By:
Well, let’s just get right into it, Linguaholics!
Dialog:
Marc: Hast du das Halbfinale zwischen Brasilien und Uruguay gesehen! Das 2:0 von Neymar war einfach unglaublich!
Luisa: Ja, das hab ich gesehen. War echt ein richtiges Traumtor!
Dialogue translation:
Marc: Did you see the semi-final between Brazil and Uruguay? Neymar’s 2-0 was just amazing! uisa: Yes, I saw that. It was a real dream goal!
The 34 Very Best German Sayings…EVER!
If you do this anyway, you have bamboozled (cheated) your opponent, which in German is also called ‘übers Ohr hauen.’
Example:
Du bist aber auch wirklich naiv! Meinst du wirklich, dass dir Bernd einfach so 1000 Franken schenkt? Der hat dich doch übers Ohr gehauen!
Translation: You are really naive! Do you really think Bernd will give you 1000 dollars just like that? He’s definitely up to something!
Example:
A: Wie heißt er denn? Wo kommt er her? Wie alt ist er? Ist er hübsch? Wie viele Freundinnen hatte er denn schon?
B: Jetzt hör doch auf mir Löcher in den Bauch zu fragen! Du wirst schon sehen!
Translation:
A: What’s his name? Where does he come from? How old is he? Is he handsome? How many girlfriends has he had?
B: Now stop asking me holes in my stomach! You’ll see!
If you are putting something in the sand, you are literally screwing something up at least in German. So whenever that happens, you could use the German saying “in den Sand setzen” to express just that.
Now, what does this all have to do with sand? Why would you mess something up by putting something in the sand? While it is pretty easy to track the (possible) origins of some German sayings, there does not seem to be a lot of consensus about the origins of “in den Sand setzen.”
However, if you are just trying to think about what actually happens when you put something in the sand, then a possible explanation might just be that an object that has been put in the sand is simply stuck there and can, therefore, no longer be moved.
This standstill could then be metaphorically linked to what happens when you mess something up. Well, nothing happens (anymore), hence everything comes to a standstill.
Example:
Ben kann einfach nicht mit Geld umgehen. Der hat sich letztes Jahr wieder für ne Million Euro Aktien gekauft und hat wieder mal alles in den Sand gesetzt!
Translation:
Ben simply cannot handle money. Last year, he bought himself a million euros worth of shares and once again ruined everything!
The 34 Very Best German Sayings…EVER!
This saying originated in the theatre world. In the past, comedies in the theatre were quite ruthless – even high-ranking statesmen and politicians were often attacked and criticized by the actors.
So that they could not be punished for what they said, actors had to hide their faces behind something. At the beginning of the theatre, however, masks did not yet exist, so they simply took a piece of paper instead of using masks.
But not everyone chose to hide between this pseudo-mask. Some courageous actors still chose to speak openly without hiding behind a piece of paper, so they literally did “kein Blatt vor den Mund nehmen.”
And that’s exactly where this fascinating German saying comes from.
Example: Mit meiner Frau legst du dich besser nicht an! Die nimmt nämlich in Sachen Politik absolut kein Blatt vor den Mund!
Translation: You better not mess with my wife! She doesn’t mince matters when it comes to politics.
In English, if you smell a rat, you have started recognizing that something is not as it appears, usually suspecting trickery or deception of some kind.
While ‘to smell a rat’ does not sound all that pleasant, in German, you don’t smell rats but roast when trickery or deception is in the air. Now that’s pretty tasty, given the circumstances…!
Example:
Hast du eigentlich das Gefühl ich bin dumm? Natürlich habe ich schon lange bemerkt, dass du mir fremd gehst! Ich habe den Braten schon lange gerochen! Du machst mir nichts vor!
Translation: Do you think I’m stupid? Of course, I’ve realized long ago that you’re cheating on me! I smelled the roast a long time ago! You don’t fool me!
But what if I told you that this is just the German way of saying “to buy a pig in a poke?” Well, that’s exactly what it is. The story behind the German saying “die Katze im Sack kaufen” is actually the same as ‘to buy a pig in a poke.’
So what is that story, then? The origin of the expression “die Katze im Sack kaufen” dates back to around the 16th century when merchants would sell pigs, rabbits and other valuable animals in pokes.
When an unsuspecting buyer got his poke home and was about to open it, he would sometimes see another animal like a goose or duck or a cat come out of the poke instead. The poor buyer obviously got CHEATED.
And this is where the piece of advice, ‘don’t buy anything until you have seen it,’ the actual semantic meaning of “die Katze aus dem Sack lassen,” came into being.
Funnily enough, in English, in the saying ‘to buy a pig in a poke,’ the pig rather than the cat is in the center of attention.
But the story behind it, as we know now, is basically the same.
Example:
Daniel: Hey alter, du hast doch neulich diese Playstation Second-Hand übers Internet gekauft. Funktioniert die überhaupt?
Marc: Nein. Der Typ hat mir doch tatsächlich eine kaputte Playstation geschickt. Und in der Beschreibung stand “nigelnagelneu”. Was für eine Frechheit!
Daniel: Ich hab dir doch gesagt, du sollst nicht die Katze im Sack kaufen!
Translation:
Daniel: Hey dude, you recently bought this Playstation second-hand over the internet, right? Does it work at all?
Marc: No. The guy actually sent me a broken Playstation. And the description said ‘brand new.’
Daniel: Man, Daniel! I told you not to buy a pig in a poke!
A shield is a defensive weapon. I think that is something we can all agree on. But a shield used to be much more than that. In middle age, shields usually featured crests (emblems) that let everybody know about the origin of the shield bearer and also allowed conclusions to be drawn about his identity and intention.
So, “im Schilde führen” means that the owner of the shield actually carried something along with his shield ― the crest (emblem) that figured on the shield. And this symbol always carried a certain (metaphorical) message.
Now, the modern “im Schilde führen,” as embodied in the German language, is an allusion to this fact and simply means that somebody has ‘something up one’s sleeve.’
So, somebody has a certain intention that people are yet unaware of (because he wouldn’t tell it). Does that make any sense? I hope it does. If it doesn’t, an example usually helps.
Example:
Bernd: Du bist sonst nie so ruhig. Da stimmt doch etwas nicht. Du führst bestimm etwas im Schilde!
Beatrice: Ach was, es ist alles in Ordnung!
Bernd: Nene, ich kenne Dich!
Beatrice: Ok, du hast recht. Ich wollte dich heute Abend eigentlich überraschen, aber nun hast du gesagt, dass du heute abend gar nicht da bist!
Bernd: Ja, leider.
Aber überrasch mich doch morgen!
Beatrice: Ok, geht klar!
Translation:
Bernd: You are never this calm. There must be something wrong with you. You are certainly up to something!
Beatrice: Oh no, everything is fine!
Bernd: Naaah, I know you!
Beatrice: Okay, okay. You’re right. I wanted to surprise you tonight, but now you’ve said that you’re not even here tonight!
Bernd: Yes, unfortunately. But what about a little surprise tomorrow, maybe?
Beatrice: Haha, we will see!
