Guten Tag, everyone!

Recently I wrote a post about the postcards you can buy in Germany which feature German idioms translated literally into English. These are somewhat of an in-joke to speakers of both languages, so I wanted to share the love and explain what they all meant! You can read that post by clicking here.

But not all German expressions are as bizarre as the ones worthy of being on a postcard. A lot of German expressions are, you’ll be pleased to hear, rather similar to their English counterparts – which makes them easier to remember. As I did last time, I’m going to post the English expressions on the left with the German expressions on the right – but they are all mixed up. Using the vocabulary list, see if you can match up the correct sayings! The answers are below the table. Good luck!

VOCABULARY

TRETEN – to tread

GEHEN – to go

DER GEIST – ghost/spirit

DIE KÖCHE – cooks

DAS HERZ – heart

LOCKER – loose

 

ENGLISH SAYING  TOO MANY COOKS SPOIL THE BROTH   TO FALL FLAT ON ONE’S FACE   TO AIR ONE’S DIRTY LAUNDRY IN PUBLIC   TO GIVE UP THE GHOST   TO HAVE A SCREW LOOSE   TO FOLLOW IN SOMEONE’S FOOTSTEPS   TO POUR ONE’S HEART OUT   TO BE GREEN-FINGERED   TO BE ON  THE SAME WAVELENGTH   TO GO BELOW THE BELT

GERMAN SAYING DEN GEIST AUFGEBEN   DIE SCHMUTZIGE WÄSCHE WASCHEN   ZU VIELE KÖCHE VERDERBEN DEN BREI   AUF DERSELBEN WELLENLÄNGE SEIN   EINEN GRÜNEN DAUMEN HABEN   AUF DIE NASE FALLEN   IN JEMANDES FUßSTAPFEN TRETEN   DAS HERZ AUSSCHÜTTEN   EINE SCHRAUBE LOCKER HABEN   UNTER DIE GURTELLINIE GEHEN

 

 

How did you do? Here are the answers:

 

 

TOO MANY COOKS SPOIL THE BROTH ——- ZU VIELE KÖCHE VERDERBEN DEN BREI
(‘Brei’ is more like ‘mash’ than ‘broth’, though. Porridge/oatmeal is ‘Haferflockenbrei’ and mashed potato is ‘Kartoffelbrei’, for example).

 

TO FALL FLAT ON ONE’S FACE —— AUF DIE NASE FALLEN
(‘To fall on one’s nose’)

 

TO AIR ONE’S DIRTY LAUNDRY IN PUBLIC ——– DIE SCHMUTZIGE WÄSCHE WASCHEN
(‘To wash dirty clothes’ – which I don’t fully understand, because why would you wash clean clothes? The longer version of this saying, ‘Die schmutzige Wäsche in der Öffentlichkeit waschen’ (‘To wash dirty laundry in public’), makes more sense)

 

TO GIVE UP THE GHOST ——– DEN GEIST AUFGEBEN

 

TO HAVE A SCREW LOOSE ——- EINE SCHRAUBE LOCKER HABEN

 

TO FOLLOW IN SOMEONE’S FOOTSTEPS ——- IN JEMANDES FUßSTAPFEN TRETEN

 

TO POUR ONE’S HEART OUT ———- DAS HERZ AUSSCHÜTTEN

 

TO BE GREEN-FINGERED ———– EINEN GRÜNEN DAUMEN HABEN
(‘To have a green thumb’ – which I believe we say in English, too, but I had to pick one or the other)

 

TO BE ON THE SAME WAVELENGTH —————- AUF DERSELBEN WELLENLÄNGE SEIN

 

TO GO BELOW THE BELT ——– UNTER DIE GURTELLINIE GEHEN
(‘To go under the belt line’)

 

Did you find this easier or harder than the previous post?

Stay tuned for part 3, in which I’ll bring you more quirky German sayings – this time it’ll be ones that we don’t have in English (though I’ll attempt to find some that are equally as amusing).

Bis bald!

Constanze