Learn German already or are you still pulling the cat's tail? Or maybe you speak confidently, read without a dictionary, and in general everything is in chocolate? Do you feel out of your element when talking to foreigners? We have prepared for you a list of the funniest German set expressions with translation so that you do not sit in a galosh when you go on vacation to Germany.
Butter and chocolate
The moment when everything will be in oil (alles in Butter) is waiting for any German. This German expression literally means that everything is in order and no problems are expected. Although literally no one will be happy if everything is covered in oil. Where did this expression come from?
Like many set expressions, it came into modern German from the Middle Ages. At this time, expensive glass glasses were imported from Italy to Germany through the Alps. Unfortunately, on the way they fought, injected themselves, and often failed to deliver even half of the party.
Then enterprising merchants came up with the unexpectedsolution - the glasses were placed in a barrel and filled with hot liquid oil. When the oil cooled, the glass was securely sealed in the barrel, and no amount of shaking could damage it anymore. This German expression in Russian has a tastier counterpart - "everything is in chocolate".
Perfection in the egg
"It's still not an egg yolk!" (Es ist wohl noch nicht das Gelbe vom Ei!) exclaims your German partner about your new project. What would that mean?
This German expression means that something else is not quite as perfect as it could be. Phraseologism has a fairly simple origin - just look at the finished scrambled eggs or boiled egg. What is the most delicious and perfect in it? Of course, the yolk!
Tomatoes instead of eyes
"It seems that the judge had tomatoes in front of his eyes" (Tomaten auf den Augen haben), - angry lawyer who lost the trial. This German set expression means that a person does not see or notice something completely obvious, something that others see and understand.
But why are tomatoes, and not potatoes or, for example, apples? Everyone knows that tomatoes are red. The same red as the eyes of a tired or sleepy person. And tired people are often inattentive and do not notice important things. This is where this expression came from.
Sausage indifference
"This is my sausage!" (Das ist mir Wurst!) is an expression in Germanysounds very common. What does it mean? With the translation into Russian, it does not become clearer. Although, of course, everything is clear to the local resident here - we are talking about the fact that the speaker simply does not care. Das ist mir Wurst means "I don't care".
Where did this turnover come from? What is known for certain is that it comes from student slang of the 19th century. Some researchers believe that the original expression sounded like "I don't care, just like the ingredients included in the sausage." Others refer us to the fact that any sausage has two ends, and it doesn't matter which one you start eating it with.
Dunno Bunny
"My name is Hare, I don't know anything" (Mein Name ist Hase, ich weiß von nichts). This German expression in Russian will sound like "my hut is on the edge, I don't know anything." But why a hare?
It turns out that this expression has nothing to do with a real hare. In 1855, a law student named Hase lived in Heidelberg. He once volunteered to help a friend in court who had shot another student during a duel.
But here's the problem - when it came to speaking in court, Mr. Hare could only say: "My name is Hare, I don't know anything." Since then, the expression has become popular.
Who better not eat cherries with?
Mit dem ist nicht gut Kirschen essen is a German expression translated intoRussian "it's better not to eat cherries with him" means that we have a person from whom we should stay away and, if possible, have nothing in common. Phraseologism came from the Middle Ages, but why cherry, and not bread, pork ham or something else?
The fact is that in the Middle Ages, cherries were one of the most expensive and rare berries, and only the most worthy people could share such a meal. If an uninvited or unworthy person was suddenly noticed among the guests, they immediately began to spit bones at him until he disappeared from the holiday.
Angel and policeman
Where a cop was born in Russia, an angel passed in Germany. When in a noisy room full of guests there is suddenly complete silence for a moment, the Germans say that an angel has passed through the room (Ein Engel geht durchs Zimmer).
This German expression originates in antiquity, when it was believed that the appearance of any otherworldly creatures deprives a person of speechlessness. Over time, all the ghosts were replaced by a completely harmless angel.
Rule of three
There are always three of all good things (Aller guten Dinge sind drei), or the Russian analogue of the phraseological unit - "God loves the trinity" came to Germany from the Middle Ages, but still remains one of the most common catch phrases.
In fact, there were really three good things - three times a year the cityadvice, the accused had three chances to justify himself in court. And this means - do not be upset, you still have a second and third chance.
Sour cucumber time
How good times are when the Germans say it's time for sour cucumbers (Saure-Gurken-Zeit)?
In ancient times, when there were no refrigerators, the only way to preserve fruits and vegetables for the winter was canning. Fruits and berries were dried or jam was cooked, and vegetables were s alted and fermented. And then winter came - the time for sour cucumbers - a difficult period to endure.
Egg Dance
The German expression Einen Eiertanz aufführen can be translated into Russian as "do the egg dance". And it's not about that bad dancer who always gets in the way.
This German expression originates in the work of the great German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. In his youth, the playwright saw a performance where a girl, spreading a pattern of raw chicken eggs on a carpet, blindfolded her eyes with a handkerchief and danced among them without stepping on a single one.
What he saw shocked the writer so much that he described this dance in one of his works. And readers, in turn, picked up this expression, making it winged. Since then, dancing the egg dance has meant acting with extreme caution and discretion.
Why can't you expect anything good from birds?
German idiom Einen Vogelhaben can literally be translated as "to have a bird". However, the literal translation in the vast majority of phraseological units says absolutely nothing about the meaning of the expression.
A bird, according to the Germans, is for everyone who is a little crazy. If a nest with chirping birds appeared in your head, it is not surprising that not a single sensible thought comes to such a head.
And if in the old days a person with a bird was considered truly mentally ill, now this expression is increasingly applied to those who say or do stupid things.
The Russian language is considered one of the richest and most complex precisely because of the huge number of phraseological units, winged expressions, words with a figurative meaning. But just as it is difficult for a foreigner to understand Russian expressions, so it is almost impossible for a person who is fluent only in Russian to understand the English, Germans or French, in whose speech there are also quite different set expressions. And if your German is still not an egg yolk, and it doesn’t suit you at all, urgently buy a phraseological dictionary of German expressions with a translation into Russian.
