German expressions #1

Filed Under German words

Like basically any language, German has a large number of phrases and expressions that sound a bit strange when you stop to ponder the bizarre sequence of words you just used.

For example, in English we might say “Ooh, he really put his foot in it” when somebody has said something unintentionally awkward or insulting. Germans as a highly scientific and literal people need more specifics; they need to know what “it” is. And so, the German version of the same phrase is “Ooh, he just stepped in a small dish of grease.”

In English-speaking countries, if someone is having a lousy day and is seemingly irritated for no reason, they probably “got out of bed on the wrong side”. Germans however “step out of bed with their left foot”. Alternatively, if their foul mood has nothing to do with their bed exit strategy, then maybe a “louse ran over their liver”.

In English, fads are considered the “latest craze”. In German, however, they are the “latest scream”. Evidently the English phrase was coined during the 1960s, where everything fashionable was inherently insane, while the German phrase is from… well, let’s not go there.

Other expressions lack an English equivalent, for example the deeply perplexing “Es zieht wie Hechtsuppe”. This phrase has to be the result of some dictionary author having a stroke at work; how else can we explain trying to say “It’s windy outside” with “The breeze out there is like pike soup”?

Some phrases might be blamed on the deeply militaristic history of Europe in general and Germany in particular. When a German wants to say “James overreacted”, they might instead choose to say “James was hunting sparrows with cannons”. When a German finally decides to give up on something, he “throws his rifle into the field”. In English, we “take someone for a ride”; Germans “aim their gun at you”. Ever since German soldiers got sick to death of practicing with their MG08/15 machine guns in the run-up to World War I, everyday boring things are called “08/15″.

And finally, instead of giving someone “their walking papers”, Germans tend to “send people into the desert”.

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