The German word "Katastrophe" translates to the English word "catastrophe". In a lot of cases that translation is pretty correct. Where English speakers would describe the current flooding in Patistan and the BP oil spill in the Gulf as "catastrophes", a German speaker would say they are both "Katastrophen".
The difference is that use of the word "Katastrophe" occurs much more frequently in German than you would hear "catastrophe" in English. I think that if someone don't have clean socks to match the color of their pants, a German would describe it as a "Katastrophe". As in English for such a situation, this is usually done tongue-in-cheek, but the joke is so prevalent in German conversations that it seems to have lost at least some of its humor.
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