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Kabuff

Hanna Grimm / hwSeptember 11, 2012

Ever feel like you just need more space?

https://p.dw.com/p/166an
A small storage room filled with household cleaning materials and appliances.
Image: Jürgen Fälchle - Fotolia.com

Small and dark - that's how a typical Kabuff looks. A Kabuff is a tiny room without windows. If you have one in your apartment then consider yourself lucky, since the small room is great for cramming clutter into. Jam jars, winter coats, shoes - everything can be thrown into the Kabuff for safe keeping.

But those who have to live a Kabuff are not so lucky. "The room I lived in when I was student was a real Kabuff," former students can often be heard saying. The word originates from the Middle Low German word kuffe, meaning a dreadful, cramped house. Needless to say, no real-estate agent would describe a minuscule, dingy apartment without windows as a Kabuff.

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