Top 10 German idioms | Culture| Arts, music and lifestyle reporting from Germany | DW | 17.02.2014

We use cookies to improve our service for you. You can find more information in our data protection declaration.

More info OK
  1. Inhalt
  2. Navigation
  3. Weitere Inhalte
  4. Metanavigation
  5. Suche
  6. Choose from 30 Languages

Culture

Top 10 German idioms

When it comes to German, legendary for its linguistic precision, there's often little room for interpretation. But even German sometimes strays from its literal roots, leaving some of us scratching our heads.

  • Glücksbringer fürs neue Jahr

    Having pig

    If you've won the lottery, aced an exam that you didn't study for, or escaped being recruited for an unwanted task, lucky you! "Schwein gehabt!" You had a pig. In many cultures, pigs serve their main purpose on dinner plates. In Germany they do too - but, oddly enough, they also happen to be lucky.

  • Kaffeepötte in warmen Farben Flash-Galerie

    Not all cups in the cupboard

    If he doesn't have "alle Tassen im Schrank," then he happens to be crazy. English speakers would similarly say he's gone mad, or he's "lost his marbles."

  • Inter City Express ICE Zug Deutsche Bahn

    I understand only train station

    The German phrase, "Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof," doesn't mean the speaker speaks only the language of train stations. Rather, the statement indicates utter confusion. A comparable English phrase would be, "It's all Greek to me."

  • Pferde auf einer Weide

    Life is not a pony farm

    Suck it up, cowboy. When the going gets tough, someone is bound to remind you that "das Leben ist kein Ponyhof." In other words, life isn't fair, it's not a bed of roses, nor is it a bowl of cherries.

  • Symbolbild Nase Makrofotografie

    I have the nose full

    "Ich habe die Nase voll" could potentially be interpreted to mean aning that someone needs a tissue. But more than likely it means enough is enough: The speaker is fed up with a particular situation.

  • Sprachbar Deutschkurse Biersorten im Glas

    Hop and malt is lost

    The idiom stems from beer brewing - surprise! What would a list of German idioms be without reference to amber nectar? If "Hopfen und Malz is verloren," then you'd better just give up hope because it is a lost cause. Should something go wrong in the brewing process, the ingredients were considered wasted, and a good beer was thus, a lost cause.

  • Silvester 2013/2014 Berlin

    Beautiful celebration night!

    If your colleagues wish you a "schönen Feierabend" after a day in the office, they're hoping you have a pleasurable post-work evening. Don't be fooled by hard-working Germans: They know how to play just as hard. So much in fact, that once Germans clock out - even after a night shift that ends at 6:00 am - the remainder of the day is considered a party.

  • Deutschland Wurst

    It's sausage to me

    Now that you're off work, maybe you're open to suggestions on how to spend your post-work celebration. If it doesn't matter what you do, tell your friends, "es ist mir Wurst," and they'll know you're not talking about sausage, but that you really don't have an opinion one way or another.

  • Symbolbild Daumen drücken

    I press my thumbs for you

    When they're wishing you good luck, friends will say "Ich drücke dir die Daumen" and may even raise their fists upwards to show you. In English, this good-will sentiment includes the hands, but fingers are crossed instead of pressed.

  • Deutschland Dackelrennen

    Lies have short legs

    Stretching the truth might work in the short term, but it won't last. In the long run, "Lügen haben kurze Beine," which means the falsehood won't withstand time and could at some point come back to haunt you. The only thing these Dachshunds have in common with lies, is that they also have short legs.


  • Glücksbringer fürs neue Jahr

    Having pig

    If you've won the lottery, aced an exam that you didn't study for, or escaped being recruited for an unwanted task, lucky you! "Schwein gehabt!" You had a pig. In many cultures, pigs serve their main purpose on dinner plates. In Germany they do too - but, oddly enough, they also happen to be lucky.

  • Kaffeepötte in warmen Farben Flash-Galerie

    Not all cups in the cupboard

    If he doesn't have "alle Tassen im Schrank," then he happens to be crazy. English speakers would similarly say he's gone mad, or he's "lost his marbles."

  • Inter City Express ICE Zug Deutsche Bahn

    I understand only train station

    The German phrase, "Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof," doesn't mean the speaker speaks only the language of train stations. Rather, the statement indicates utter confusion. A comparable English phrase would be, "It's all Greek to me."

  • Pferde auf einer Weide

    Life is not a pony farm

    Suck it up, cowboy. When the going gets tough, someone is bound to remind you that "das Leben ist kein Ponyhof." In other words, life isn't fair, it's not a bed of roses, nor is it a bowl of cherries.

  • Symbolbild Nase Makrofotografie

    I have the nose full

    "Ich habe die Nase voll" could potentially be interpreted to mean aning that someone needs a tissue. But more than likely it means enough is enough: The speaker is fed up with a particular situation.

  • Sprachbar Deutschkurse Biersorten im Glas

    Hop and malt is lost

    The idiom stems from beer brewing - surprise! What would a list of German idioms be without reference to amber nectar? If "Hopfen und Malz is verloren," then you'd better just give up hope because it is a lost cause. Should something go wrong in the brewing process, the ingredients were considered wasted, and a good beer was thus, a lost cause.

  • Silvester 2013/2014 Berlin

    Beautiful celebration night!

    If your colleagues wish you a "schönen Feierabend" after a day in the office, they're hoping you have a pleasurable post-work evening. Don't be fooled by hard-working Germans: They know how to play just as hard. So much in fact, that once Germans clock out - even after a night shift that ends at 6:00 am - the remainder of the day is considered a party.

  • Deutschland Wurst

    It's sausage to me

    Now that you're off work, maybe you're open to suggestions on how to spend your post-work celebration. If it doesn't matter what you do, tell your friends, "es ist mir Wurst," and they'll know you're not talking about sausage, but that you really don't have an opinion one way or another.

  • Symbolbild Daumen drücken

    I press my thumbs for you

    When they're wishing you good luck, friends will say "Ich drücke dir die Daumen" and may even raise their fists upwards to show you. In English, this good-will sentiment includes the hands, but fingers are crossed instead of pressed.

  • Deutschland Dackelrennen

    Lies have short legs

    Stretching the truth might work in the short term, but it won't last. In the long run, "Lügen haben kurze Beine," which means the falsehood won't withstand time and could at some point come back to haunt you. The only thing these Dachshunds have in common with lies, is that they also have short legs.


Related content

Tom Wolfe

New Journalism: Tom Wolfe's pioneering legacy 16.05.2018

An insightful observer of American culture across decades, Tom Wolfe, who died aged 88, revitalized journalism and shook up the US literary scene with an inimitable style that has inspired a generation of authors.

«Starman» im roten Tesla im All

Opinion: Elon Musk and feeling like a kid again 07.02.2018

Not everything went according to plan during SpaceX's Falcon Heavy launch yesterday, but in the end it didn't matter.

Bildkombo Verstorbene Musiker 2016

A year after Bowie's death: Why music lives on in 2017 09.01.2017

David Bowie passed away a year ago on January 10, followed by other iconic stars, such as Prince and Leonard Cohen. Some hyperbolically declared 2016 "the year music died." Is there any truth to the "curse of 2016"?

ADVERTISEMENT

Film

Ryan Gosling (picture-alliance/dpa/J. Warnand)

Ryan Gosling's diverse film roles

Ryan Gosling plays the first man on the moon in the soon-to-be-released film First Man, the latest role in the actor's wide repertoire ranging from jazz pianists to cyber cops. We review his most celebrated films. 

Books

Finnland Ankunft Liu Xia, Witwe des chinesischen Dissidenten Liu Xiaobo (picture-alliance/dpa/Lehtikuva/J. Nukari)

Chinese dissident Liu Xia's arrival in Germany: 'A gift to the German government'

Under house arrest for eight years, the widow of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo was unexpectedly allowed to leave China Tuesday. DW's Sabine Peschel spoke with Tienchi Martin-Liao of the Chinese PEN Organization. 

Music

DW popxport Nena: kein bisschen müde (picture-alliance/dpa/G. Wendt)

Nena: no slowing down

Nena loves performing and her audience. And everyone loves Nena. That sums up her "Nichts Versäumen" tour to celebrate her 40 years in the music business. So where does the 58-year-old singer get all her energy? 

Arts

Child climbing on plastic tubes in exhibition (Annik Wetter)

Playground Project: 'Freedom and anarchy' for kids

Designing playgrounds to both stimulate creativity and accommodate kids' pedagogical needs is no easy task. A look at how these playgrounds have developed over the last century. 

Digital Culture

Flaggen der EU vor Europaparlament in Straßburg (picture-alliance//dpa/Tass/A. Vitvitsky)

New EU Copyright Law: Will Upload Filters Destroy the Internet as we Know it?

New copyright filters in the EU: Platforms like YouTube have to filter uploads by users for copyright infringements. Critics fear the end of memes and say this will destroy the internet as we know it. 

More culture

Film  

Books  

Music  

Arts  

Digital Culture  

Lifestyle