#german expression

[schlock-luster-video]

Remembering German Expressionist actress and silent film icon Fern Andra on the anniversary of her birth.

R.I.P. 1893 - 1974

[frank-o-meter]

Backpfeifengesicht - a German expressing meaning “a face that’s begging to be punched”.

[germanlang]

Die Kuh ist noch nicht vom Eis

(literally: the cow isn't yet off of the ice)

When an obstacle hasn't been overcome yet or for example when a risky task isn't completely finished yet.

Beispiel: Das Hardware-Problem haben wir zwar jetzt gelöst, aber die Kuh ist noch nicht vom Eis. Wir müssen uns immer noch um die Software kümmern.

Example: We have solved the hardware problem by now, but the cow isn't off of the ice yet. We still have to take care of the software.

[german-enthusiast]

German saying: "Iss auf, dann gibt es morgen gutes Wetter."

(Eat everything that’s on your plate, then there will be good weather tomorrow)

This lovely Tiktoker, @teresareichel on TikTok, explains in this video that this typical saying (usally said to children by their parents) is actually a mistranslation from Plattdeutsch (spoken in the northern part of Germany). She explains further:

Originally, it’s not “morgen gutes Wetter” (tomorrow good weather) but “morgen goods wedder” (tomorrow (sth.) good again (wedder → wieder)).

Therefore it is actually supposed to communicate “Eat up, so that tomorrow there will be something good to eat again (instead, for example, of the same dish reheated because there were leftovers).

[blumensprache]

Jdn zur Vernunft bringen

—  (idiom) to bring sb to their senses 

🇩🇪 Jeden Tag versucht er seine Schwester zur Vernunft zu bringen. Sie besteht darauf, sich ausschließlich von Keksen zu ernähren, die auf Palmöl basieren und möchte ihre neue Diät nicht ändern. 

➡️🇬🇧 He tries every day to bring his sister to her senses. She insists on eating exclusively cookies that are palm-oil-based and doesn’t want to change her new diet. 

[thatswhywelovegermany]

Drachen steigen lassen

literally: to let dragons rise

to fly kites

[vintagegeekculture]

“Vasilisa the Beautiful” (1939). 

A Russian fairy tale film with a German Expressionist bent, starring Georgy Millyar as the witch Baba Yaga. 

[suplanguages]

GERMAN WORD/EXPRESSION OF THE DAY:

Zeit schinden - to play out time, to stall for time, to procrastinate, to buy time

German definition: etwas absichtlich verzögern, sich Zeit verschaffen

Um Zeit zu schinden, räumte sie die Küche auf. She tidied the kitchen to stall for time.

Indem er sich einverstanden erklärte, der Lehrling des Zauberers zu werden, konnte er vielleicht etwas Zeit schinden. By agreeing to become the wizard’s apprentice, he might have bought himself some time.