Short: Rätsel vs. Rätzel

While working on a German article I came across the word "Naturrätsel" and when looking up the meaning I usually just read the word, hear it in my head and then type it out without looking at the original text. It's a small way to do ear training and spelling practice with German. After not finding the full word on LEO, I tried the main part of the word Rätsel. (Some German words are combined together, and the main word is at the end.)


I was surprised to find the English word "monobrow" or "unibrow". First because this article is about children exploring their environment, which doesn't fit. Second, the word "Natural monobrow" is a bit comical. Can you imagine a conversation where the answer is, "Oh, yes I know that it looks too perfect, but really, this is my natural monoborow."

So what happened? I typed Rätzel instead of Rätsel. The definitions are below.

das Rätzel - monobrow/unibrow

das Rätsel - mystery/puzzle/riddle

The funny part is that when I went to tell the funny story of Rätzel vs. Rätsel to my Austrian husband, he was first confused about my pronunciation, but then we discovered that he's never heard the word Rätzel before! So one point for the German-learner :)

Moving forward to remember the difference, I think I will picture Helga (who has a Monobrow) from the cartoon "Hey Arnold" wearing a Zorro outfit (representing the Z in the word) trying to kill a rat (similar to Rät) with her sword.

Please forgive me Hey Arnold fans XD.

For those that are still thinking about the full word "Naturrätsel", it means a nature puzzle. And for fun, my husband said that "ein Rätsel der Nature" can mean "a mystery of nature".

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