Language cuts both ways. On the one hand, language is an open system and allows its users to be creative and to produce as many novel expressions as wished, as long as they make sense. That is, it is not necessary to have ever heard a particular phrase or sentence before in one\u2019s life in order to be able to produce it at some later point in time. For example, when you would like to report about a particular individual and unique experience you have made you cannot simply look up these sentences in a textbook. All you can do is to look for the right words and arrange them in a way that they make sense. In order to do so you need to know, at least, some basic grammar, which is, first of all, word order. Other subtleties of language like case ending of nouns and the conjugation of verbs are preliminary of secondary importance. On the other hand, a language can restrict you in how you can arrange several words in order to express a more complex meaning. The best example for that are a language\u2019s idiomatic expressions.<\/p>\n
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Idioms are fixed phrases whose meaning cannot be inferred from the meanings of the individual words. They tend to be frozen in form and thus do not readily enter into other combinations or allow the word order to change. For example, a German expression for being lucky is Schwein haben<\/em><\/strong>, which literally means \u201cto have pig\u201d. As you can see, idiomatic expressions are speech forms that cannot be understood by literal translation. You must learn and memorize them along with their meanings.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Idioms are so special because they are usually culturally influenced. For example, the German expression seinen Senf dazu geben <\/em><\/strong>literally means \u201cto give his mustard to something\u201d but it means \u201cto give one\u2019s opinion\u201d. The English equivalent for that is the idiomatic expression \u201cto add one\u2019s two cents\u201d. Some German idiomatic expression are related to English, while others are not.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n German idioms<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n English idioms<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n gro\u00dfe Augen machen<\/p>\n vor die Hunde gehen<\/p>\n Ende gut, alles gut<\/td>\n to be wide-eyed<\/p>\n to go to the dogs<\/p>\n all\u2019s well that ends well<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n German<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n Literal\/Explanation<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n English<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And what German idioms do you know?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Language cuts both ways. On the one hand, language is an open system and allows its users to be creative and to produce as many novel expressions as wished, as long as they make sense. That is, it is not necessary to have ever heard a particular phrase or sentence before in one\u2019s life in…<\/p>\n\n\n
\n \n \n \n nicht in Frage kommen <\/p>\n to be out of the question <\/p>\n \n\n
\n \n \n \n \n reinen Tisch machen<\/td>\n to clear the table(a \u201cfresh start\u201d)<\/td>\n to clear the air<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n mit der T\u00fcr ins Haus fallen<\/td>\n to fall with the door into the house; mostly in a negative sense(picture: Someone is in such a hurry to get into a house that he pushes the door off his hinges and then falls on top of it)<\/td>\n to come straight to the point<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Jemanden auf den Zahn f\u00fchlen<\/td>\n Origin: By feelings a horse\u2019s teeth, an expert can establish its age and value<\/td>\n to give some a grilling<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n nach Strich und Faden<\/td>\n according to nap and thread(origin: from weaving, referring to the two directions of the thread \u2013 warp and woof)<\/td>\n good and proper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n in die Binsen gehen<\/td>\n Origin: a hunting term; a wild duck took refuge from the hunter by hiding in the rushes (Binsen) of a pond or lake.<\/td>\n to go up in smoke<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n wie am Schn\u00fcrchen laufen<\/td>\n Origin: \u201cdie Schnur\u201d is the string from which a puppet is dand manipulated. Hence, this idiom implies \u201cperfect control\u201d<\/td>\n to go like clockwork<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n