German idioms you really shouldn't take literally | Meet the Germans
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- From offended sausages to tap-dancing bears - these idiomatic expressions bring a little poetry to the German language.
Rachel Stewart is on a mission to investigate the quirks and idiosyncrasies of daily life in Germany. Every two weeks she explores a new topic - from beer to nudity to complicated grammar - and heads out to get some tips from the Germans themselves.
Rachel moved from the UK to Germany in 2016. As a relative newcomer she casts a fresh eye over German clichés and shares her experiences of settling into German life. You'll find more from Meet the Germans on UA-cam or at dw.com/MeettheGermans.
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Not sure why I am watching this. I am German and I know how the rabbit runs.
But I like it
Lmfao. Same!
Dir gefällt wahrscheinlich die hübsche Sprecherin.
Ya
Do you fellows really like apple sauce on your pancakes? Or- and this is critical- have you had an opportunity to try out some real maple syrup?
@@unclejoeoakland yep we do
Now we have the salad!
good one haha
your english isn’t really the yellow from the egg. But sponge over.
@@carl-marvin I think I spider. His english goes very well.
@@carl-marvin - of the egg-
There goes the dog in the pan crazy
Do you have tomatoes on the eyes?
I only understand train station.
I only understand train station and baked potatoes
You seem to have beans in the ears
This is for the cat...
"I'm into you" is also a bit weird to be fair
thats what he said later that night
Ich bin in dir.
Guepardo Guepárdez Ich bin grad in Dir drin.
Cosmo Karma
**insert lenny face**
but it's completely logical: you gotta stand first
My english is neither the yellow of the egg nor is it one-wall free.
My favorite is still highest irontrain
My english on the other hand is first cream!
Einwand translates to objection. Literal translation would be 'in-turn'.
Me dont sagen english wary wel
Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof :D
Think that's my favourite IMO, has a nice ring to it, makes sense, but always sounds weird 😁
One of my favourites:
"Da wird ja der Hund in der Pfanne verrückt!"
Means: "That'd crazy/unbelievable!"
Literal translation: "The dog in the pan is gonna get crazy"
Denken eigentlich nur chinesen
Das Huhn in der Pfanne verrückt.
Ich kenne das nur mit huhn
@@leopoldschmidt6884 hahahahah
Funfakt, die letzte Hundeschlachterei in Deutschland hat 1980 geschlossen .
Funfact, the last slaughterhouse producing dogmeat in Germany closed in the 1980s
"Holla the forest fairy!" is one if my personal favorites
"Not my beer" has an English cousin, "Not my cup of tea" .
The national drinks. 😉
but the meaning is different, right? "Not my cup of tea" is more like "that doesn't really appeal to me/ I don't really like it"
@@mareike8244 I think it depends on the person listening or speaking but the meaning is similar. But full disclosure, I am not a native English speaker though.
No, it's not the same.
"Das ist nicht mein Bier" -> I am not responsible for that/not of my business
"Not my cup of tea" -> Not of my taste/I don't like it that way
“ not my cup of tea” bedeutet, dass etwas nicht nach meinem Geschmack ist. Ich hoffe mein Deutsch ist hier richtig.
That guys smile really was sweet as a honey pie!
He's so damn cute 🥰
An American smile if ever there was one.
Ehm.. thank you ! 😅 I found that video today for the first time and I am really nervously excited 😳😲
@@beneskoo_3 wow, was that you?
@@Anonymous-cn6zl yesss 😇
Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen describes mocking about the fact that circumstances seem too sugar coated. In the sense "Come on, don't exaggerate! This is not totally all love and peace!"
You don't have all the cups on the cupboard = you're crazy
In English we'd say "you've got a screw loose".
@@jakethesnake95 We also say that, "Du hast doch ne Schraube locker". They mean the same and can be used interchangeably.
"Aus die Maus" refers to one of the most popular german TV program for children. The "Sendung mit der Maus" started broadcasting in the 70's and was the only program watched by children. Every episode ended with the sentence "aus die Maus" as a short form for "Die Sendung mit der Maus ist jetzt zuende." and it also defined the end of the TV session for the kids especially as back then the episodes were broadcastet at half past six on thursday evenings and after that the kids had to go to bed. So "Aus die Maus" stood for the end of the day.
Ich glaube nicht dass die Sendung das erfunden hat
@@gulhanyanar5286 According to the Duden, they did.
Imagine terminator saying:
Aus die Maus Baby!!
German movie translations in a nutshell..
@@connectingwings7212 Most of the time german movie translations are pretty good.
@@IchhabezuvielUA-camgegucktO_o Well, many Jokes can obviously not be transferred to German, and that kind of ruins it - or at some German subtitles you just think - how tf can someone translate this to that..
@@connectingwings7212 Sure but they manage to do a pretty good job compared to the translations in other languages.
@@IchhabezuvielUA-camgegucktO_o The only other subtitle language apart from English that I'm able to speak and understand is Portuguese. However, as you can imagine, not many movies distributed in Germany have Portuguese subtitles, which leads me to having to admit, that I don't know many comparisons so that I cannot draw a conclusion about that..
Isn't "I have such a tie" supposed to be "Ich hab so einen Kragen", meaning "collar"?
There seem to be lots of variations on this one - also "I have such a throat" (Hals)!
Auf österreichisch gibt es noch "Då kriag I soichene Kabön!" "Da krieg ich solche Kabeln!" (mit Griff zu den angeschwollenen Halsschlagadern).
In Austria some say: "I get these cables!" with a hand gesture to their swollen carotid arteries.
Im Pott kannst auch "so 'ne Krawatte, wa?!" haben. Ist regional unterschiedlich, nehme ich an.
Dacht ich mir auch.
I have such an throat/neck/scrag *makes gestures around that bodypart such as it would be very swollen and will soon burst violently in an explosive eruption. But the facial expression is utter mad and this time the spelling is really mad angry german* every german jumps behind cover when someone makes this. Especially if you are a husband or a boyfriend and your partner is the one which is going berzerk in the next moment...
Where is "now we have the salad!" That's my favourite.
ohh, you green nine, this Video is under every sow. I mean it's for the cat! I tought it all would be in the green area or at least in butter. But you've driven me at the nose and danced on it. I think i have drawn the arse card. Ash on my head. Next time i have to go on number safe. Then i will be floating on cloud seven. :D
Yes, i shaked that out of my sleeve. xD
i think you spider!
Off goes the mail!
To much of the good
That was like the yellow from the egg. But Hola the woodfairy, you are on the wood way... But sponge over and enjoy your life in full trains!! 😂
You have something on your pipe,
Rule Number on of learning German: Don‘t play the offended liver sausage
*one
A true one: everything has an End only a sausage has 2😁
I’m going to incorporate “I know how the rabbit runs” into my everyday convos
u are heavi on wire mate
That‘s really hard to know, as rabbits are known for suddenly changing direction when hunted.
Respect to Germans knowing their own idioms, if the similar quizz'd be done in my country half the people would have answered incorrectly.
That was amazing DW!
Very cultural while being entertaining.
I always look for DW content! If its from Germany it must be good.
"Peace, joy, pancakes" - you know that's right
No wonder why Oscar wilde said "life is too short to learn German"
Russian: am I a joke to you?
@@thecommunist8050 Почему?
@@thecommunist8050 Почему?
Weirdest German idiom when taken literally (imo): "to throw an eye on somebody/something" "ein Auge auf jemanden/etwas werfen"
It means that you have an eye on sb./sth. but I find it quite funny that we actually throw the eye in Germany.
Tja ich war mal beim Angeln, als ein Kumpel sein Messer nahm, das Auge eines Alaska Seelachses entfernte und mit genannten Worten auf seinen Bruder warf. - Und das nüchtern! 😂
I feel like "werfen" in this idiom has more to do with "to project". The German for a spotlight is literally a "beam projector" (Scheinwerfer).
Watching one of Rachel's videos makes my day.
Rachel, that makes you so easy nobody after!
"The bear tap-dances here."
Actually sounds quite nice in english :D
Eric The Red or even better if the bear tap-dances in chain-mail 😉
Never heard »Ich hab so eine Krawatte«. Usually it's »Ich hab' so einen Hals!«
Oder "Ich hab so 'nen Kragen", different variations on the theme dependings on the regions and dialects, I guess.
One of my favourites doesn't have a perfect translation. If you go somewhere and there is absolutely nothing happening, you say it is "tote Hose" (literally "dead trousers"). A long running punk band from Düsseldorf are called die Toten Hosen (the dead trousers) :-)
There is also a long list of words used to tell someone that they are getting on your nerves, all beginning with "Du gehst mir auf.......". Literally translated they are quite funny:
Du gehst mir auf den Keks (you are going on my biscuit).
Du gehst mir auf den Wecker (you are going on my alarm clock).
Du gehst mir auf den Senkel (you are going on my (boot)lace.
Du gehst mir auf den Geist (you are going on my ghost/spirit).
Du gehst mir auf den Zeiger (you are going on my (clock)hand.
There are others, but I won't type them here as it might offend somebody :-)
I also laugh when I hear Germans making a comment about a woman with big boobs, namely "Sie hat viel Holz vor der Hütte" (or dialect in South Germany "Holz vor der Hüttn". Literally it means "She has a lot of wood in front of her hut/cabin" LOL.
As an Australian who lived in Germany and dated a German, I thoroughly enjoy this whole series, it gives me a little see-search 😌
idioms are such a funny thing you get to know while learning a new language. I also really enjoyed learning some of the english idioms :)
wait what language is your native language and where are you from?
Who's curious about "Aus die Maus": it is citing Armin Maiwald, the inventor and editor of the "Sendung mit der Maus", who said this often at the end of the program.
When I was a little boy in the sixties I heard my grandparents using this idiom. And that was long before the "Sendung mit der Maus".
I think it is just due to the rhyme and isn't supposed to make any sense beyond that. Similar to phrases like "Ende Gelände" or "Hätte, hätte, Fahradkette". Or the english "to may to, tomato"
"Ah, now, I´m in picture"
you are walking me on the cookie
Freshly Brewed Covers 😂😂😂
"I think I spider" and "You can say you to me"
"I think I spider" is a deliberate mistranslation though.
@@michaelt.5672 you dont say
"Don't play the insulted liver sausage"
And "Peace, joy, pancakes" can also be very sarcastic…
Haha "I know how the rabbit runs" brings up "This ain't my first rodeo"
I really love Deutschland!
Hier steppt der Bär
"Aus die Maus": When a famous Kids-TV-Show named "Die Sendung mit der Maus" ended, a lot of people always said "aus die Maus" . That's were it comes from.
Ah didn't know that, but it makes sense now😄
To quote Lothar Matthäus: " I think I spider".
Der war gut!
My lovely mr singing club! I only understand trainstation. Maybe im on the woodway.
if it weren't for youtube I feel like I would never have learned this... and I've been to Germany
"Ich habe so eine Krawatte" ... also DAS habe ich noch nie gehört!
Ich kenne "Ich hab so nen Hals!" aber das mit der Krawatte hab ich noch nie gehört.
"I only understand railway station" for "Ich versteh' nur Bahnhof" and "My lovely male choir" for "Mein lieber Herr Gesangsverein".
I love how many phrases have food or beer in it.
I have never heard of "ich habe so eine Krawatte" - this should be "ich habe so einen Hals"!
I've heard both. But I understand why you thought that a horse is kicking you!
Well, now the dog is going crazy in the frying pan
"With him is no good cherry eating." "Mit dem ist nicht gut Kirschen essen." Be careful, this guy is strong and tends to be brutal.
or better meaning: This one had a really bad Day, leave him alone.
Or even better interpretation. It's hard to come to terms with him/her.
And the opposite: "mit dem kann man Pferde stehlen"
1:23 There's another one: "Ich bin sauer" - "I am sour"
I think it is translated as "being salty", right?
i really like german, its nice to hear these idioms ;)
I never learned these expressions in school. thanks for sharing.
I love these videos! Rachel Stewart does such a good job.
Thanks! :D
The bear tap dances here= party
Well I guess those Germans know how to party bears and all.
Eben translated word by word is not "beaming like a honey cake horse" it is "smiling like a gingerbread horse" or very similar in English: "to grin like a Cheshire cat" 😉
English: Not My Cup of Tea.
German: Das Ist Nicht Mein Bier.
Relatable.
Brilliant video. The best I've seen. Well done, Rachel.
"peace, joy and pancakes" was actually the motto of the loveparade in berlin. the "pancake" part was used to convince the authoriries about the seriousness of the project; being a political demonstration: Everybody should have enough to eat. It was approved.
The english version? Because the German version is muuuuuuch older than the love parade.
Nee, die deutsche Version: Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen!
;-)
That grin guy
I know where the hammer is hanging
My dear mister singing club! Did you know that “Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen” was the slogan of the first ever Love Parade? It stood for disarmament, international understanding through music, and equal distribution of food. They initially needed such a slogan so the Love Parade could be declared as demonstration and not a party.
All paths lead to Rome.
To Germany*
Here are a few "southern fried sayings" which are ordinarily heard south of the Mason Dixon Line in the USA" 1) "That dog will hunt!", 2) "You must think I just fell off the turnip truck!", 3) "Bless your heart!", and 4) "This ain't my first rodeo!". In order, they translate as: 1) "That's a solution that will work!", "2) You must think me naïve.", 3) "Your brains are dog poop.", and 4) "I've seen that bull$hit trick before." Being Slavic, my all time favorite is "Pray for meat, but plant potatoes and cabbage."
This girl is great. Keep her
That one dude answers "Ich hab so ne Krawatte" with the phrase "Ich bin sauer" which means "I'm sour" in english xD
"Ich stehe auf dich." is in accusative. If a German wanted to say they're standing on you, they'd say "Ich stehe auf dir." (dative).
Someone will roast me a stork!
I used the dancing bear reference in German, when responding to a group email that included a couple men with German wives. One of them said he laughed like mad. He asked how on earth I knew that phrase.
I'm am ABSOLUTELY going to use some of these auf Englisch!
What’s funny is that as someone who lives in the German speaking part of Switzerland (and learned German here), most of these expressions are completely unknown here!
I'm german and understand only train station
And where are those classics like the bucket rain or the crazy-fried dog? Or the appleing thing?
In romanian, when someone is bad at doing something we say "you are cabbage" or "you are dust"
What about Birds in the Head or Not all the cups are in the cupboard? Great video
Hast du 'nen Vogel?! - Do you have a bird?! (Are you crazy?)
Mir schwillt der Kamm! My cockscomb is is swelling! (This makes me so angry.)
MrRedhondabadge I think by you its whistling
1:31 That guy is super cute. Great smile too.
Ja super schön 😍
A real Honigkuchenpferd
Thank you 😅😳
My favourit: "Da boxt der Past im Kettenhemd!"
"The pope is boxing in chain amour there" which means there is commotion somewhere.
I have never ever heard that one and I doubt it is a common idiom.
@@chrisrudolf9839 Da boxt der Papst im Kettenhemd? doch, das gibts. Erinnert mich an Jugendsprache aus den 80gern. The pope is boxing in chain-mail.
@@mweskamppp Ah ja, die sogenannte Jugendsprache aus den 80ern. Da gab's ja immer völlig verquere Ausdrücke, die man den lustigen Büchern über Jugendsprache entnehmen konnte, die aber kein Jugendlicher tatsächlich jemals gewohnheitsmäßig benutzt hat. Wie "Kopfgärtner" für Friseur. :-)
@@chrisrudolf9839 Ich hab da noch was anderes.
De Koten pölen mitte Pille un eener sacht: "wat schmiecht de osnik?" "wat, all half sögen?" "ik mot dadür"!
Ich nutze immer noch einige Worte, die in meiner Jugend gebraucht wurden. Selbst ein Vorstand eines Dax Unternehmens hat mal eines gebraucht in meiner Gegenwart.
Na denn, alls jovel. Hamels Jonteff!
Das ist ein Gemisch aus Hochdeutsch, münsterländer Platt und Masematte.
Übersetzt etwa:
Die Kinder spielen Fussball und einer sagt: "wie spät ist es"? "Was schon halb sieben"? "Ich muss weg"!
Na dann, alles in Ordnung, viel Spaß noch!
"I think my pig is whistling" is kinda of like "when pig fly"
mhm not sure. "when pigs fly" is more of "yeah that never going to happen", while "pig whisteling" is more of an expression of suprise
If the pig whistles in the forest and nobody is there to hear it, did it whistle?
Thank you so much for your videos! I am learning a lot before going to Germany. 😌😊
Liver sausage gets dark and dried when it’s lying around. It doesn‘t look good soon. Some poetic mind must have called it „offended“ looking.
If more of these ever get made please include the German pronunciation of said idioms, thanks!
I laughed so hard watching this video... But actually, it's not "Out the mouse", it is rather "Finished the mouse, an end to the nut (Schluss die Nuss), Ende Gelände (end of terrain) and "Schicht im Schacht" (end of shift in the shaft). All meaning: It's definite and cannot be changed anymore.
And if you want to translate "Ich stehe auf Dich", then please note that "standing on you" would mean in German in this literal sense "Ich stehe auf Dir". "Ich stehe auf Dich" has a definite sexual connotation, regarding the aroused male part...
A whistling pig is something you'll never get so see in this life. So, to point out your surprise about something very out of the ordinary, you could as well say "Ich glaube mein Hamster bohnert" (I believe my hamster is polishing), something, that you will never ever see in your liftime, too.
Please just turn off the captions... let the viewers decide to turn them on if needed
One of my personal favourites: The pope is boxing in a chain mail shirt here.
The meaning is similar to 'The bear tap-dances' :D
hier kloppt sich der papst im kettenhemd oderwas soll das sein
I Love Rachel Stewart
I could imagine some folks down in Texas or Oklahoma would say something like "Here's where the bear does the tap dance".
i have another one: my english is not the yellow from the egg, but it goes
Holla die Waldfee! Das haut mich glatt aus den Socken xD
Zumindest in Österreich: Durch die Finger schauen. Eine auflegen. Am Watschnbaum rütteln. Einen Scherer/Vogel haben. Aufs stille Örtchen gehen. Eingefahren sein (Fehlschlag). Eiskalt erwischen.
That goes off like Schmitz cat 😂
I'm really hesitant about who is the best? Rachel or the presenter of ICYMI channel?
'Und die Hose ziehe ich mir mit der Kneifzange an.' - 'I put on my trouser with pincers.' means: Tell it to a fool. I don't believe you.
I bought a book of english phrases a few months ago. A funny phrase is: 'There's no room to swing a cat.' which means: 'Es gibt keinen Platz sich umzudrehen.'
I love it, thank you DW.
Usually, the last one is used more in an ironic or sarcastic way than in a serious one.
German : Ich glaub ich Spinne.
English : I think/believe i Spider.
Great video overall, but the minor thing that bugged me was the lack of context for "Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen". It is usually used in a more negative context to establish some kind of contrast. Anyway, I'm drunk and germen. You're doing fine.
I have been here for 25 years and I have only heard maybe two of those.
"schwerhörige Kapelle", "über beide Ohren grinsen", "alter Schinken" usw. ...
Peace, Joy, Pancakes was the official motto of the loveparade; the pancake part was referring to food for everybody. it was meant seriously thus qualifiying the parade as a political demonstration.
Nonsense with sauce
"ich habe eine Krawatte" habe ich noch nie gehört. "ich habe so einen Hals" könnte den gleichen Sinn ergeben.
“Das ist nicht mein Bier,” is pretty much the opposite of the American idiom, “Hold my beer.”🍻
"Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen" is an expression of irony. The meaning is, all seems good but isn't really.
Das ist Wurst - That‘s sausage means: it doesn‘t matter. Probably because it doesn‘t matter on which end you start to eat the sausage.