Wie die Venusfliegenfalle ihre Beute fängt

What does “Kontakthaare” mean in German?

A botanist explains why the trap snaps: “die hat Kontakthaare in der Mitte” — it has contact hairs in the middle. German glues two plain words together: “Kontakt” (contact) plus “Haare” (hairs). The plant only closes after these hairs are touched twice, so a single nudge from wind or a raindrop will not trigger it.

Spoken line: “die hat Kontakthaare in der Mitte der Falle und sobald die zweimal berührt wurden, schnappt die zu” — “it has contact hairs in the middle of the trap, and as soon as they’re touched twice, it snaps shut.” German builds long, exact words by joining short ones. Split them to read them: - “Kontakt” (contact) + “Haare” (hairs) = “Kontakthaare” (contact hairs). - “Hand” (hand) + “Schuh” (shoe) = “Handschuh” (glove). - “Zahn” (tooth) + “Arzt” (doctor) = “Zahnarzt” (dentist). Usage notes: the joined word is one block with no space. The last part tells you what it really is (a kind of “Haare”, hairs), and the earlier part describes it. So when a German word looks unfamiliar, look for the smaller words hiding inside. “Kontakthaare” itself is a technical botany word you’re unlikely to use — keep the split-the-word trick, not the word.