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[Hazzmat]

Probably because almost every war movie puts the German on the 'evil' side and so people develop stereotypes. German sounds normal just like any other language but can also be very commanding.

[badgesareus]

Why does German sound so scary for a lot of people? I've always wondered about that.

Perhaps a part of it is the German penchant for long combination words. On a recent American TV game show, the contestant had to guess which activity Germans did wearing gloves -- the clue was Handschiessenschneeball. (Sounds like a dangerous legendary weapon from deep in a dungeon!)

But there is something in what Hazzmat says. Younger people (at least in the USA) don't get exposed much to German language. And what they see on TV isn't a grandmotherly Angela Merkel giving speeches in German, it is old clips of Hitler speeches or old war movies.

Of course, context is important. We just returned from a cruise where our table partners for one week in the main dining room were a retired German couple, and we had quite a bit of fun exchanging recipes and travel experiences, when sometimes we and they struggled to find the correct words. But it was certainly not scary listening to an elderly couple speaking German at the dinner table. At a nearby table, 8 Miami locals constantly shouted at each other and laughed loudly with no consideration for other guests; that was probably scarier!