Already learn German or are you still pulling the cat by the tail? Or do you know a confident conversational, read without a dictionary and in general everything is in chocolate? Do you feel at ease when communicating with foreigners? We have prepared for you a list of the most fun German stable expressions with translation so that you don’t get stuck in galoshes when you go on vacation to Germany.
Butter and Chocolate
The moment when everything will be in oil (alles in Butter), waiting for any German. This German expression literally means that everything is in order and no problems are foreseen. Although literally no one will be happy if everything is in oil. Where did this expression come from?
Like many stable expressions, it came into modern German from the Middle Ages. At that time, expensive glass glasses were imported from Italy to Germany through the Alps. Unfortunately, along the way they fought, stabbed, and often half of the game was not able to be delivered.
Then enterprising traders came up with an unexpected solution - the glasses were placed in a barrel and filled with hot liquid oil. When the oil cooled, the glass was securely sealed in a barrel, and no shaking could damage it anymore. This German expression in Russian has a more delicious counterpart - "all 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 at all 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 the tomatoes in front of his eyes” (Tomaten auf den Augen haben), - the lawyer who loses the court is angry. This German stable expression means that a person does not see or not notice something completely obvious, something that others see and understand.
But why, after all, tomatoes, not potatoes or apples, for example? Everyone knows that the tomatoes are red. As red as the eyes of a tired or sleepy person. And tired people are often inattentive and do not notice important things. From here this expression has gone.
Sausage indifference
"This is for me sausage!" (Das ist mir Wurst!) - This expression in Germany sounds very often. What does it mean? With the translation into Russian it does not become clearer. Although, of course, everything is clear to the local resident - the point is that the speaker simply does not care. Das ist mir Wurst means "I don't care."
Where did this turn come from? It is only known for certain that he comes from 19th century student slang. Some researchers believe that the original expression sounded like "I don’t care the same way as the ingredients in the sausage." Others refer us to the fact that any sausage has two ends, and it does not matter where to start it.
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 from the edge, I know nothing." But why exactly the hare?
It turns out that this expression has nothing to do with a real hare. In 1855, a law student named Hase - Hare lived in Heidelberg. One day he volunteered to help his friend in court, who shot another student during a duel.
But here's the misfortune - 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 winged.
Who better not to eat cherries?
Mit dem ist nicht gut Kirschen essen is a German expression translated into Russian “it is better not to eat cherries with it” means that we have a person who should stay away and, if possible, have nothing in common. Phraseologism came from the Middle Ages, but why exactly cherry, and not bread, pork ham or something else?
The thing is that in the Middle Ages, cherries were one of the most expensive and rare berries, and you could only share such a meal with the most worthy people. If an uninvited or unworthy person was suddenly noticed among the guests, they immediately started spitting on him with bones 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, suddenly suddenly there is complete silence for a moment, the Germans say that an angel walked around the room (Ein Engel geht durchs Zimmer).
This German expression dates back to 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 good things (Aller guten Dinge sind drei), or the Russian analogue of phraseology - “God loves the trinity” came to Germany from the Middle Ages, but still remains one of the most common winged expressions.
In fact, there were really good things three or three times a year, the city council met, the accused had three chances to justify himself in court. And this means - do not be discouraged, you still have a second and third chance.
Sour Cucumber Time
How good times have come if the Germans say that the time has come for pickles (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 boiled jam, and vegetables were salted and fermented. And then winter came - the time for pickles - a difficult period to endure.
Egg dance
The German expression Einen Eiertanz auffĂĽhren can be translated into Russian as "perform an egg dance." And this is not about that bad dancer who is always interrupted by something.
This German expression originates in the work of the great German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. In her youth, the playwright saw a performance where a girl, laying out a pattern of raw chicken eggs on a carpet, blindfolded her eyes with a scarf and danced among them without stepping on one.
Seen so shocked the writer that he described this dance in one of his works. And readers, in turn, picked up this expression, making it winged. Since then, dancing an egg dance means acting with extreme caution and prudence.
Why can't you expect anything good from birds?
German phraseology Einen Vogel haben can be literally translated as "have a bird." However, the literal translation in the vast majority of phraseological units does not say absolutely anything about the meaning of expression.
According to the Germans, the bird 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 that head.
And if in the old days a person with a bird was considered really insane, 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 in only the Russian language to understand the British, Germans or French, in whose speech there are also enough different stable expressions. And if your German is still not an egg yolk, and it’s not a sausage at all for you, urgently buy a phraseological dictionary of German expressions with a translation into Russian.