Tag: german

Subtle differences are of great importance in every language. German, for example:

zieh dir was Warmes an – “put on something warm”. This person is looking out for you and wants you to be careful when it’s cold outside.
zieh dich warm an – “dress warmly”. This is a declaration of war. The person saying this is looking to make sure that your body will never be warm again. 

Re: bread – yes!!! A thousand times yes!!! I’m studying abroad in the uk and I miss dark bread so much.

What the UK calls bread is not what I call bread. To my friends’ endless amusement, I’ve taken to naming it “untoasted toast” because that is exactly what the consistency, colour and structural stability are like. Only that it doesn’t even taste like toast if you toast it, but it’s the best name I’ve got. 

Also – German bread is strong enough to hold an entire box of cherry tomatoes on top of it when you’re putting your groceries into your bag. It has muscles. It has war in its whole grained veins. British bread isn’t even strong enough to hold itself, how is it supposed to hold you in your darkest, hungriest hours?

If you offer me bread and I excitedly say yes, and you subsequently present me with a soft white abomination that is nothing but untoasted toast, then I swear on the gods of yeast that you will have made an enemy for this life and all your reincarnations. How dare you, how dare you.

Do you have a favourite german idiom? (+ literal english translation maybe )

One? Just one? No, my friend. I cannot do that.

I can, however, do more than twenty, and I can do them in alphabetical order based on the most important keywords involved in them. Not all of them are idioms, some are just things people like to say in certain situations, but all of them are amazing or interesting in their own way. (t. =  literal translation, m. = meaning)

abwarten und Tee trinken – t. to wait and drink tea, m. just wait and see

Wo man singt, da lass dich nieder; böse Menschen haben keine Lieder. – t. Where there’s singing, settle down; bad people don’t have songs. m. this is not exactly a typical saying, but an old piece of wisdom my grandmother always quotes.

Ich bin fuchsteufelswild! – t. I am foxdevilwild!, m. I am so goddamn angry right now

Himmel und Hölle in Bewegung setzen – t. to move heaven and hell, m. German equivalent for “to move heaven and earth”, but more badass

das ist ein Katzensprung – t. that is a cat’s jump, m. something is just a tiny distance away, only as far as a cat can jump!

auf den Keks gehen – t. to walk on someone’s cookie, m. to annoy someone, but much sweeter (get it? Okay, sorry.)

da kannst du Gift drauf nehmen – t. you can take poison on that, m. you can bet your life on that, it will definitely happen (how morbid, I love it)

die Hoffnung stirbt zuletzt – t. (the) hope dies last

das Leben ist kein Ponyhof – t. life is no pony farm, m. life is tough and no fun, suck it up (a very German saying, also good for anyone that’s not into horses)

es ist noch kein Meister vom Himmel gefallen – t. a master has never fallen from the sky, m. to master something you need to practice 

hinterm Mond leben – t. to live behind the moon, m. to be away from reality, lost in dreams, or not up to date with trends

hier spielt die Musik – t. the music plays here, m. usually said to get someone’s attention when they are distracted, often sarcastic or annoyed (or is that just me…)

in einer Nacht-und-Nebel-Aktion – t. in a night-and-fog-action, m. doing something secretly, away from the public, hidden (oooh spooky!)

jetzt haben wir den Salat – t. now we have the salad, m. look at this disaster that we now have 

sich freuen wie ein Schneekönig/Honigkuchenpferd – t. to be happy like a snow king/honey cake horse, m. to be very very happy (isn’t this cute?)

nicht alle Tassen im Schrank haben – t. to not have all cups in the cupboard, m. that someone is crazy (obviously, with that many cups missing…)

das kommt mir spanisch vor – t. that seems Spanish to me, m. that something is suspicious or strange, because apparently emperor Karl V. once imported court etiquette from Spain that nobody understood and got confused by, amazing?

Was für ein Teufelskerl! – t. What a devil’s guy! m. a bit old-fashioned, but still cool; describes a really awesome, brave, or otherwise attention-pulling man

viel hilft viel – t. a lot helps a lot

den Wald vor lauter Bäumen nicht sehen – t. to not see the forest because of all the trees, m. being unable to see the big picture because of distracting details

mit allen Wassern gewaschen sein – t. to be washed with/in all waters, m. someone who knows every trick in the book, is mischievous

Zieh dich warm an! – t. Dress warmly!, m. this is a threat. no, seriously, means that someone should prepare because you’re gonna do something very unpleasant to them soon

es gibt kein schlechtes Wetter, nur falsche Kleidung – t. there is no bad weather, just wrong clothes, m. Germans are used to rain and it’s no reason to not do what you are supposed to be doing

Kommt Zeit, kommt Rat. – t. Comes time, comes advice. m. over time, a solution or advice will be found/appear

Those are all for now. Thank you for the ask, and let me know if you’d like more.

“Iwaizumi-san?” Kindaichi taps his shoulder just as Hajime’s leaving the locker room. “Hm?” Hajime turns around to look at his kouhai. “Yeah? What’s up?”

Kindaichi looks a bit embarrassed, his voice going quiet. “You see, uhm, everyone knows that you and Oikawa-san are going out. But why is he still flirting with all those girls? Aren’t you bothered by that?” 

Hajime takes a moment to consider. He looks over to Oikawa, who’s smiling at a group of girls and accepting small gifts. Kindaichi tilts his head in confusion when Hajime starts to laugh. 

“Did you know that I’m half-German, Kindaichi? My mother’s from Northern Germany and moved to Japan later in her life. She taught me the language quite well.” – “Uh. No?” Kindaichi blinks. 

“Well,” Hajime says, a grin on his lips. “We have a certain saying: Appetit holt man sich draußen, aber gegessen wird zuhause. It roughly translates to something very interesting.” And just as Oikawa comes dancing back to them, his fangirls gone, Hajime pulls him close to press a rough, passionate kiss onto his lips. 

Kindaichi stands there, awkwardly blushing and weirdly nervous, just as Hajime pulls back from a very wide-eyed Tooru and says, smiling: “The translation is You get an appetite outside, but you always eat at home.” 

Kindaichi has never desired a spontaneous loss of short-time memory as much as he does now.