I think they got #9 wrong. If someone has to add his mustard to everything that is meant more in the sense that someone is being anoying by giving his opinion on everything even without being asked. This might be a more common problem in Germany than elsewhere ^^ Not that it’s always happening
yeah for sure #9 is wrong. It looks like they mixed up..."gib mal deinen senf dazu" --> give me your opinion on this matter. But the "er muss".. means, that this pearson likes to give his opinion on everything...
Mustard once was a very cheap and available spice. Pepper and other too expensive for commen people. So they handed it to every food. There this saying comes from.
in fact thats exactly what it means when you say: he's giving his two cents worth. So they got it right even though the litteral translation was slightly off
Pigs are associated with good luck in Germany! :) They are a common motif for New Years greetings alongside ladybugs, four-leaved clovers and chimney sweepers. There is the term "Glücksschwein" here, which means "lucky pig". Think of a pig as a good luck charm especially for fortune in wealth (yknow, because of piggy banks).
Though "Schwein haben" is more about averting bad luck and not having good luck. Finding money on the street is not "having a pig". Not getting hit by a falling tree is "having a pig".
As I remember the origins are from medieval time where peasants who where able to grow pigs where "wealthy" and would have meat in hard winter times, while the not so "lucky" ones have to eat their pickles and sauerkraut they stored in Autumn.
I always have the connection of that phrase with playing cards in my mind. When you play Skat (a card game) the Aces are somtimes called "Säue" (sows) and some playing cards even have a sow and a dog pictured on the equivalent of the ace of diamonds. In that context having pigs would mean to have a good hand of cards and therefore being lucky :)
I did some digging in the roots of the expressions: #1 Da liegt der Hund begraben (That's where the dog is buried): There are two different meanings of this idiom: a) that's a boring place, b) there's the main issue. In case of (a) it was because one village in Thuringia had a grave (complete with headstone) for the exceptional, but deceased, dog named Sturzel. Other villages in the area made fun of that village and only referred to that (boring) place to "where the dog is buried". In case of (b)... in ye olde times people buried important or valueble stuff in treasure chests with a depiction of a guard dog or a devil on the lid. So if you were looking for important stuff and found something with a dog on the lid, you got it... you got the main issue. #2 Wo sich der Fuchs und Hase gute Nacht sagen (Where fox and hare say good night to each other) Shy animals like fox and rabbit/hare are not that visible to people. So a place where you could see these two and both being cordial with each other (instead of one ripping the other to shreds) must be so far away, that even butt buggering egypt might be just around the corner by comparison :) #3 Alles hat ein Ende, nur die Wurst hat zwei (Everything's got an end - only a sausage got two) Actually this one originated in the novel "Woodstock; or The Cavalier. A Tale of the Year Sixteen Hundred and Fifty-one" by Walter Scott (written in 1826). This quote kinda tickled the german quip-bone and is used ever since (although nobody will remember the root of that expression). But it shows the german tendency to be ultra-correct :) #4 Du nimmst mich auf den Arm (You're carrying me on your arm) It's like treating somebody like a child (which was often carried in the arms of the parents on occasion), thinking them naive, a little dumb, not taking them seriously. #5 Das ist ein Katzensprung (That's a cat's jump) It is used to describe a quite minor distance. Like "it's a stone throw away" (although I can throw stones further than a cat can jump or I can throw cats, to be honest). It was from a time when we germans didn't use the metric system to measure distance and used whatever was available to guess the actual distance :) #6 Sich zum Affen machen (to behave like a monkey) At fairs you could see carnies with dressed up monkeys doing silly performances to attract attention and money for the carney. This idiom is used when people behave against their desire and nature for the benefit of another (and most of the time on command of said other). #7 Der will eine Extrawurst haben (he wants to have an extra sausage) Funnily, there is a sausage named "Extrawurst" in Austria. But more commonly it is used as an idiom for people who want to have special treatment, extra attention (this is also a quite old idiom, at least since the beginning of the 19th century). #8 Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof (I only understand 'railway station') This idiom came up at the end of WW1, when the battle-fatigued soldiers only wished to return home. You could talk to them whatever you wanted, the only thing they showed an reaction to was "Bahnhof", because this meant they could go home. It is nowadays used to say "I don't understand a thing". #9 Er muss zu Allem seinen Senf dazugeben (He gotta add his mustard to EVERYTHING) This idiom is also a quite old one (originated about in the 17th century). Mustard was a spice like salt and pepper in ye olde times. It was meant to make stuff more healthy, even if mustard wouldn't really compliment the food. So innkeepers just put a healthy dollop of mustard to everything they served, even if it was not wanted. Nowadays this idiom is used for giving unwanted opinions / advice just because. #10 Ich habe Schwein gehabt (I had a pig) This idiom is used if one was lucky without having done anything to deserve it. The etymology of this idiom is not completely clear, best guess is it's a relic from medival times when in contests the consolation price was a piggy. I hope this helps a bit to understand why some expressions are the way they are. Keep up your videos, it's always fun to see another view of our quirks :)
Expression 10# is kind of close, but I think it missed the mark a little bit. In German, we typically say "ich habe Schwein gehabt" whenever we avoided a huge misfortune. Or if someone else says that he barely escaped some major crisis, we then say "da hast du aber Schwein gehabt" to accomodate it to him. Its often used in a "you dodged a bullet" kind of way, but strictly figuratively
I think it's related to not starving. If the harves was bad and you had a pig to butcher you were much more lucky than your neighbor who didn't have a pig.
@@Sporner100 Yes, both in Germany and China, pigs traditionally are a symbol of wealth and fortune. That's where the German term "Sparschwein" and English term "piggybank" comes from! Piggybank made from pottery were often literally shaped like a domesticated pig, and you collected the odd coins in it for bad times. When you needed the money, the pottery pig was smashed, which in German is called "Das Sparschwein schlachten" (to slaughter the piggybank).
it probably is a reference to , i run out of potatoes for the winter and my family must starve , but you got a pig you could butcher and give its meat to your family to survive - Ich habe Schwein gehabt is - That was a close one in english
"Er muss zu allem seinen Senf dazugeben" wasn't translated completely. It's actually "he has to add his mustard to everything". Not sure if "give his two cents" has the same implication, but in German it would basically mean someone who annoys people because he comments on everything, even if he's supposed to just accept it or it doesn't concern him.
Id say it's a good translation. The annoying git "adding his mustard" is a "Besserwisser", or a "know-it-all". Just by itself "adding your mustard" has no implications just like "giving ypur 2 cents".
@@justanothername5199 "Seinen Senf dazugeben" in its own may not. Key is the "er muss zu allem". That's like saying "he just has to give his two cents to everything". At least in my area that lead to it generally implying something negative.
As I am German, please allow me to say that your accent is adorable and your videos make up for the American tourists I have to deal with on a nearly-weekly basis.
We also say "Tu leży pies pogrzebany" = "Da liegt der Hund begraben" in Poland, as far as I know we borrowerd the expression from our German neighbors :D
I listened to an audiobook explaining a lot of German expressions. Most of them are from medieaval times such as this one. Sadly I cannot remember how this particular one came to be.
@@atstrollz6875 That’s an ad slogan from Ritter Sport a very well reknown traditional chocolate producer. They have their own museum in Germany and even some tourist attraction where you can make your own chocolate bar to take home. I chose gummybears and crisps. Can’t recommend the combination though haha
@@vomm He does learn, but not very quickly :P It's nice that he enjoys another culture though. I think it's always good to learn about the world, even if he's not learning a lot of the languages with every episode.
Honestly, if I have to explain the train station one to one of my non-german colleagues, I explain it with math problems. Basically "If train A leaves the train station at 8 PM and goes 124 mph..." -> "Whoa, I only understood train station..."
It's supposedly from WW2, where "Bahnhof" became synonymous with going home. Soldiers who were exhausted and only wanted to go home supposedly stopped paying attention to anything else you told them once they had heard the magical word "Bahnhof".
I would explain it by making them feel how I feel when I ask my dad for an address and he gives me directions instead: Me: "Do you know the way to [random place] from here?" Them: "No." Me: "Easy, just go straight this way until you pass the train station, then turn right and immediately left again, then right at the fifth intersection, take the third exit at the roundabout, then you can turn right again at the eighteenth intersection and take a half-left at the seventh intersection or you turn left at the fifth intersection and right again on the second intersection, either way you will eventually reach another train station and from there it's the 23rd building to the right. Got it?" Them: "I only understand train station" (not that my dad is bad at explaining things (he's actually a coach & e-learning author and introduced the very concept of e-learning into his company) , I'm just bad at remembering directions because ADD and why bother learning that skill in the age of smartphones & google maps)
I think I spider, you actually understood the meanings of some of these right away! as for expression 1: Da liegt der Hund begraben: I actually use it more in a situation, if I find out something shady about a topic or a person. It's like when something that sounds great, has actually some sort of shady twist, or If a person had some shady or embarrassing secret behind it. Imagine a beautiful garden, with really green and nice grass... but there is a dog buried under it. At first glance you don't know ;) as for the last one: yes, pigs are considered lucky in a special context. During New Years you can see little pigs or piglets as figurines, as a token of luck that you can gift someone else, you see them in comercials regarding New Years etc. . But when you say "ich habe Schwein gehabt / I had pig" it's more regarding the "luck of the dumb." More if you were close to something bad or inconveinient happening to you, yet it didn't happen, or you got out of a strange/dangerous/nasty situation by sheer luck. Then you were lucky, du hast Schwein gehabt. You wouldn't use it in case you won the lottery though :)
In fact, the expression "There lies the dog buried" can have two very different meanings. It can mean that nothing is going on somewhere: "But the dog is buried in Winterstein," one could exclaim about a sleepy village, for example. Yes, in Thuringia there is actually the small town of Winterstein and there is a memorial stone with a dog carved into it. It is intended to commemorate the particularly clever dog Stutzel, who, according to legend, was buried here in a coffin. The people in the neighboring villages found that very strange and made fun of Winterstein from then on. So "There lies the dog buried" became a proverb about a boring place where a dog burial is still the most exciting event. In the original meaning, however, the phrase - just like the sentence "There lies the rub" - points to the cause of a problem. A devil or a vicious dog used to be depicted on treasure chests to deter thieves. So if you knew where the treasure chest with the dog on it was buried, you had found what you were looking for. And in a figurative sense, one often looks for the cause of a problem. When you finally discover it, you feel like you've stumbled upon a treasure!
Yeah, I think the meaning of "There lies the rub" is more covered by "Da liegt der Hase im Pfeffer!" [That's where the Hare lies among the pepper (plants) ]these days. The buried dog was exclusively used as "boring/sleepy" whenever I heard it.
@@monkeybusiness673 There lies the dog is buried means for me that a certain point in the problem is pointed out, which must be solved to solve the problem. One could also say instead: 'that's exactly where the problem lies'.  There lies the dog is buried means for me that a certain point in the problem is pointed out, which must be solved to solve the problem. One could also say instead: 'that's exactly where the problem lies'. 
@@ariane14605 Strange, I never heard anyone ever use it that way. Is it an East/West German kind of thing maybe? I'm from Saxony-Anhalt, so maybe that's the case?
In Franconia we say "Da ist der Hund gefreckt/vereckt" (the dog died here) for a sleepy/boring place, while "Da liegt der Hund begraben" typically means "that's where the problem lies"
Some of those "literal" translations aren't literal at all. :D Example: "Er muss zu allem seinen Senf dazugeben" would rather be something like "He has to add his mustard to everything(and anything)", and not "Add his mustard to it". A lot of things missing there. :D
I use „Da liegt der Hund begraben“ more in a way to express ‚finally we get to the point of matter‘ after a long search for or discussion about the reason for a problem. There is a famous song about the ends of a sausage: ua-cam.com/video/a4JSE32fuOc/v-deo.html We also use „das ist nur einen Steinwurf entfernt“ which is the same as „Katzensprung“ or „stone throw away“. At least in Germany a pig is besides the chimney sweeper and four leaves clovers also a symbol for luck. So if you wish someone luck it‘s not unusual to give them a little pig out of marzipan. You can also get greeting cards with little pigs on them.
I never before heard "Da liegt der Hund begraben" as pointing at the heart of the issue. Everyone I ever met, if they used it, used it as "Da ist nichts los, tote Hose, sterbenslangweilig". I am from Saxony-Anhalt, and most people I know live in the eastern parts of Germany, so is it maybe an east-west kind of thing?
@@scarred537 Ya usualy you say , AAAhhhhaaaahhhh,, da liegt also der Hund begraben ,,, like, now we got it,,,, or the real reason of.... whatever..!!!!!
Your german pronunciation has become so much better over the few months I’ve been watching your videos :) A little hint for the german ‘Z’, we do like a very short but sharp ‘S’ combined with a ‘T’. Our ‘Z’ is like the english combination of ‘TS’ for example : the bits, the pits, tsunami… so ‘Zug’ (train) would be pronounced like ‘Tsug’ and don’t be afraid to pronounce the ‘T’ in ‘TS’ very hard. For the ‘S’ in ‘TS’, you know the sound that a bicycle wheel makes when you push the valve down, yeah that’s how we pronounce it in ‘TS’ (Z) but like I said, it is a very short ‘S’. Hope I could help and I absolutely love your videos.
🤣🤣 To understand how romantic the Germans are, here are 3 more idioms: "Das passt wie Arsch auf Eimer." Literally: "That fits like ass on bucket." or: "Wie Faust auf Auge" - "Like fist to eye." or: "Wie Deckel auf Topf" - "Like a lid on a pot." And the meaning for all 3 is: The two go very well together.😁😉
I am from Germany and I always watch your videos. They are really interesting and so much fun to watch. I hope that you keep doing this for a long time. Have a good day and friendly greetings from Germany 😊
Your guesses Made this so much more funny 😂 Number one was Linda right from your perspectivd. ItS mostly used when talking about the true root of a Problem. Like this: "Jason ist drinking very much lately" "yeah and hes Always late...." "Didnt you hear bis father dies?" "Oh....so thats we're the Dog is burried".....Like "ah now i understand the true source of the Problem/suffering.
Number 8 is from WW2 when soldiers went home they were often send to a train station for transport. So if a Soldier wanted home their only understood "train Station" when talked to by a superior.
Hi Ryan, I love your expressions to these idioms! And as I just found your channel lately and am now also watching your earlier videos, I know that you already saw this thing about the 'Bahnhof'. 😀 About 4 months ago in another video.
"sich zum Affen machen" The literal translation is more: "Make a monkey of yourself" In German the word for ape and monkey is the same: Affe. The idiom refers more to the animal you would call monkey as it means like dressing up and make tricks for entertainment.
It can also refer to the "oogh, oogh, aagh, aagh (with scratching your armpits)" with wich you can literally make an ape of yourself. But it always means to become a laughing stock by your own actions.
Just stopped by to say you're a very likable, humorous guy! Enjoyed many of your videos (especially over the last days, while I'm sick and mostly lying in bed). Kind regards from Germany.
"Da liegt der Hund begraben" always reminds me of "Das ist des Pudels Kern" by Goethes "Faust I" (literally: "The core of the poodle"). DeepL translate the idiom well: It's the crux of the matter. A slightly different meaning would be that you find something out that wasn't obvious before. I just realise there are a lot of animals in German idioms.
Hi, I am from Germany and I have found your channel for a while. As a German I enjoy your interpretation about German phrases because I know how confusing they could be if you haven't a mother tongue. I try to explain you "Da liegt der Hund begraben" You have to see it like a murder case the dead dog is your strongest proof in the argumentation the other phrases you have interpretated very well some of them better like the video you have seen. Good job Mach weiter so :-)
I (am a German speaker) think, you are right, "da liegt der Hund begraben" is not neutral, but describes something negative. A more neutral expression would be: "das ist des Pudels Kern". Both expressions are about dogs, the latter one is about showing the most central part of a problem. (Derived from Goethes "Faust").
About the buried dog. just imagine someone offers you a porsche 911 for 10k $. Great shape, leather is fresh, low milage, just 2 years old, anything looks good - until you find out the engine is missing, the transmission is broken and the seller has no papers since the car ist stolen. thats "where the dog is buried". i would translate it with "thats where the catch is" or something like that. if something appears good until you find the "buried dog".
Number 8 comes from WW2 where soldiers just wanted to get home by train so if they are very tired and they don’t understand anything anymore I just wanna go to the train station and home
3:31 "Wo sich Fuchs und Hase gute Nacht sagen" "Where fox and rabbit say good night" wherever that is, must be a damn boring, peaceful, quiet place ... the end of the world.. where no normal conditions are... berlin abbreviation "JWD" = "Janz Weit Draußen" = "very far away"
I will never get over how sausage/foot-related so many of our phrases are in the german language x3 "Alles hat ein Ende nur die Wurst hat zwei (Everything has an end only the sausage has too)" "Eine Extrawurst haben wollen (to want/demand an extra sausage)" "seinen Senf dazu geben (to add ones mustard)" "Da hab ich Schwein gehabt (I've really had pig)" "Zu viele Köche verderben den Brei (too many cooks spoil the porrige)" "Nicht das Gelbe vom Ei sein (to not be the yellow of the egg)" "Tomaten auf den Augen haben (to have tomatoes on one's eyes)" "Abwarten und Tee trinken (to wait it out and drink tee)" "Liebe geht durch den Magen (love goes through the stomach)" "Der dümmste Bauer erntet die größten Kartoffeln (The stupidest farmer harvests the biggest potatoes)" and even more ^^ Its such a charming quality of the german language
Number 9 is more like someone how always adds his opinion to a conversation were it’s not needed. So he always adds (his mustert/ his opinions) to everything.
Awesome video! Pity they didn't explain where the expressions come from. Maybe you should react to German proverbs, Ryan. :-) But your German is getting better and better, I'm impressed!
Ryan, your videos make my day. I am looking so forward to them. It is so precious to see how excited you get and how real you are. No acting, just pure fun. You just have to come to Germany one day and experience everything you watch on UA-cam for yourself. Hope you will get the chance one day. Keep doing what you are doing and put a smile on our faces
"Here is a dog buried" is also a well-known saying in Finland, but it means that there is some kind of twisted plot hidden here. According to an old belief, a person stumbles on a dog's grave. I think the English expression is confusing the saying "Das also war des Pudels Kern", i.e. "That was the core of the poodle", meaning the heart of the matter.
There is actually a song called "Alles hat ein Ende nur die Wurst hat zwei" by Stephan Remmler written in 1987! You can check out the music video, it is ... interesting
Nice to see long time daily your videos, I can see that your German get better and better. Stay corious and never stop that. Maybe in few years u will make your first video in German language 😂. I like your video a lot. Greetings from Germany. Wir sehen uns morgen. (we see us tomorrow)
What is funny to me as a german is how when you say the expressions or talk about them it makes less sense. I think that for a lot of Expressions the Tone and the context ( you have in your head ) have to be just right for it to sound logical. This was clear to me when with: Wo Fuchs und Hase sich gute Nacht sagen I imediately had this quiet, piecful forest scene in my head with a fox and hare ( is that the word??) ( both on two legs ) and the picture of a parent sitting at their childrens bed starting a goodnight story with these words. This is why I say wo fuchs und hase sich gute Nacht sagen much softer and calmer and I think if you dont have that notion you will have a hard time getting it right. Only through collevtive memory can expressions work and that is part of whats so fun and fascinatinf about languages.
I love how happy you were when you got #6 and #7 (almost) right :D Your vocabulary is really improving a lot now^^ Here's a few tips for the pronunciation (if you care about that): The "z" in German is sharper. So it would be pronounced like a "ts" in English. For example "zur" (translation: 'to the' or just 'to') would be pronounced "tsooa" rather than "zuhr". The "ch" in German seems to be difficult for many. But try hissing like a cat. "wach" (translation: awake ) would be pronounced "va-*catHiss*. (This was me giving my "mustard" to the video). And as already stated by others, that was incorrectly translated in the clip you watched. It basically means to butt into other people's business or to give feedback or an opinion nobody asked for XD
Ich möchte auch noch meinen Senf dazugeben: a) there is no silent letter in German. "Hase" is pronounced *with* the "e" in the end. Same is true for "Ende", "Name", "Rose", etc. b) to practise the soft "ch", I recommend to whisper: "yyyes, yyyyes, yyyyyes" As mentioned above, the german "z" is pronounced "ts" and the harsh "ch" is turning "k" into a fricative ("kkhhhkhhh").
@@michelaushamburg6766 your b) would turn "weich" (= soft) into "weisssssss" (=white). That's an odd way of explaining the pronunciation. could you give an example where this would work?
12:56 "Are pigs lucky?" Yes, they are seen as a luck-symbol here. For new years eve some stores sell pigs made of marzipan that represent good luck in the next year. Other symbold for good luck in Germany include stuff like a horseshoe, ladybug, chimney sweeper or clover and a few other things. Sometimes stores also sell clovers decorated with figures of a chimney sweeper with a horseshoe and a ladybug that you can gift other people for good luck (but not all people would buy and gift them to other people btw). It's also seen as bad luck if you have a horseshoe on the walls and hang it with the opening downside since people belive all the good luck would fall out of it wich will bring bad luck upon you.
you know what, I just binged your videos for the better part of 2 hours, and yes I do feel like subscribing! It's wonderful to see someone just absorb information like that, and be happy and cheerful about it. Let alone happily admitting not knowing things, or not doing them perfectly. Which is probably a very german approach. If you keep doing these, do come over if you can, and boy do Germans, me included, love people reacting to our culture :)
The "Literally" translation really should be literal else it is confusing. Er muss zu allem seinen Senf dazugeben means literally "He has to add his mustard to everything" and not "Add his mustard to it." Also "seinen Senf dazugeben" as expression the "seinen" is generic maskulinum from "jemand" (someone) which is generically masculine but females are meant to. It does not really stand for "his" but for "(some)one's". So more correct would have been: "Adding one's mustard to it" to literally translate the expression, But if they give a whole sentence they should translate that whole sentence literally, else it's confusing an connections between the words in word-by-word cannot be made. The "zu allem" (to everything) or "überall" (everywhere) is important it signals that it is annoying and not needed the "mustard" (again a sausage related term) is something that is/may be right but unnecessary (not needed). Humble as germans are they will join a discussion with "Wenn ich auch mal meinen Senf dazugeben darf...[argument]" (If I may add my mustard to this...[argument]) or even ask if it's a discussion between to people concerning them but feels like to have to get involved (maybe to deescalate) "Darf ich mal meinen Senf dazugeben?" (Am I allowed to my mustard to this?.. then wait for the answer) It's like asking for the right to speak but implying you are going to give your opinion or an argument.
absolutely agree with you! these expressions only work if you use their exact terms. "Ich habe Schwein gehabt (I had pig)" makes sense as an expression, but it's not recognized as an expression, if you change it to "Ich habe EIN Schwein gehabt (I had A pig)". People probably still understand it, but they might be like "why is he saying it like that? .. thats weird".
My thoughts exactly! You can't just change the sentence type and hope for the best. Also it should have been "to make an ape of yourself" (or monkey the german word doesn't differentiate) to show that it wasn't an imperative (i.e. to ask for someone to do crazy things)
With "Da liegt der Hund begraben/ That's where the dog is buried", there are actually two possible meanings. I only ever knew of it as being a description of a village where nothing happens, a town that is so boring a burial of a dog is the most exciting happening. I never heard of the meaning "that's the heart of the matter" before, but apparently it can have both meanings. So the video actually taught me something about my native language :D
I would say the idea of the metaphor is that you have been trying to find where the dog is buried, but instead you are cluelessly guessing where it is, just like some people meander around a subject without any success in finding its core. Which results in relief, if you finally find it.
@@saiyasha848 Same here, I have never heard it used in the “boring place” sense. Always in the sense, therein lies the problem/rub. BTW, I’m from the South.
Feli from Germany has a podcast named "Understanding Train Station". As you've watched some of her videos, I'd assume that's why it sounds familiar to you.
#1: famous Goethe wrote in "Faust" the phrase "Das also war des Pudels Kern". English "ah.. So that was the poodles core" The protagonist called faust said this phrase after the devil Mephisto showed his true shape after he first sneaked on Faust in the shape of a poodle...
"Du nimmst mich auf den Arm" / "You are taking me on your arm" is used because you feel treated like a little child who knows nothing and who can be told everything.
@@lyaneris Its more Like two Buddys make Jokes of themselves, Like Al Bundy and Jeffersons or tell Story, you cant believe...Its difficult top explain better.;) You can also say "Der will mir wohl einen Bären aufbinden?!";)🐻🐻🐻
you are absolutely correct :) , but I think his worries are more about the fact that "Fuchs" sounds like "F*cks" in english. I know these are two different things, but UA-cam seems to have it's problems with it ^^ ppl assume that even the automated subtitles can be a problem if they capture a word incorrectly e.g. "F*cks" instead of "Fuchs". Having said that... it's so crazy that he even has to think about this, when he is just repeating some expressions from another language.. xD
Love the vibe of your videos bro you always having fun and are interested to learn stuff and u are funny man not scared of embararrasing yourself but taking it with humour :D
Your guess whas not too wrong at all. That is the context we usually use it. When you get behind the real, hidden, subject of the matter, you might say, aha, that is where dog was buried Close to it is the phrase, aha, das ist des Pudels Kern!? It's from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's famous novel 'Faust'. Doktor Faust was calling this out when he realized that the puddle (dog) that was around him for a while showed his real nature as being the devil (Mephisto) in disguise. So again, it is like saying, oh that is the hidden truth.
It is similar because behind both is the devil. Mephisto disguised as a dog, a poodle when he approached Faust. It was a common believe in the middle ages that the devil is disguising as a black dog who was protecting hidden treasures.
Instead of BFE, Germans say JWD, which is taken from the Berlinian dialect and is an abbreviation of Janz Weit Draussen = Very Far Out. (Berlinians often pronounce the G in front of Words as Y, written in German spelling as J.) Pigs are a symbol of luck in Germany, as pigs are easily fed, and have much offspring, and thus provide wealth to their owners without much effort. Pigs are also loudly voicing if they are feeling well, making their grunting also a symbol of wellbeing for Germans.
It's funny, that you have "It's all greek to me" because we have somthing very similar just with spanish. Even with historical background: Holy Roamn Emperor Charles V were also the King of Spain (as Carlos I) and the german nobility doesen't understand him, when he spoke spanish.
if you do nothing else, but learn how the alphabet is pronounced in German, you will be able to correctly pronounce probably 90% of the words (exceptions like -ei, -ng exist, but english has those too) German is thankfully a PHONETIC language, unlike English, which is why there is no spelling bees in Germany, since it's way too easy to spell everything
One of the possible Origins of "Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof" goes back to WW1. The theory is that War-tired soldiers wanted nothing else but to go home, and the way home was associated with the train-station. So if you tell them something complicated they ignored it and recognized only the Word "Bahnhof" because they wanted so badly to go home.
#10 There are a lot expressions with "Schwein". "I had a pig", "Only a pig could read that", "No pig showed up".. the theory goes that there was once a family called "Sweyn" who were the only ones who had a higher education (reading and math) in the region so anyone else had to go to them.
I do like you saying the German words 😊☮️ I am not laughing about you, you sound really cute. I am trying to learn small bits and pieces of Estonian and am sure I don’t sound cute at all 🤭
1# taht's the heart of the matter is so wrong, "da ist der Hund begraben" means that's an absolute boring place, nothing interresting is ever happening there
There are two similar phrases: "Da steppt der Bär" ("There does the bear tap-dancing") or "Da boxt der Papst (im Kettenhemd)" ("There is the pope (in chainmail) boxing.")
You actually did really well in this one, proud of ya. Your theory on #4 about helping a guy out who is drunk is actually more close than you'd think. "You take me ON the arm" means you must be foolin me but "you take me UNDER your arm" means you help me out. Also the expression with the mustard was unfair, they cut half of the phrase in the translation, it should actually be "he HAS to add his mustard to everything" which would have been more clear imho.
"Jemandem unter die Arme greifen" is indeed "to help someone out". Not only litterally help someone home, but also lend some money or support with homework or helping to write official letters etc.
11:37 "add his mustard to it" that dont hit the point. i would say "he must have to add his mustard to it" it means: he cant stop himself from adding comments to everyting
I think you heard about "only understanding train station" from Feli (a German UA-camr who is living in the US) - She made a Video like the one you watched and their Podcast-Channel is "Understanding Train Station" ;)
yeah pigs are considered lucky same as like chimney sweeper or horseshoe. Usually you see this stuff around new years eve in like edibles or small good luck charms
Thank you very much! I very seldom had the oppurtunity to get amused that much. For me as a German these expressions are rather familiar, as I got used to American expressions as well. Yes, you're right, Germans got sometimes weird sayings. But your reactions made me laugh and that's worth a "like". Thank you. Nice Video and I like your channel. You will see me there probably very often. See you and keep doing such things!
For the fist one, it also exists another idiom practically synonymous, translating to "there's he snag". I find it even more hilarious. It goes "da liegt der Hase im Pfeffer" which literally says "there lies the hare in the pepper" and goes back to an medieval recipe, "hare pepper", a sauce made with lots of pepper and the "inferiour" body parts of the hare used for the sauce but not for the roast (the paws, ears, head etc.) Since these were small, it was almost impossible to find all of them and pick them out of the sauce before serving. Also the sauce was seemingly so strong that one could hardly taste the hare at all, causing the eater of the sauce to exclaim "there is the hare in the pepper" if he found a piece of hare in it. I LOVE idioms 😁
"Da liegt der Hund begraben" to easy english readable german pronounciation = "Da leaked dair Hunn'd begrah-ben" :D you were right with your guess, this is often to mention some hidden motive that bubbled to the surface ...
i think the expression to add his mustard to everything came from a time when mustard was expensive and restaurants wanted to make the meals more fancy so they added a little bit of mustard everywhere even if you didnt need it or if it didnt fit. It simply wasnt asked. Later the expression was created to add your mustard to everything wich means to always give your opinion even if nobody asked..i think it fits
I think they got #9 wrong. If someone has to add his mustard to everything that is meant more in the sense that someone is being anoying by giving his opinion on everything even without being asked. This might be a more common problem in Germany than elsewhere ^^ Not that it’s always happening
yeah for sure #9 is wrong. It looks like they mixed up..."gib mal deinen senf dazu" --> give me your opinion on this matter. But the "er muss".. means, that this pearson likes to give his opinion on everything...
#9 literally: he has to add his mustard to everything
#9 means: he has to express his personal opinion on everything
Mustard once was a very cheap and available spice. Pepper and other too expensive for commen people. So they handed it to every food. There this saying comes from.
in fact thats exactly what it means when you say: he's giving his two cents worth. So they got it right even though the litteral translation was slightly off
Ryan reacts to german idioms.
Da haben wir den Salat .
🤣
🤭
🤣🤣🤣😂
There we have the salad😂
My Holy Mister Singing Club. ;)
Pigs are associated with good luck in Germany! :) They are a common motif for New Years greetings alongside ladybugs, four-leaved clovers and chimney sweepers.
There is the term "Glücksschwein" here, which means "lucky pig". Think of a pig as a good luck charm especially for fortune in wealth (yknow, because of piggy banks).
The term "Schwein haben" comes from to matter, that in the past the last place got a pig.
Though "Schwein haben" is more about averting bad luck and not having good luck. Finding money on the street is not "having a pig". Not getting hit by a falling tree is "having a pig".
As I remember the origins are from medieval time where peasants who where able to grow pigs where "wealthy" and would have meat in hard winter times, while the not so "lucky" ones have to eat their pickles and sauerkraut they stored in Autumn.
Marzipanschweinchen ❤️
I always have the connection of that phrase with playing cards in my mind. When you play Skat (a card game) the Aces are somtimes called "Säue" (sows) and some playing cards even have a sow and a dog pictured on the equivalent of the ace of diamonds. In that context having pigs would mean to have a good hand of cards and therefore being lucky :)
I did some digging in the roots of the expressions:
#1 Da liegt der Hund begraben (That's where the dog is buried):
There are two different meanings of this idiom: a) that's a boring place, b) there's the main issue.
In case of (a) it was because one village in Thuringia had a grave (complete with headstone) for the exceptional, but deceased, dog named Sturzel. Other villages in the area made fun of that village and only referred to that (boring) place to "where the dog is buried".
In case of (b)... in ye olde times people buried important or valueble stuff in treasure chests with a depiction of a guard dog or a devil on the lid. So if you were looking for important stuff and found something with a dog on the lid, you got it... you got the main issue.
#2 Wo sich der Fuchs und Hase gute Nacht sagen (Where fox and hare say good night to each other)
Shy animals like fox and rabbit/hare are not that visible to people. So a place where you could see these two and both being cordial with each other (instead of one ripping the other to shreds) must be so far away, that even butt buggering egypt might be just around the corner by comparison :)
#3 Alles hat ein Ende, nur die Wurst hat zwei (Everything's got an end - only a sausage got two)
Actually this one originated in the novel "Woodstock; or The Cavalier. A Tale of the Year Sixteen Hundred and Fifty-one" by Walter Scott (written in 1826). This quote kinda tickled the german quip-bone and is used ever since (although nobody will remember the root of that expression).
But it shows the german tendency to be ultra-correct :)
#4 Du nimmst mich auf den Arm (You're carrying me on your arm)
It's like treating somebody like a child (which was often carried in the arms of the parents on occasion), thinking them naive, a little dumb, not taking them seriously.
#5 Das ist ein Katzensprung (That's a cat's jump)
It is used to describe a quite minor distance. Like "it's a stone throw away" (although I can throw stones further than a cat can jump or I can throw cats, to be honest). It was from a time when we germans didn't use the metric system to measure distance and used whatever was available to guess the actual distance :)
#6 Sich zum Affen machen (to behave like a monkey)
At fairs you could see carnies with dressed up monkeys doing silly performances to attract attention and money for the carney. This idiom is used when people behave against their desire and nature for the benefit of another (and most of the time on command of said other).
#7 Der will eine Extrawurst haben (he wants to have an extra sausage)
Funnily, there is a sausage named "Extrawurst" in Austria. But more commonly it is used as an idiom for people who want to have special treatment, extra attention (this is also a quite old idiom, at least since the beginning of the 19th century).
#8 Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof (I only understand 'railway station')
This idiom came up at the end of WW1, when the battle-fatigued soldiers only wished to return home. You could talk to them whatever you wanted, the only thing they showed an reaction to was "Bahnhof", because this meant they could go home.
It is nowadays used to say "I don't understand a thing".
#9 Er muss zu Allem seinen Senf dazugeben (He gotta add his mustard to EVERYTHING)
This idiom is also a quite old one (originated about in the 17th century). Mustard was a spice like salt and pepper in ye olde times. It was meant to make stuff more healthy, even if mustard wouldn't really compliment the food. So innkeepers just put a healthy dollop of mustard to everything they served, even if it was not wanted.
Nowadays this idiom is used for giving unwanted opinions / advice just because.
#10 Ich habe Schwein gehabt (I had a pig)
This idiom is used if one was lucky without having done anything to deserve it. The etymology of this idiom is not completely clear, best guess is it's a relic from medival times when in contests the consolation price was a piggy.
I hope this helps a bit to understand why some expressions are the way they are. Keep up your videos, it's always fun to see another view of our quirks :)
so detailed! thank you 😊
You need more likes!
That was very interesting even for a German like me who uses some of those regularly! ❤
Thank you for your research. So, "Du nimmst mich auf den Arm" is actually quite close in meaning to "You are kidding me"!
@@RescueGoat omg, you're right. Never saw that connection. Thanks!
Expression 10# is kind of close, but I think it missed the mark a little bit.
In German, we typically say "ich habe Schwein gehabt" whenever we avoided a huge misfortune. Or if someone else says that he barely escaped some major crisis, we then say "da hast du aber Schwein gehabt" to accomodate it to him.
Its often used in a "you dodged a bullet" kind of way, but strictly figuratively
I think it's related to not starving. If the harves was bad and you had a pig to butcher you were much more lucky than your neighbor who didn't have a pig.
@@Sporner100 Yes, both in Germany and China, pigs traditionally are a symbol of wealth and fortune. That's where the German term "Sparschwein" and English term "piggybank" comes from! Piggybank made from pottery were often literally shaped like a domesticated pig, and you collected the odd coins in it for bad times. When you needed the money, the pottery pig was smashed, which in German is called "Das Sparschwein schlachten" (to slaughter the piggybank).
it probably is a reference to , i run out of potatoes for the winter and my family must starve , but you got a pig you could butcher and give its meat to your family to survive - Ich habe Schwein gehabt is - That was a close one in english
"Er muss zu allem seinen Senf dazugeben" wasn't translated completely. It's actually "he has to add his mustard to everything". Not sure if "give his two cents" has the same implication, but in German it would basically mean someone who annoys people because he comments on everything, even if he's supposed to just accept it or it doesn't concern him.
Quite similar to what's going on in the comment threads … just to demonstrate here.
(sorry, could not resist…)
Id say it's a good translation. The annoying git "adding his mustard" is a "Besserwisser", or a "know-it-all". Just by itself "adding your mustard" has no implications just like "giving ypur 2 cents".
@@justanothername5199 "Seinen Senf dazugeben" in its own may not. Key is the "er muss zu allem". That's like saying "he just has to give his two cents to everything". At least in my area that lead to it generally implying something negative.
@@raenfox fair enough, it might be a regional thing. Or im just plain wrong, wouldn't be the first time either. Take care
it's like saying: opinions are like @$$ holes, everyone has one. definitely a negative connotation.
As I am German, please allow me to say that your accent is adorable and your videos make up for the American tourists I have to deal with on a nearly-weekly basis.
You don’t have all the cups in the cupboard
I'm also German and that's exactly what I thought 😂
Du hast es erfasst
We also say "Tu leży pies pogrzebany" = "Da liegt der Hund begraben" in Poland, as far as I know we borrowerd the expression from our German neighbors :D
I listened to an audiobook explaining a lot of German expressions. Most of them are from medieaval times such as this one. Sadly I cannot remember how this particular one came to be.
Is it true, that you say "quadratisch, praktisch, gut" ?
:
my aunt called me lorbass when i was a child. i though this was a german word until i got a polish girl friend. :D
@@atstrollz6875 That’s an ad slogan from Ritter Sport a very well reknown traditional chocolate producer. They have their own museum in Germany and even some tourist attraction where you can make your own chocolate bar to take home. I chose gummybears and crisps. Can’t recommend the combination though haha
@@atstrollz6875 It was an Advertisement for some chocolate (Ritter Sport)
Ryan is learning more and more german every episode.
Not really. Being entertainend and learning a language are different things.
@@vomm well, he is catching up on some words, that's what I meant.
@@vomm He does learn, but not very quickly :P It's nice that he enjoys another culture though. I think it's always good to learn about the world, even if he's not learning a lot of the languages with every episode.
I don’t think there was any part in the vid that would make me say that
@LisaM But he very barely watches German video, 90% he watches English videos about Germany
I love seeing you slowly learn german and how innocently exited you are.
Right ??? ☺️🙃☺️ So beautiful to watch him getting it ☺️
Honestly, if I have to explain the train station one to one of my non-german colleagues, I explain it with math problems. Basically "If train A leaves the train station at 8 PM and goes 124 mph..." -> "Whoa, I only understood train station..."
Wow, that's a really good way of explaining this idiom!
It's supposedly from WW2, where "Bahnhof" became synonymous with going home. Soldiers who were exhausted and only wanted to go home supposedly stopped paying attention to anything else you told them once they had heard the magical word "Bahnhof".
@@TheFeldhamster actually WW1 , when the soldiers were tired and wanted to get the order to go to the train station to go home.
If train A leaves at 8am and train B is going to London, how far can a kangaroo jump on Christmas Eve?
I would explain it by making them feel how I feel when I ask my dad for an address and he gives me directions instead:
Me: "Do you know the way to [random place] from here?"
Them: "No."
Me: "Easy, just go straight this way until you pass the train station, then turn right and immediately left again, then right at the fifth intersection, take the third exit at the roundabout, then you can turn right again at the eighteenth intersection and take a half-left at the seventh intersection or you turn left at the fifth intersection and right again on the second intersection, either way you will eventually reach another train station and from there it's the 23rd building to the right. Got it?"
Them: "I only understand train station"
(not that my dad is bad at explaining things (he's actually a coach & e-learning author and introduced the very concept of e-learning into his company) , I'm just bad at remembering directions because ADD and why bother learning that skill in the age of smartphones & google maps)
I think I spider, you actually understood the meanings of some of these right away!
as for expression 1: Da liegt der Hund begraben: I actually use it more in a situation, if I find out something shady about a topic or a person.
It's like when something that sounds great, has actually some sort of shady twist, or If a person had some shady or embarrassing secret behind it.
Imagine a beautiful garden, with really green and nice grass... but there is a dog buried under it. At first glance you don't know ;)
as for the last one: yes, pigs are considered lucky in a special context. During New Years you can see little pigs or piglets as figurines, as a token of luck that you can gift someone else, you see them in comercials regarding New Years etc. . But when you say "ich habe Schwein gehabt / I had pig" it's more regarding the "luck of the dumb." More if you were close to something bad or inconveinient happening to you, yet it didn't happen, or you got out of a strange/dangerous/nasty situation by sheer luck. Then you were lucky, du hast Schwein gehabt. You wouldn't use it in case you won the lottery though :)
Yes, I also use "Da liegtt der Hund begraben" more in the meaning of "Oh, I found the problem"
I waited the whole video for „Da haben wir den Salat!“ 😂
I loved how you had a lot of fun guessing the meanings. Very entertaining. You made my day, thank you.
In fact, the expression "There lies the dog buried" can have two very different meanings. It can mean that nothing is going on somewhere: "But the dog is buried in Winterstein," one could exclaim about a sleepy village, for example. Yes, in Thuringia there is actually the small town of Winterstein and there is a memorial stone with a dog carved into it. It is intended to commemorate the particularly clever dog Stutzel, who, according to legend, was buried here in a coffin. The people in the neighboring villages found that very strange and made fun of Winterstein from then on. So "There lies the dog buried" became a proverb about a boring place where a dog burial is still the most exciting event. In the original meaning, however, the phrase - just like the sentence "There lies the rub" - points to the cause of a problem. A devil or a vicious dog used to be depicted on treasure chests to deter thieves. So if you knew where the treasure chest with the dog on it was buried, you had found what you were looking for. And in a figurative sense, one often looks for the cause of a problem. When you finally discover it, you feel like you've stumbled upon a treasure!
Yeah, I think the meaning of "There lies the rub" is more covered by "Da liegt der Hase im Pfeffer!" [That's where the Hare lies among the pepper (plants) ]these days. The buried dog was exclusively used as "boring/sleepy" whenever I heard it.
@@monkeybusiness673 There lies the dog is buried means for me that a certain point in the problem is pointed out, which must be solved to solve the problem. One could also say instead: 'that's exactly where the problem lies'.

There lies the dog is buried means for me that a certain point in the problem is pointed out, which must be solved to solve the problem. One could also say instead: 'that's exactly where the problem lies'.

@@ariane14605 Strange, I never heard anyone ever use it that way. Is it an East/West German kind of thing maybe? I'm from Saxony-Anhalt, so maybe that's the case?
@@monkeybusiness673 i don't know.
I am from West Berlin.
In Franconia we say "Da ist der Hund gefreckt/vereckt" (the dog died here) for a sleepy/boring place, while "Da liegt der Hund begraben" typically means "that's where the problem lies"
Some of those "literal" translations aren't literal at all. :D
Example: "Er muss zu allem seinen Senf dazugeben" would rather be something like "He has to add his mustard to everything(and anything)", and not "Add his mustard to it". A lot of things missing there. :D
It´s a stone´s throw away ... we have directly translated in german, too: Das ist nur einen Steinwurf weit weg. it means the same as the cat´s jump ;)
I use „Da liegt der Hund begraben“ more in a way to express ‚finally we get to the point of matter‘ after a long search for or discussion about the reason for a problem.
There is a famous song about the ends of a sausage: ua-cam.com/video/a4JSE32fuOc/v-deo.html
We also use „das ist nur einen Steinwurf entfernt“ which is the same as „Katzensprung“ or „stone throw away“.
At least in Germany a pig is besides the chimney sweeper and four leaves clovers also a symbol for luck. So if you wish someone luck it‘s not unusual to give them a little pig out of marzipan. You can also get greeting cards with little pigs on them.
Das ist eher: " des Pudels Kern." Hm?
@@christinahensel83 MMn ist des Pudels Kern eher „the heart of the matter“ als „da liegt der Hund begraben“.
@@Al69BfR würde es auch so übersetzen: thats where the root of the problem lies
I never before heard "Da liegt der Hund begraben" as pointing at the heart of the issue. Everyone I ever met, if they used it, used it as "Da ist nichts los, tote Hose, sterbenslangweilig".
I am from Saxony-Anhalt, and most people I know live in the eastern parts of Germany, so is it maybe an east-west kind of thing?
@@scarred537 Ya usualy you say , AAAhhhhaaaahhhh,, da liegt also der Hund begraben ,,, like, now we got it,,,, or the real reason of.... whatever..!!!!!
Your german pronunciation has become so much better over the few months I’ve been watching your videos :) A little hint for the german ‘Z’, we do like a very short but sharp ‘S’ combined with a ‘T’. Our ‘Z’ is like the english combination of ‘TS’ for example : the bits, the pits, tsunami… so ‘Zug’ (train) would be pronounced like ‘Tsug’ and don’t be afraid to pronounce the ‘T’ in ‘TS’ very hard. For the ‘S’ in ‘TS’, you know the sound that a bicycle wheel makes when you push the valve down, yeah that’s how we pronounce it in ‘TS’ (Z) but like I said, it is a very short ‘S’. Hope I could help and I absolutely love your videos.
🤣🤣 To understand how romantic the Germans are, here are 3 more idioms:
"Das passt wie Arsch auf Eimer." Literally: "That fits like ass on bucket."
or: "Wie Faust auf Auge" - "Like fist to eye."
or: "Wie Deckel auf Topf" - "Like a lid on a pot."
And the meaning for all 3 is: The two go very well together.😁😉
I loved this one, very good, Ryan! The pig stands for a lucky charm over here
I am from Germany and I always watch your videos. They are really interesting and so much fun to watch.
I hope that you keep doing this for a long time.
Have a good day and friendly greetings from Germany 😊
Your guesses Made this so much more funny 😂
Number one was Linda right from your perspectivd. ItS mostly used when talking about the true root of a Problem. Like this: "Jason ist drinking very much lately" "yeah and hes Always late...." "Didnt you hear bis father dies?" "Oh....so thats we're the Dog is burried".....Like "ah now i understand the true source of the Problem/suffering.
So cute how you thank her every time she compliments the viewer😂
Number 8 is from WW2 when soldiers went home they were often send to a train station for transport. So if a Soldier wanted home their only understood "train Station" when talked to by a superior.
Hi Ryan, I love your expressions to these idioms! And as I just found your channel lately and am now also watching your earlier videos, I know that you already saw this thing about the 'Bahnhof'. 😀 About 4 months ago in another video.
Important to add, that he didn't react to this video before.
Hey, your German pronunciation is making great progress! Congratulations!
It's the same as in his first videos but ok
In Swedish, "där ligger en hund begraven" means that there's something fishy going on.
"sich zum Affen machen"
The literal translation is more: "Make a monkey of yourself"
In German the word for ape and monkey is the same: Affe.
The idiom refers more to the animal you would call monkey as it means like dressing up and make tricks for entertainment.
It can also refer to the "oogh, oogh, aagh, aagh (with scratching your armpits)" with wich you can literally make an ape of yourself.
But it always means to become a laughing stock by your own actions.
Never, ever, refer to the librarian as an ape.
@@steemlenn8797
But he is an orangutan, isn't he? ;)
Just stopped by to say you're a very likable, humorous guy! Enjoyed many of your videos (especially over the last days, while I'm sick and mostly lying in bed).
Kind regards from Germany.
"Da liegt der Hund begraben" always reminds me of "Das ist des Pudels Kern" by Goethes "Faust I" (literally: "The core of the poodle"). DeepL translate the idiom well: It's the crux of the matter. A slightly different meaning would be that you find something out that wasn't obvious before.
I just realise there are a lot of animals in German idioms.
Er hat es! 👍😂
Hi, I am from Germany and I have found your channel for a while. As a German I enjoy your interpretation about German phrases because I know how confusing they could be if you haven't a mother tongue. I try to explain you "Da liegt der Hund begraben" You have to see it like a murder case the dead dog is your strongest proof in the argumentation the other phrases you have interpretated very well some of them better like the video you have seen. Good job Mach weiter so :-)
Honestly, your German pronunciation is getting better and better 👍
I (am a German speaker) think, you are right, "da liegt der Hund begraben" is not neutral, but describes something negative. A more neutral expression would be: "das ist des Pudels Kern". Both expressions are about dogs, the latter one is about showing the most central part of a problem. (Derived from Goethes "Faust").
'"Everything has an end, only the sausage has two" yes, my dear, it's over.' is a line from a German party song by Stephan Remmler.
And here is a video about it
ua-cam.com/video/CKofw_GNbXA/v-deo.html
About the buried dog. just imagine someone offers you a porsche 911 for 10k $. Great shape, leather is fresh, low milage, just 2 years old, anything looks good - until you find out the engine is missing, the transmission is broken and the seller has no papers since the car ist stolen. thats "where the dog is buried". i would translate it with "thats where the catch is" or something like that. if something appears good until you find the "buried dog".
"Hals und Beinbruch!" translates literaly to "break your neck and legs" and means "Good luck and be blessed".
It's a misunderstanding of the jiddish blessing "hatsloche un broche". Maybe it's also the origin of the english "break a leg".
And it is transferred to sailing-ships: "Mast- und Schotbruch!"
Number 8 comes from WW2 where soldiers just wanted to get home by train so if they are very tired and they don’t understand anything anymore I just wanna go to the train station and home
8:17 your reaction is awesome.😂 Yeah, got it right. 🖐👴👍
3:31 "Wo sich Fuchs und Hase gute Nacht sagen" "Where fox and rabbit say good night"
wherever that is, must be a damn boring, peaceful, quiet place
... the end of the world.. where no normal conditions are...
berlin abbreviation "JWD" = "Janz Weit Draußen" = "very far away"
I will never get over how sausage/foot-related so many of our phrases are in the german language x3
"Alles hat ein Ende nur die Wurst hat zwei (Everything has an end only the sausage has too)"
"Eine Extrawurst haben wollen (to want/demand an extra sausage)"
"seinen Senf dazu geben (to add ones mustard)"
"Da hab ich Schwein gehabt (I've really had pig)"
"Zu viele Köche verderben den Brei (too many cooks spoil the porrige)"
"Nicht das Gelbe vom Ei sein (to not be the yellow of the egg)"
"Tomaten auf den Augen haben (to have tomatoes on one's eyes)"
"Abwarten und Tee trinken (to wait it out and drink tee)"
"Liebe geht durch den Magen (love goes through the stomach)"
"Der dümmste Bauer erntet die größten Kartoffeln (The stupidest farmer harvests the biggest potatoes)"
and even more ^^
Its such a charming quality of the german language
Geh mir nicht auf die.Eier du Pflaume
Der Intelligenzquotient eines Agrarökonomen ist reziprok proportional zum Volumen seiner Hackfrüchte.
Number 9 is more like someone how always adds his opinion to a conversation were it’s not needed.
So he always adds (his mustert/ his opinions) to everything.
Awesome video! Pity they didn't explain where the expressions come from. Maybe you should react to German proverbs, Ryan. :-) But your German is getting better and better, I'm impressed!
Ryan, your videos make my day. I am looking so forward to them. It is so precious to see how excited you get and how real you are. No acting, just pure fun. You just have to come to Germany one day and experience everything you watch on UA-cam for yourself. Hope you will get the chance one day. Keep doing what you are doing and put a smile on our faces
"Here is a dog buried" is also a well-known saying in Finland, but it means that there is some kind of twisted plot hidden here. According to an old belief, a person stumbles on a dog's grave.
I think the English expression is confusing the saying "Das also war des Pudels Kern", i.e. "That was the core of the poodle", meaning the heart of the matter.
There is actually a song called "Alles hat ein Ende nur die Wurst hat zwei" by Stephan Remmler written in 1987! You can check out the music video, it is ... interesting
Nice to see long time daily your videos, I can see that your German get better and better. Stay corious and never stop that.
Maybe in few years u will make your first video in German language 😂.
I like your video a lot. Greetings from Germany.
Wir sehen uns morgen. (we see us tomorrow)
What is funny to me as a german is how when you say the expressions or talk about them it makes less sense.
I think that for a lot of Expressions the Tone and the context ( you have in your head ) have to be just right for it to sound logical.
This was clear to me when with: Wo Fuchs und Hase sich gute Nacht sagen
I imediately had this quiet, piecful forest scene in my head with a fox and hare ( is that the word??) ( both on two legs ) and the picture of a parent sitting at their childrens bed starting a goodnight story with these words.
This is why I say wo fuchs und hase sich gute Nacht sagen much softer and calmer and I think if you dont have that notion you will have a hard time getting it right. Only through collevtive memory can expressions work and that is part of whats so fun and fascinatinf about languages.
I love how happy you were when you got #6 and #7 (almost) right :D
Your vocabulary is really improving a lot now^^
Here's a few tips for the pronunciation (if you care about that):
The "z" in German is sharper. So it would be pronounced like a "ts" in English. For example "zur" (translation: 'to the' or just 'to') would be pronounced "tsooa" rather than "zuhr".
The "ch" in German seems to be difficult for many. But try hissing like a cat. "wach" (translation: awake ) would be pronounced "va-*catHiss*.
(This was me giving my "mustard" to the video). And as already stated by others, that was incorrectly translated in the clip you watched. It basically means to butt into other people's business or to give feedback or an opinion nobody asked for XD
Ich möchte auch noch meinen Senf dazugeben:
a) there is no silent letter in German. "Hase" is pronounced *with* the "e" in the end. Same is true for "Ende", "Name", "Rose", etc.
b) to practise the soft "ch", I recommend to whisper: "yyyes, yyyyes, yyyyyes"
As mentioned above, the german "z" is pronounced "ts" and the harsh "ch" is turning "k" into a fricative ("kkhhhkhhh").
@@michelaushamburg6766 your b) would turn "weich" (= soft) into "weisssssss" (=white). That's an odd way of explaining the pronunciation. could you give an example where this would work?
If you don't like "That's where the dog is buried", you can always say "That's the core of the poodle."
12:56 "Are pigs lucky?" Yes, they are seen as a luck-symbol here. For new years eve some stores sell pigs made of marzipan that represent good luck in the next year. Other symbold for good luck in Germany include stuff like a horseshoe, ladybug, chimney sweeper or clover and a few other things. Sometimes stores also sell clovers decorated with figures of a chimney sweeper with a horseshoe and a ladybug that you can gift other people for good luck (but not all people would buy and gift them to other people btw). It's also seen as bad luck if you have a horseshoe on the walls and hang it with the opening downside since people belive all the good luck would fall out of it wich will bring bad luck upon you.
you know what, I just binged your videos for the better part of 2 hours, and yes I do feel like subscribing! It's wonderful to see someone just absorb information like that, and be happy and cheerful about it. Let alone happily admitting not knowing things, or not doing them perfectly. Which is probably a very german approach. If you keep doing these, do come over if you can, and boy do Germans, me included, love people reacting to our culture :)
The "Literally" translation really should be literal else it is confusing. Er muss zu allem seinen Senf dazugeben means literally "He has to add his mustard to everything" and not "Add his mustard to it." Also "seinen Senf dazugeben" as expression the "seinen" is generic maskulinum from "jemand" (someone) which is generically masculine but females are meant to. It does not really stand for "his" but for "(some)one's". So more correct would have been: "Adding one's mustard to it" to literally translate the expression, But if they give a whole sentence they should translate that whole sentence literally, else it's confusing an connections between the words in word-by-word cannot be made. The "zu allem" (to everything) or "überall" (everywhere) is important it signals that it is annoying and not needed the "mustard" (again a sausage related term) is something that is/may be right but unnecessary (not needed). Humble as germans are they will join a discussion with "Wenn ich auch mal meinen Senf dazugeben darf...[argument]" (If I may add my mustard to this...[argument]) or even ask if it's a discussion between to people concerning them but feels like to have to get involved (maybe to deescalate) "Darf ich mal meinen Senf dazugeben?" (Am I allowed to my mustard to this?.. then wait for the answer) It's like asking for the right to speak but implying you are going to give your opinion or an argument.
absolutely agree with you! these expressions only work if you use their exact terms. "Ich habe Schwein gehabt (I had pig)" makes sense as an expression, but it's not recognized as an expression, if you change it to "Ich habe EIN Schwein gehabt (I had A pig)". People probably still understand it, but they might be like "why is he saying it like that? .. thats weird".
My thoughts exactly! You can't just change the sentence type and hope for the best. Also it should have been "to make an ape of yourself" (or monkey the german word doesn't differentiate) to show that it wasn't an imperative (i.e. to ask for someone to do crazy things)
@@sternentalerswald exactly.
7:45 was when the actual meaning struck and he realised that it matched what he was doing moments before.
With "Da liegt der Hund begraben/ That's where the dog is buried", there are actually two possible meanings. I only ever knew of it as being a description of a village where nothing happens, a town that is so boring a burial of a dog is the most exciting happening.
I never heard of the meaning "that's the heart of the matter" before, but apparently it can have both meanings. So the video actually taught me something about my native language :D
Second meaning is analogous zu "Da liegt der Hase im Pfeffer" - "So that's where the hare is lying in the pepper!"
I would say the idea of the metaphor is that you have been trying to find where the dog is buried, but instead you are cluelessly guessing where it is, just like some people meander around a subject without any success in finding its core. Which results in relief, if you finally find it.
Funny, the one that means "Nothing happens in that village2 must e a regional thing. i live near hamburg and I have never heard it used that way
@@saiyasha848 Same here, I have never heard it used in the “boring place” sense. Always in the sense, therein lies the problem/rub. BTW, I’m from the South.
I also know only the meaning which translates like "that's the point!"
Hey Ryan, Im here for a long time now and this is one of your best videos so far! Best wishes for 2023 :)
Feli from Germany has a podcast named "Understanding Train Station". As you've watched some of her videos, I'd assume that's why it sounds familiar to you.
Man I love watching him get excited about guessing things right, it makes me really happy and proud for some reason
Don't know but Expression #1 doesn't really seem right. It is more like: That is the core of the problem. Or "that is the problem".
#1: famous Goethe wrote in "Faust" the phrase "Das also war des Pudels Kern".
English "ah.. So that was the poodles core"
The protagonist called faust said this phrase after the devil Mephisto showed his true shape after he first sneaked on Faust in the shape of a poodle...
"Du nimmst mich auf den Arm" / "You are taking me on your arm" is used because you feel treated like a little child who knows nothing and who can be told everything.
And who will believe everything you tell them :)
Is it Not in English: Do you want to Bundy me?? Df..;)
@@Gandhiweasel A better translation might be "you pick me up like a little child"
@@lyaneris Its more Like two Buddys make Jokes of themselves, Like Al Bundy and Jeffersons or tell Story, you cant believe...Its difficult top explain better.;) You can also say "Der will mir wohl einen Bären aufbinden?!";)🐻🐻🐻
@@Gandhiweasel I know (I'm German). OP is trying to explain the origin of the phrase :)
The meaning is explained by the video.
😂😂 that is the sweetest video i watched on your channel Ryan 🎉
#7 😂😂😂 next week u will be fluent in german
In the past, treasures were often buried in the garden in order to find the place again, a tombstone for a dog was put in the place.
Fuchs just means fox, this is no swear word. It's all fine. 🙂👍
you are absolutely correct :) , but I think his worries are more about the fact that "Fuchs" sounds like "F*cks" in english. I know these are two different things, but UA-cam seems to have it's problems with it ^^ ppl assume that even the automated subtitles can be a problem if they capture a word incorrectly e.g. "F*cks" instead of "Fuchs".
Having said that... it's so crazy that he even has to think about this, when he is just repeating some expressions from another language.. xD
Love the vibe of your videos bro you always having fun and are interested to learn stuff and u are funny man not scared of embararrasing yourself but taking it with humour :D
Your guess whas not too wrong at all.
That is the context we usually use it.
When you get behind the real, hidden, subject of the matter, you might say, aha, that is where dog was buried
Close to it is the phrase, aha, das ist des Pudels Kern!?
It's from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's famous novel 'Faust'.
Doktor Faust was calling this out when he realized that the puddle (dog) that was around him for a while showed his real nature as being the devil (Mephisto) in disguise.
So again, it is like saying, oh that is the hidden truth.
It is similar because behind both is the devil.
Mephisto disguised as a dog, a poodle when he approached Faust.
It was a common believe in the middle ages that the devil is disguising as a black dog who was protecting hidden treasures.
Nuuuu spoilers D:
I was gonna read that!
\s
@@Guardie why would you want to read this abomination of a story?
@@Maritimesgestein Weil darin der Hund begraben liegt, natürlich! 🙂
We have one strange expression:
"A friend helps you move, a true friend helps you move bodies."
Instead of BFE, Germans say JWD, which is taken from the Berlinian dialect and is an abbreviation of Janz Weit Draussen = Very Far Out. (Berlinians often pronounce the G in front of Words as Y, written in German spelling as J.)
Pigs are a symbol of luck in Germany, as pigs are easily fed, and have much offspring, and thus provide wealth to their owners without much effort. Pigs are also loudly voicing if they are feeling well, making their grunting also a symbol of wellbeing for Germans.
ADW
Or bum fuckin nowhere
It's funny, that you have "It's all greek to me" because we have somthing very similar just with spanish.
Even with historical background: Holy Roamn Emperor Charles V were also the King of Spain (as Carlos I) and the german nobility doesen't understand him, when he spoke spanish.
if you do nothing else, but learn how the alphabet is pronounced in German, you will be able to correctly pronounce probably 90% of the words (exceptions like -ei, -ng exist, but english has those too)
German is thankfully a PHONETIC language, unlike English, which is why there is no spelling bees in Germany, since it's way too easy to spell everything
Loved how you were telling your ideas to it before. Was fun
One of the possible Origins of "Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof" goes back to WW1. The theory is that War-tired soldiers wanted nothing else but to go home, and the way home was associated with the train-station. So if you tell them something complicated they ignored it and recognized only the Word "Bahnhof" because they wanted so badly to go home.
loved it. Would love to see more like that
#10 There are a lot expressions with "Schwein". "I had a pig", "Only a pig could read that", "No pig showed up".. the theory goes that there was once a family called "Sweyn" who were the only ones who had a higher education (reading and math) in the region so anyone else had to go to them.
I love when you do language based videos 😂 and I love translating idioms from one language to another! So perfect video 😊
I do like you saying the German words 😊☮️ I am not laughing about you, you sound really cute. I am trying to learn small bits and pieces of Estonian and am sure I don’t sound cute at all 🤭
Thank you. I had so much fun watching this.
It’s so fun to watch you in this video and being so happy when you nailed it :)
You should really visit German once or visit a language course ☺️
1# taht's the heart of the matter is so wrong, "da ist der Hund begraben" means that's an absolute boring place, nothing interresting is ever happening there
Äh... Nein?
Es kann sein, dass du es anders kennengelernt hast aber Fakt ist, dass es genau die im Video angegebene Bedeutung hat.
You are wrong.
No. You use it in a discussion when you get to the core of a topic
That’s not wrong. It has both meanings.
There are two similar phrases: "Da steppt der Bär" ("There does the bear tap-dancing") or "Da boxt der Papst (im Kettenhemd)" ("There is the pope (in chainmail) boxing.")
I love your channel and I watch it as often as I can. Go on with it! You're great! 🙂
You actually did really well in this one, proud of ya. Your theory on #4 about helping a guy out who is drunk is actually more close than you'd think. "You take me ON the arm" means you must be foolin me but "you take me UNDER your arm" means you help me out. Also the expression with the mustard was unfair, they cut half of the phrase in the translation, it should actually be "he HAS to add his mustard to everything" which would have been more clear imho.
"Jemandem unter die Arme greifen" is indeed "to help someone out". Not only litterally help someone home, but also lend some money or support with homework or helping to write official letters etc.
11:37 "add his mustard to it" that dont hit the point. i would say "he must have to add his mustard to it" it means: he cant stop himself from adding comments to everyting
your explanations actually make a lot of sense and apparently I as a german used ''Da liegt der Hund begraben'' wrong 💀
Damn....i watched your vids and had soo much fun😂😂😂😂....Thank you for that, you are amazing!
I think you heard about "only understanding train station" from Feli (a German UA-camr who is living in the US) - She made a Video like the one you watched and their Podcast-Channel is "Understanding Train Station" ;)
Me as a german, I think that it‘s very regional, where you use wich idioms, cause I only new circa half of them
yeah pigs are considered lucky same as like chimney sweeper or horseshoe. Usually you see this stuff around new years eve in like edibles or small good luck charms
Thank you so much for your Videos. Im really depressed at the moment, but you make me laugh 😂❤ greetings from germany
Thank you very much! I very seldom had the oppurtunity to get amused that much. For me as a German these expressions are rather familiar, as I got used to American expressions as well. Yes, you're right, Germans got sometimes weird sayings. But your reactions made me laugh and that's worth a "like". Thank you. Nice Video and I like your channel. You will see me there probably very often. See you and keep doing such things!
Loved your reaction to the extra sausage! Your getting better at this. Keep it up!
1. Means...there's the Problem. 2. if there are few Neighbours and just forrests and field around you..it most refers to small Villages ect.
I like how you got most of them right after hearing it. Very funny!
I follow you for a while now and it's noticable that you are making progress! :D
Excited to see what the future holds!
For the fist one, it also exists another idiom practically synonymous, translating to "there's he snag". I find it even more hilarious. It goes "da liegt der Hase im Pfeffer" which literally says "there lies the hare in the pepper" and goes back to an medieval recipe, "hare pepper", a sauce made with lots of pepper and the "inferiour" body parts of the hare used for the sauce but not for the roast (the paws, ears, head etc.) Since these were small, it was almost impossible to find all of them and pick them out of the sauce before serving. Also the sauce was seemingly so strong that one could hardly taste the hare at all, causing the eater of the sauce to exclaim "there is the hare in the pepper" if he found a piece of hare in it.
I LOVE idioms 😁
6:53 Actually you can say the exact same in German "Das liegt nur einen Steinwurf entfernt".
11:00 * add his mustard to everything
= he has to give his opinion to everything
"Da liegt der Hund begraben" to easy english readable german pronounciation = "Da leaked dair Hunn'd begrah-ben" :D you were right with your guess, this is often to mention some hidden motive that bubbled to the surface ...
i think the expression to add his mustard to everything came from a time when mustard was expensive and restaurants wanted to make the meals more fancy so they added a little bit of mustard everywhere even if you didnt need it or if it didnt fit. It simply wasnt asked. Later the expression was created to add your mustard to everything wich means to always give your opinion even if nobody asked..i think it fits
No, it means...If everyone eats Steaks in the Restaurant and one Person want Tacos...He wants Always a Extrawurst!..
You absolutely nailed it! Great job c: 💚