Ares spielt an der Nordsee

What does “Robbe” mean in German, and why call someone that?

Robbe means “seal,” and in this clip a father calls his water-loving kid du alte Robbe — “you old seal” — after watching him dive straight into the cold North Sea without hesitation. It’s a classic move in German: borrow an animal that’s clearly built for the water and turn it into an affectionate tease for a person who acts the same way.

The clip also uses Seehund (literally “sea dog”) for the same animal — but the two words aren’t quite interchangeable. Robbe is the broad word covering seals and sea lions alike, while Seehund names one specific kind of seal within that group. In everyday German, Seehund is often the more familiar word — the one used for the common North Sea/zoo seal — while Robbe reaches wider.