Erbsenzähler
What does “Erbsenzähler” mean in English?
This refers to someone who is overly meticulous or pedantic, often nitpicking small details. The literal sense comes from the image of someone counting peas, which highlights their fussiness.
Literally “pea counter”
It's typically used as a light-hearted insult aimed at someone being annoyingly precise, similar to calling someone a 'stickler' or 'nitpicker' in English. It's not strong and is often delivered with a humorous tone.
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Related German words
Esel
1/5 · MildIt's a mild insult used to call someone a fool. Literally, it means 'donkey', which reflects a common stereotype of donkeys being foolish.
Lümmel
1/5 · MildIt's a mild insult for a cheeky or ill-mannered young person, often used in a somewhat playful way. Literally, it translates to 'rascal.'
Tölpel
1/5 · MildIt's an insult for someone who's clumsy or foolish, like calling them a simpleton. The literal translation refers to a type of bird known for its awkwardness.
Dummkopf
2/5 · CoarseIt means fool or idiot, referring to someone who is acting stupidly. The literal translation is 'stupid head.'
About this data
Swear Atlas is a source-attested, AI-curated reference — not a native-speaker-certified dictionary. Meanings and the 1–5 Burn Rating are approximate editorial assessments that vary with context, region, tone and speaker. Inclusion of a word does not constitute endorsement of its use.
The literal gloss is a short editorial translation to show word-for-word sense, not an etymological claim.
“Sounds like” is an English-friendly approximation of how the word sounds, not an authoritative pronunciation. Where shown, the romanisation is a conventional Latin-script transliteration of the original spelling.
Term attested via Viddexa SafeText (MIT). Editorial content © Swear Atlas.