Expressions, Phrases and Sayings

Expressions, phrases and sayings are a fun way to spice up the language... Make it more colorful and get your train of thought easier communicated. I love to use them while talking, but having English as a foreign language and still trying to use them has been sometimes confusing or just plain hilarious for my conversation partners.

This post is for the German native to get a couple of tools at hand, to not make the same mistakes, I made in the past and actually be understood right away. Of course it's also for the English native to understand the German in your life a little better. (Mental note: Send link of this post to Terry!)

German Expression	Literal English Translation	Correct English Translation
Nichts fuer Ungut!	Nothing for Ungood.	Nevermind.
Auch ein blindes Huhn findet einmal ein Korn.	Even a blind chicken finds a grain every now and then.	Ever dog has it's day.
Weder Fisch noch Fleisch.	Neither fish nor meat.	Neither fish nor fowl.
Auf dem Holzweg sein.	Be on the wood way.	Barking up the wrong tree.
Besser der Spatz in der Hand als die Taube auf dem Dach.	A sparrow in the hand is worth a dove on the roof.	A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Abwarten und Tee trinken.	Wait and drink tea.	Wait and see.
Ach Du gruene Neune!	Um, you green nine!	Good grief!
in Butter sein	be in butter	things are going smoothly
jemandem auf der Nase herum tanzen	dance on somebody's nose	to walk all over somebody
jemanden auf Herz und Nieren pruefen	test someone on there heart and kidneys	to put somebody through their paces
Das geht auf keine Kuhhaut.	That doesn't fit on cow's skin.	It beggars description.
etwas aus dem Aermel schuetteln	shake something out of the sleeve	come up with something just like that
aus dem Groebsten heraus sein	to be out of the roughest	to be out of the woods
aus dem Haeuschen sein	to be out of the little house	to be beside oneself
kurz vor dem Aus stehen	to be close to the end	to teeter on the brink of collapse
Blut und Wasser schwitzen	to sweat blood and water	to be in a cold sweat
Das sind boehmische Doerfer fuer mich.	Those are Bohemian villages for me.	It's all Greek to me.
den Amtsschimmel reiten	ride the office white horse	to do everything by the book
die Daumen druecken	press the thumbs	cross your fingers
den Vogel abschiessen	to shoot the bird	to take the cake
die Beine in die Hand nehmen	take the legs in the hand	to take to one's heels
die Katze im Sack kaufen	to be the cat in the bag	to buy a pig in a poke
die Kurve kratzen	to scratch the curve	to hit the road
eine ruhige Kugel schieben	to push a calm ball	to have a cushy job
einen Korb bekommen	to get the basket	to get the mitten
erste Sahne	prime crème	doozy
ins Fettnaepfchen treten	to step into a little bowl full of fat	to put one's foot in
mit einem blauen Auge davonkommen	get away with a black eye	to get a slap on the wrist
mit Kanonen auf Spatzen schiessen	shoot sparrows with cannons	to break a fly on the wheel
nur Bahnhof verstehen	just understand train station	It's all Greek to me.
Wer anderen eine Grube graebt, faellt selbst hinein.	Who diggs a pit for others, falls in it themselves.	Harm set, harm get.
Eine Kraehe hackt der anderen kein Auge aus.	One crow doesn't peck out the other crow's eye.	There is honor among thieves.

This is just a small selection of the things that are different. There are tons of expressions that are the same in the English and German language.

If you have anything to add, please free to leave a comment! ;-)

Today At The DMV

I got pulled over by an officer last Friday, because my registration has expired... in August. Oops. I completely forgot about that one. I paid my taxes and all that good stuff, but the new registration with my sticker just didn't reach me (I guess because of my move) and I didn't even notice. Anyways, the officer was very polite and efficient and all that good stuff and when I show up in court in two weeks, I hopefully get the fine waived when I present my new registration. I'll keep you posted on that one.

To get that out of the way and also to finally get a new driver's license with my new address, I headed over to the DMV (for my German friends: Landratsamt) over lunch. I picked the DMV closest to work and hoped it wouldn't be too busy. Yeah right... A girl can dream right?

I thought about taking my magazines to read during the waiting time, but of course I forgot and since I wasn't occupied with anything, this 18 year old (I know, because he told me) redneck started talking to me.... That was kinda frightening but let me recap. Now I know, why he just getting his license now even though he's already 18. Also he shared with me, why "the man" is bringing you down... This one was a little confusing... There was a reference to the bible, then there were laws and then someone invented the stop sign... At this point I told him "not to go there" which finally shut him up. Then he started talking to the woman next to me and when she wasn't so talkative, he started talking to the girl standing on the other side. I tried to see on his application what box he checked on the question with the mental illnesses... Oh wow...

I got there by 11:58AM and finally made it to one of the counters around 12:30PM. Getting my registration was a two minute deal. Then I asked to get a new driver's license since my address has changed and while I pushed the paperwork over to her, I told her that I am not a U.S. citizen... Out of experience, saying this upfront, speeds up the process... Also in this case, but not as desired. She looked at my paperwork and then asked me if I have proof of citizenship. I showed her my passport with my visa. Then she told me, that she needs proof of naturalization and I didn't know what she was talking about... Once again, I pointed to my passport. Then she asked a co-worker to come over and once again I was told that they need a proof of naturalization, since I need to proof that I am a U.S. citizen. Then I said: "I already proofed that I am NOT a U.S. citizen!" Then the light bulbs went on and I was told, that they cannot issue driver's licenses for non-citizen in this office and that I need to go to the office on the other side of town.

We'll at least I know, what I will do tomorrow for lunch!

From 5th Ave to the Col-Du-Sac

Is it just me or are radio commercials irritating to you as well? I find TV commercials just as annoying, but when the commercials come on, I'll do all kinds of stuff e.g. changing over clothes from the washer to the dryer and other fabulous activities. I can't do that in the car and if I am not fast enough to switch channels, it just takes a locally produced radio commercial to make me want to scream! You know, I really support locally grown produce and the local shops and I understand that producing a commercial costs money and all that, but I am sure there are ways to make it less obnoxious. Really, there is more to selling than yelling! I didn't come up with this sentence... It was that TV show about infomericals... You know what I am talking about?



This morning on my way to work, I once more got the pleasure to listen to the spot of Deja-Vu Consignment in Mauldin since there are the shop of the week (at least the 2nd week in a row) from a local radio station. I have never been to this store, so I cannot make any judgement on the quality of there merchandise, but after listening to their commercial, I kinda doubt that I will make it there ever, because I don't want to be in a dead end... Who would want that?? One line in there 3 minute (felt time) radio spot says something like "Deja-Vu brings 5th Ave to the Col-Du-Sac". I understand that they where playing off the whole French name theme and they wanted to express that they have NYC runway worthy fashion in the store, but please don't use foreign words because they sound good... The meaning of the word should support your message no matter what language you use. Or am I misunderstanding something and they really wanted to call Greenville and/or their store a dead end?? Should I feel offended? ;-)



If you have been reading this blog for a little you might tell me now, that I shouldn't throw stones while sitting in a glass house, since I previously stated to sometimes use words that I am not completely sure of the meaning. Well, I guess I am guilty of this, but be assured that I double check things that I am not sure about, whenever I put something in writing and triple check it, if my writing is about to be published. That's why I checked the word "obnoxious" just a couple of minutes ago. And I know, that there are going to be mistakes in this blog, but these are all foreign words to me... Besides, you would think that in commercial production, there are people proof-reading the lines right??

Sometimes, I Don't Know What I Say

Yeah, I know…. We all have these moments, but I mean the headline quite literally. English is not my native language and that presents challenges to me even after 9 years of classes in school, 2 years in college (I didn't take English all the way or wasn't able to... Can't remember), 0.5 years in England and over 4 years in the USA . After such a long time, you would think I have it down, but there are still things I don't know… And maybe never will. You can compare it to the first five questions people get ask in "Who wants to be a Millionaire". If you didn't grow up in that country, you just don't have a chance. Funny enough, the things I know or don't know are very random... according to BF. There are things he kind of expects me to know and on the other hand, I often enough surprise him with an expression or saying that he never thought I can know. How I pick up the vocabulary I use, I don't know. I guess it is highly influenced by the people that I talk to every day and by TV.

During my school time, I had my share of hours and hours of endless repetitions in order to keep up with the class. Early in college, I started to read books in English and that was quite a reality check. At this point, I studied the language for around ten years, but making it through my first English book (other than the small pamphlets we had to read in class that were tailored to our level) was quite a task. At this point, I kissed the illusion good-bye of understanding every word in every sentence and moved to the approach of keeping on reading as long as I think I have a general idea about the content and only pull out my dictionary, if I wasn't able to make any sense out of the sentence or the paragraph. So I moved on from studying translations to learning words based on which context they are used and up to this day, I stick to this most of the time.

Using this approach always has a moment of truth whenever I first use a particular word myself. If you never looked up the translation and just thought you know what something means, it can get quite interesting. I learned that three things can happen, when I try out a new word: 1) Nothing. I got the word right and used it right... Everything is good. 2) Blank looks... Then I just hope that I didn't offend anyone. Or 3) Blank looks followed by the question, if I meant so and so... This happens mostly, when I skew up the pronunciation. This method has worked pretty good for me. I learned that people are very forgiving, when they notice that I am not a native speaker... That helps a lot to overcome fears of embarrassing yourself. It also helps me while I write this blog, that people most likely are not going to tear me up over a funny sentence or little mistakes. My mum and dad always say: "Only if they speak a foreign language as well as you speak English, then they can judge you." That's not a bad ankle to this topic either...

On other news: It feels like fall has arrived in South Carolina. It has been pouring down for the last two days and they say it's not going to get better over the next couple of days. If it's not raining, fall is my favorite season of the year... It's not too hot and not too cold and whenever the fall leaf foliage is coming into full swing, it's just plain beautiful. In the meantime, it takes some adjusting. I don't feel like running or cycling in the rain, so today I decided to try out something new and joined a Boot Camp class this morning. It was really fun, the workouts were tough and it felt good to do things a little different for a change. I think I might go back for more next Saturday... Depending on the weather... If it's nice than I just have to be outside, while I still can this year!