Countdown beim großen Promibacken: Hände weg vom Gebäck

What does “Gebäck” mean in German?

The countdown ends with the show’s rhyming catchphrase: “Hände weg vom Gebäck!” — hands off the baked goods. Das Gebäck is a collective noun: the Ge- prefix bundles things into one neuter word, and backen (to bake) supplies the rest — everything baked, from cookies to fine pastry, in a single term. The rhyme of weg and Gebäck is exactly why the slogan sticks.

Ge- collectives are all over German: das Gebirge (a mountain range, from Berg), das Gebüsch (shrubbery, from Busch), das Gemüse (vegetables — originally the collective of Mus, mash). Spot the pattern once and these neuter Ge- words stop being random vocabulary and start being a system.