I have no idea, but pointing to some non-working thing and saying "kaput" gets action in any language. It was a tip I picked up back in the backpacking days, and it does seem to work.
I accept your anecdote but it's still hardly a universal word. In how many languages did you try this?
It's at least as commonly used in English as say Yiddish words like klutz and schmuck.
My dictionary suggests that the noun 'Schmuck' in modern German comes from the Low German adjective 'smuk' meaning beautiful; I can't even find it in an exclusively Yiddish dictionary however.
Oh sorry, I thought they were, but regardless I think kaput is used (in English) at least as much. Br vs Am maybe.
You'll be surprised to know that English is.. Not a universal language.
No I won't, मैं हिंदी सीख रहा हूं, what's your point anyway? You realise I was responding to English speakers claiming a non-English word wasn't used/heard of in English with my own claim that it is?