Die Sonne (the sun). When we think of her warm rays and light, it puts a smile on our faces. The sun helps us be healthy, lets us grow our food, makes beach days fun! The sun is an all-around positive! And that’s also reflected in Redensarten (idioms). So let’s look at two German idioms that talk about the Sonne!

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die Sonne in sein Herz lassen

Photo by Daoudi Aissa on Unsplash

Literally: to allow the sun into your heart

What’s a proper English translation? Let me know in the comments below!

With how we feel about die Sonne, this Ausdruck (expression) is pretty straightforward: letting the sun in your heart means to let yourself feel Freude (joy) and Liebe (love). And what happens once you have die Sonne im Herz? Well, then you are seen as a person that is immer fröhlich (always happy) and optimistisch (optimistic).

Until the 19th century, the idea of the Sonne im Herzen related to religion, as it was seen as a Hinwendung (devotion) to God. But it slowly changed to simply mean being joyful.

Example:

Hey, entspann dich. Lass die Sonne in dein Herz, und reg dich nicht so auf über die ganzen Sachen die du eh nicht ändern kannst! Dafür ist das Leben zu kurz.

(Hey, relax. Allow the sun into your heart, and don’t get so upset about all those things you can’t change anyway! Life is too short for that.)

jemandem scheint die Sonne aus dem Arsch

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Literally: The sun shines out of somebody’s ass

The world’s my oyster

This Redewendung (idiom) is quite vulgar! It is definitely informal only, but in those settings it can be alright. The German dub of Quentin Tarantino’s 1996 film “From Dusk Till Dawn” made this Redewendung particularly popular. Seth Gecko’s words “I’m peachy, Kate. The world’s my oyster.” was translated as “Mir geht’s prächtig Kate. Die Sonne scheint mir aus dem Arsch.” (I’m great, Kate. The sun’s shining out of my ass.) Even if the expression is used sarcastically here, its meaning is understood. I used that translation here for the English version. If you have a better translation of this idiom, let me know in the comments below!

The movie isn’t the Ursprung (origin) of the Redewendung. It was already noted in a dictionary of Ruhrgebietssprache (Ruhr Area language) from 1984. But it sure made it more popular!

This expression is often used ironically, too. Its meaning can even be interchanged with die Sonne im Herz haben, just that this is more vulgar, essentially. Here’s an example:

Mensch, du hast so gute Laune! Dir scheint wohl die Sonne aus dem Arsch.

(Man, you are in such a good mood! “The sun must be shining out of your ass” (again, if you have a proper translation of the idiom, please let me know in the comments.)

Have you heard or seen these idioms before? Are there similar ones in your language? Let me know in the comments below!