{"id":11594,"date":"2020-04-02T12:28:26","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T12:28:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=11594"},"modified":"2021-02-01T12:31:07","modified_gmt":"2021-02-01T12:31:07","slug":"german-sayings-expressions-28-things-with-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/german-sayings-expressions-28-things-with-water\/","title":{"rendered":"German Sayings + Expressions 28: Things with Water"},"content":{"rendered":"

In times like these, with the\u00a0Coronavirus\u00a0<\/em>(coronavirus)<\/a>, we know we have to stay\u00a0zuhause\u00a0<\/em>(at home)<\/a>. With events being cancelled and regular life coming to a halt, there are of course also\u00a0Sprichw\u00f6rter\u00a0<\/em>(sayings) and\u00a0Ausdr\u00fccke\u00a0<\/em>(expressions) related to this. Let’s have a look at these, shall we? Today, we start with the\u00a0Ausdruck\u00a0<\/em>(expression).<\/p>\n

For older posts, please\u00a0follow this link.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ins Wasser fallen<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Image by Ibrahim Rifath at Unsplash.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Literally: to fall in the water<\/em><\/p>\n

To fall through<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because of the\u00a0Coronavirus<\/em>, many events had to be blown off and many things fall through. Here just a few examples:<\/p>\n

Die Strandbadsaison k\u00f6nnte auch ins Wasser fallen<\/em><\/a> (The bathing beach season could also fall through)<\/p>\n

Coronavirus: Neue IKEA Er\u00f6ffnung in Karlsruhe k\u00f6nnte ins Wasser fallen<\/em><\/a> (Coronavirus: New IKEA opening in Karlsruhe could fall through)<\/p>\n

Segeln: Diese Regatten fallen ins Wasser<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(Sailing: These regattas could fall through)<\/p>\n

But why does falling into water have such a negative connotation? This\u00a0Ausdruck\u00a0<\/em>likely comes from the French\u00a0tomber \u00e0 l’eau<\/em>, or goes back to the similar German\u00a0in den Brunnen fallen\u00a0<\/em>(to fall into the well). These days, water has a refreshing connotation. The beach, sun, the ocean… But when something falls in water, it is less able to move, it is in danger of sinking or drowning. Pair that with how people were not always able to swim, and water posed a real threat. So something falling into water would\u00a0ertrinken\u00a0<\/em>(drown). That’s quite dark, actually…<\/p>\n

On to a more uplifting, positive\u00a0Sprichwort<\/em>!<\/p>\n

Eine Hand w\u00e4scht die andere<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Image by M\u00e9lissa Jeanty at Unsplash.com<\/p><\/div>\n

One hand washes the other<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ah, yes. Just like in English, Germans also say that one hand washes the other. What does it mean? Here’s a German explanation:<\/p>\n

“Auf eine Gef\u00e4lligkeit folgt eine Gegenleistung. Man muss sich gegenseitig helfen.”<\/em><\/a> (A favor is followed by something in return. One must help each other.)<\/p>\n

Especially now, in times of the\u00a0Coronavirus<\/em>, helping each other REMOTELY is a great idea! And at the same time, you really\u00a0should<\/strong> wash your hands – like have one wash the other. So a really fitting\u00a0Sprichwort<\/em>!<\/p>\n

Where does it come from?<\/p>\n

It actually goes way back to Ancient Greece. The Greek\u00a0Kom\u00f6dienschreiber\u00a0<\/em>(comedy writer) Menandros wrote this in a similar fashion in the 4th century BC. The famous Roman Seneca translated it in the 1st Century as m<\/em>anus manum lavat<\/em>. From there, it spread everywhere else!<\/p>\n

Here’s an example of how to use it in German:<\/p>\n

Nadine, kannst du mir kurz beim Einpacken der Eink\u00e4ufe helfen?<\/em><\/p>\n

–\u00a0Ja klar! Das mache ich doch gerne, nachdem du mir gestern im Haus geholfen hast.<\/em><\/p>\n

Tja, die eine Hand w\u00e4scht die andere!<\/em><\/p>\n

(Nadine, can you just help me quickly with packing my shopping items?<\/p>\n

– Of course! I am glad to do it, after you’ve helped me in the house yesterday.<\/p>\n

Well, one hand washes the other!)<\/p>\n

What do you think of this Ausdruck <\/em>and Sprichwort<\/em>? What are they in your language? Let me know in the comments below!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

In times like these, with the\u00a0Coronavirus\u00a0(coronavirus), we know we have to stay\u00a0zuhause\u00a0(at home). With events being cancelled and regular life coming to a halt, there are of course also\u00a0Sprichw\u00f6rter\u00a0(sayings) and\u00a0Ausdr\u00fccke\u00a0(expressions) related to this. Let’s have a look at these, shall we? Today, we start with the\u00a0Ausdruck\u00a0(expression). For older posts, please\u00a0follow this link. Ins Wasser fallen…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":11597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[529261,95131,358422],"class_list":["post-11594","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-language","tag-coronavirus","tag-german-language","tag-sayings-expressions"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11594"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12584,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11594\/revisions\/12584"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}