Play that funky music ...
I am friends with a group of girls from Düsseldorf. After having met them in Germany on a student holiday, they returned the visit to St. John's College, Oxford (where I currently study). During one of many conversations, one of the girls asked me what the equivalent of an Ohrwurm was in English. Only once it was described to me did I realise that it meant a-catchy-tune-in-the-head (literally 'ear-worm')! So if ever you have an (annoying) song in your head that you keep singing to yourself, then you can say that you have an Ohrwurm!
Sent by: Steven
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It seems German speakers in the US introduced this word there..
Steven, 'earworm' has been used in the States for at least 10 years for that phenomenon. I wonder whether that construction began in Germany or the USA! (It's evidently a recent arrival in Britain.)
I knew two German exchange students and one of them told me that she had an ear-worm and naturally I was confused until, after further explantion, I realised she meant she had a song stuck in her head!
We have the equivalent in French, ver d'oreille (also 'ear-worm').
Earworms have become a focus of scientific study: the stuck song syndrome.
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