Are you an enthusiastic traveler who wants to explore every part of your journey and destination? Are you among those who are as interested in knowing as you are to explore the food and culture of the place? Then you must be willing to get an insight into their language as well! While you take up a German Language Class in Delhi to learn German before that trip or before taking up an educational program in Germany, you will come across certain idioms that will either tickle your bones or surprise you. So we have come up with a German idioms dictionary to make you familiar with common German idioms before that trip. So have a look:
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Ich glaube mein Schwein pfeift
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Literal meaning: I think my pig whistles.
Having roots back to the 17th century, this idiom is used to describe a surreal event, something that is hard to believe. Do pigs whistle? No, right? That’s exactly why this idiom came into being.
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as Haar in der Suppe suchen/finden
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Literal meaning: Find the hair in the soup
It is used when you ask a person to take out or highlight all the possible negativities of a conversation. It basically translates to reading in between the lines. There also some German insults that you can learn with these idioms.
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Unter einer Decke stecken
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Literal meaning: Put under a blanket
In earlier times, there was an old German law regarding marriage that used to consider a marriage a closed affair and to mark it one, the newlyweds were supposed to come together under a blanket. The law expired, but the phrase is still used, to keep something secret.
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Da haben wir den Salat.
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Literal meaning: We have a salad here.
It is used to denote a tricky or a complex situation. Since the 19th century, Germans have been using this idiom to denote a situation involving complexity.
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Die Kuh vom Eis holen.
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Literal meaning: Bringing the cow out of the ice
Since cows are not friends with the icy floors, and often slip and break their legs, this idiom is used to denote danger and an alert to avoid the danger. It basically means to get out of danger without bearing the consequences that follow.
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Jetzt Butter bei die Fische
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Literal meaning: Now butter at the fish
Having a deep-rooted history since the mid-eighteenth century, this is one of the most common German phrases that Germans use. It is like a realization that you give a person, like “be honest”, or “now get to work”. Since Germans always butter their fish just prior to beginning their meals, the person who gives the better first starts consuming the meal, followed by others.
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Schwamm drüber.
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Literal meaning: To sponge over.
This idiom is usually used to tell someone to move on, or to forget whatever has happened. The idiom literally translates to wiping something that has spilled on the floor. So it’s just used to cover something up and move on.
Conclusion
If these German sayings spark up the fire in you to learn and explore, there are a lot of German Language Institutes in Delhi that offer you the German language course to find the hidden aspects of the language. So use these idioms and just note how they react!