12 German Idioms & Their English Equivalents | Feli from Germany

👉 Would you know what it means when Germans talk about having a tomcat, adding their mustard, or pressing their thumbs? Or when Americans bite the bullet, act vanilla, or stop dead in their tracks? Let’s talk about German idioms and their English equivalents!

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ABOUT ME: Hallo, Servus, and welcome to my channel! My name is Felicia (Feli), I'm 30 years old, and I'm a German living in the USA! I was born and raised in Munich, Germany but have been living in Cincinnati, Ohio off and on since 2016. I first came here for an exchange semester during my undergrad at LMU Munich, then I returned for an internship, and then I got my master's degree in Cincinnati. I was lucky enough to win the Green Card lottery and have been a permanent resident since 2019! In my videos, I talk about cultural differences between America and Germany, things I like and dislike about living here, and other topics I come across in my everyday life in the States. Let me know what YOU would like to hear about in the comments below. DANKE :)
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[jimshields]

5 o’clock shadow doesn’t refer to a three day beard stubble, exactly. Some men’s facial hair grows so quickly that a face shaved in the morning will look like they need to shave again in the afternoon. That is a five o’clock shadow. Richard Nixon was a prominent example. He had to shave twice a day, when he appeared in public, or he looked like he needed a shave. It hurt him in his debate with JFK, and some people thought he lost the debate because of his disappearance.

[m.h.]

For those who are wondering: The German "Kater" (for hangover) comes from "Katarrh" (English "catarrh"), which is basically a cold - complete with headache and other symptoms generally attributed to a hangover. It just sounds the same as "Kater" and therefore - in the public - became the same.

[johnb]

when I heard the Wolke 7 vs cloud 9 story, another weird difference came to mind: cats in Germany have 7 live, English speaking counties give them 9 lives.

[danijobi]

I have a great German idiom for you. When I was young I noticed that everyone knew the phrase "wir haben uns verfranzt" for "we lost our way/don't know where we are", but only half of my friends used "kannst du uns franzen?" for "can you be my navigator and read the maps while I'm driving?" And no one knew something that my dad used to say: "Bist du heute der Franz?" - "Will you be the navigator today?" I thought he madet that up, but recently I researched it and it's actually a thing. It originates from airplane communication in World War 1, where due to the bad sound quality of the on-board radio every pilot was codenamed "Emil" and every copilot/navigator was codenamed "Franz" or "Fred". Hence, when you are lost, you are "verfranzt". But since it's always the fault of the navigator when something goes wrong, there's no idiom about any Emil, when you are lost. (In some parts of Germany there is supposed to be the phrase "Wir haben uns verfredet", but I 've never heard it before.) To this very day the navigator on a rallye car reading the map and making announcements like "sharp right in 50 meters" is internationally called a "Franzer". Is there any English equivalent for someone being unable to read the map and leading you astray? How did they call their pilot and co-pilot?

[PeterKretzman]

I vote for a part 2! (And a part … 29 — in short, keep them coming! :) )

One of the most delightful parts of getting more proficient at a language is learning these sorts of idioms. I had a book when I lived in Berlin: “1000 deutsche Redensarten”, and I’d come home after a social gathering and pore through it, checking off the ones I’d heard that night.

[passatboi]

Water under the bridge = Schnee von gestern. That's a good one.

[xarmaa]

My favorite German idiom is "denken um die Ecke" or thinking around the corner vs the American "thinking outside the box." It's such a great visual! You're thinking in a totally new direction!

[Danny]

Muskelkater is another one for the tomcat when one has sore muscles like from overtraining

[alanjameson]

When I was in graduate school (early 1970's) it was still almost absolutely necessary for an organic chemist to be able to read scientific German. (Shortly before two foreign languages were required; usually French and German were taken.) Computer language had become accepted in some universities; Russian was helpful in engineering and to a limited degree in physical chemistry, but not in organic chemistry. I remember the graduate students sitting for the German reading comprehension exam who had not studied the language, trying to translate the assignment using a dictionary-- which is doomed to failure, not least because German and English dictionaries are organized very differently. My first attempt to use spoken German outside of class was with a German speaker who did not speak or read English, and wanted to order ice cream at the restaurant where I worked (in a hot spring resort). His reply was instantly burnt into my mind: "Es tut mir sehr Leid, aber Ich versteh' nich was Sie gesagt haben." [I'm very sorry, but I don't understand what you have said.] We finally got it figured out, but I kept practicing saying his response, and my graduate school acquaintances who were native German speakers said that my pronunciation was perfect. My German professor, Herr Schneider, was a Sudeten German; he attended university in Vienna, deserted from the Austro-Hungarian army, and was active in the Czechoslovak independence movement. A very old-fashioned and also very effective teacher. If I could transport myself back in time, I would study under him for another year. I think that if I were suddenly transported to Germany I could still get by, but I would spend some time reviewing my German textbooks. [Conveniently, the first semester textbook's story line is about "Eine Reise nach Deutschland' (a journey to Germany).]

[tomhalla]

Being in a bad situation is “being up shit creek”, sometimes without a paddle.

[marikesl]

„Zwei Fliegen mit einer Klappe schlagen“
„To kill two birds with one stone“ 😅

[catalinapanait]

in Romanian, "to add one's mustard" in german is said "you interfered like a fly in the milk" or "stick your nose where your pot isn't boiling", "stop dead in your tracks" is said "was lightning struck", "a stone's throw away" is "two steps away" :)

[andrewcastillo]

I've taught my kids and friends about pressing their thumbs. Now we cross our fingers on one hand and press our thumb on the other.

[Deviouscoffee]

Great video! Here's my favorite idiom:

"Ich habe mit dir ein Hühnchen zu rupfen!" ("I have a chicken to pluck with you!" 😂😂😂

In English, we just say we "have a bone to pick with you!"

[Vares]

Heck yeah, I'd love to see a part two on this subject! I'm currently learning German so I love this stuff! Vielen Dank!

[rmhartman]

We also have "rooted to the spot" in English too. It's more about being too frightened to start moving than to suddenly stop.

[bethhunter]

here is an idiom in English "it is raining cats and dogs" (meaning that it is raining really hard) French idiom for the same thing is "il pleut comme une vache pisse" (meaning it is raining like a pissing cow) lol

[rdbury]

Other examples: I've got a bunch of German expressions listed in my notes, but limiting to idioms with more or less equivalent English idioms, how about:
Mir fällt ein Stein vom Herzen./That's a load off my mind.
in alle Winde/to the four winds
aus dem Mund(e)/word for word
von Grund auf/from the ground up
unter vier Augen/just between the two of us
sich um seinen Kram kümmern/to mind one’s own business
nur so als kleiner Denkanstoß/just a little food for thought
harte Nuss/tough nut
fit wie ein Turnschuh/fit as a fiddle
das Wasser läuft in meinem Mund zusammen/my mouth is watering
auf jeden Fall/by all means
keinen Schimmer haben/to be clueless
im gleichen Boot sitzen/to be in the same boat
bleib mir vom Hals/stay off my back
den Bogen raus haben/to get the hang of
sich etwas unter den Nagel reißen/to lay your hands on
gift darauf nehmen können/(you) can bet the farm
über die Runden kommen/to make ends meet
ein Auge auf etwas werfen/to have an eye on
zu Grabe tragen/to lay to rest
schöne Augen machen/to make eyes at
im Stich lassen/to leave in the lurch
es satt haben/to be fed up
aus der Fassung bringen/to cause to become unhinged
an den Tag bringen/to bring to the light of day

I'm pretty sure there is enough of this this kind of thing for parts 3 and 4, much less part 2.

[r.b.ratieta]

I lived in South America for a few years and some of their idioms I came to enjoy were:

"Chupando la piña" -- "Sucking the pineapple." It's the common term for making out.

"La media naranja" -- "The half orange." A common slang for your soulmate.

"Ando pato" -- "Walk like a duck." Means you have no money because your pockets are empty and turned inside out.

"Andando con bicicleta" -- "Walking with a bicycle." This is a play on words. If someone is "andando POR bicicleta", it means they're riding a bicycle. If they're "andando CON bicicleta", it means they have diarrhea and are walking fast as if they're trying to ride a bicycle. If it's really severe, this can be substituted with the word motorcycle.

"Me cae bien/mal". "They fall good/bad with me." Basically means whether or not you get along with someone.

"Malcriado/a". "Badly raised". Often used in joking if someone's being naughty or sarcastic. Kinda like, "No, bad! Bad boy/girl!"

There are others, but those are the ones that come to mind. I love different languages because they make connections where one might not have thought in their native tongue.

[divebomb]

Feli- the origins of “Bite The Bullet” trace back to the U.S. Civil War. When they had to amputate there were of course no pain killers like there are today. So they would use a bullet casing (a shell) to bite on because of the extreme pain.