but now everything has to be done within three months.

More and more often, Germans are coming across this eye-opening how-to in public spaces, like on covers in book shops, whether the aim is to make men more handsome or women more emancipated.

And how do I become a soldier?

It seems like how-to opens all doors for you. By the way: In Germany, how-to has almost the same phonetical sound as the german imperative `hau zu!´(=hit!). This is not meant as a call to violence, but rather to an igniting idea (that cuts through the Gordian knot) – brevity is the soul of wit!

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