Why do I need to know Erbsenzähler?
In life we tend to encounter all kinds of personality types - from organised to chaotic, easy going to uptight.
Erbsenzähler is one of those wonderful German words there isn't really a perfect translation for in English, but it definitely describes a personality type you meet fairly often in the German-speaking world.
What does it mean?
Der Erbsenzähler (pronounced like this) literally means ‘pea counter’ and denotes a pedantic person obsessed with precision and fine details.
That colleague at work who insists on changing the font size on all your presentations? He's quite the pea counter. The Deutsche Bahn worker who tells you off for accidentally sitting in the seat next to the one you reserved? The very definition of an Erbsenzähler.
A good English equivalent is ‘nitpicker’, which itself refers to the act of picking nits out of hair. In other words, these are people who obsess about the little things.
That said, the original meaning of the word was slightly different. Until the 20th century, the term Erbsenzähler was primarily used to describe someone who was stingy and thrifty, and it can still be used that way today.
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Think of the English term 'bean counter', which refers to people who's job it is to manage the finances in a corporate or government setting. These people are generally known for holding onto the purse strings tightly and making sure every single bean is in place, if you will.
If you do find yourself encountering Erbsenzähler in your day to day life, you may be comforted to know that this personality type is by no means a new thing. In fact, the 'pea counter' insult has been in use in the German language since at least the 1600s.
And if you ever want to describe the general phenomenon of pedantry, you can always turn Erbsenzähler into an abstract noun and rant and rave to friends about die Erbsenzählerei.
Use it like this:
Der Mann ist ein echte Erbsenzähler und interessiert sich nur für die Kleinigkeiten.
The man is a real nitpicker and is only interested in small details.
Erbsenzähler sind sehr anspruchsvoll.
Pedants are very demanding.
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