Here’s a new post of Sprichwörter und Ausdrücke (Sayings and Expressions). The title of this series is different now, I changed it to “German Idioms” to give it a bit more flexibility and make it a bit more compact. Today, we’ll talk about Abfall (trash) and Müll (waste). Weird, huh? Read on.

For older posts, please follow this link.

Ex-und-hopp

Image by Brian Yurasits at Unsplash.com

Literally: chug and hop

Here today, gone tomorrow

This expression refers to carefree, reckless behaviour. Obviously, it always has a negative connotation.

Where does this expression come from? In the 1960s, German Getränkehersteller (beverage manufacturers) tried to get rid of Pfand with the Ex-und-hopp-Werbekampagne (ex and hop advertisement campaign). Exen means “to chug” and “hopp” is an expression for “alley-oop!”. So Ex-und-hopp is an expression of a fast, carefree and fun process.

In the style of Werbeplakate (ad posters) like these, all kinds of Vorteile (advantages) were promised to customers. Kein Pfand – kein Herumstehen von leeren Flaschen – kein Zurücktragen (no deposit – no standing around of empty bottles – no carrying them back).

The industry wanted to get rid of Pfand, which customers had to pay at the Kasse (checkout) that was returned when the bottles were brought back to the store. With today’s views on Vermüllung (littering), these posters look funny and disconnected. Even back then, they didn’t really catch on.

In the end, the Kampagne failed, and Pfand stayed. As well as the expression Ex-und-hopp. It is still used in this context sometimes, of course with a negative connotation. However, the meaning has also expanded to other actions of Leichtfertigkeit (carelessness) or a lack of Nachhaltigkeit (sustainability). An example of such Ex-und-hopp-Mentalität (ex and hop mentality, or throwaway mentality) is short-lived, careless relationships or thoughtless consumerism.

Here’s an example:

Könntest du mir schnell diesen Brief vorbereiten? Ich brauche den schon morgen. Tut mir Leid, dass ich so spät frage. Vielleicht kommt das ein wenig ex-und-hopp rüber. Aber es ist mir wichtig, und du bist die einzige Person, die das bis dahin schaffen kann. Danke!

(Could you quickly prepare this letter for me? I already need it tomorrow. Sorry that I ask so late. Perhaps that comes across a little “here today, gone tomorrow” – careless. But it is important to me, and you are the only person that can make it by then. Thank you!)

On to the Ausdruck (expression).

Müll reden

Bielefeld – or is it? (Image by Fab at Commons.wikimedia.org, public domain)

Literally: to talk garbage

To talk nonsense

Müll reden literally means to talk garbage. I intentionally did not use “to talk trash”, as trash-talking can also exclusively mean to say mean things about another person. Müll reden only means talking nonsense. There is no saying mean things about somebody else here.¹saying mean stuff about others may still be nonsense, of course, and then it can be called Müll reden.

This is informal talk, but not vulgar. Telling somebody that they’re talking nonsense isn’t really nice, of course, and the same etiquette as in the United States applies with this one. Here’s an example:

Na klar, Bielefeld liegt im Norden Deutschlands!

– Was redest du da für ein Müll, Bielefeld gibt es doch gar nicht!²for the uninitiated, it is a joke in Germany that Bielefeld, a city in the North of Germany, doesn’t actually exist. Where this started and what it means, I don’t know myself, but I’ve had my fun with it.

(Of course, Bielefeld is in the north of Germany!

– What kind of nonsense are you talking now, Bielefeld doesn’t even exist!)

Have you used these before? How would you translate them in your language? I’d love to know! Let me know in the comments below.

• 1
  saying mean stuff about others may still be nonsense, of course, and then it can be called Müll reden.
• 2
  for the uninitiated, it is a joke in Germany that Bielefeld, a city in the North of Germany, doesn’t actually exist. Where this started and what it means, I don’t know myself, but I’ve had my fun with it.