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Guía · Unidad 19 · B2
Idioms and Youth Slang
Everyday idioms and Jugendsprache
- 1
Tomaten auf den Augen: idioms for (not) getting it
Tomatoes on your eyes, a foot on the hose, a bear tied to your back — idioms for noticing, understanding and teasing.
Abrir lección- Tomaten auf den Augen haben — to be blind to the obvious; auf dem Schlauch stehen — to be slow on the uptake.
- Nur Bahnhof verstehen — not to understand a word; den Faden verlieren — to lose your thread.
- Der Groschen ist gefallen — the penny has dropped; den Nagel auf den Kopf treffen — to be exactly right.
- Jemandem einen Bären aufbinden — to pull someone's leg: Er hat mir einen Bären aufgebunden.
- Idioms conjugate like any verb phrase, but their fixed words never change.
- 2
Schwein haben, das ist mir Wurst: luck, nerves and sausages
Lucky pigs, pressed thumbs, an elephant made from a midge — and a lot of food.
Abrir lección- Schwein haben — to be lucky; jemandem die Daumen drücken — to keep your fingers crossed for someone.
- Jemandem auf den Keks gehen — to get on someone's nerves; both these take the dative: dir, mir.
- Aus einer Mücke einen Elefanten machen — a mountain out of a molehill; auf die lange Bank schieben — to put off.
- Das ist mir Wurst — I couldn't care less (mind the tone); es geht um die Wurst — it's crunch time.
- Da haben wir den Salat! — now we're in a mess; reinen Wein einschenken — to tell the plain truth.
- 3
Krass, Digga, kein Bock: youth slang
The slang you'll hear on Berlin's U-Bahn — what it means, who says it, and where to leave it out.
Abrir lección- Great or wild: krass, mega, heftig, der Hammer, voll (+ adjective) — and geil, among friends only.
- Bock haben auf — to fancy; kein / null Bock — can't be bothered.
- chillen, abhängen — to relax, to hang out; lost — clueless; Echt jetzt? — seriously?
- Alter and Digga are for friends; Mist is mild, Kacke isn't.
- Slang has an age and a place: at work, super, toll and keine Lust do the job.
- 4
Servus, gell, basst scho: German beyond Berlin
Regional hellos and goodbyes, the little “right?” at the end of a sentence — and a weekend of Bavarian.
Abrir lección- Moin in the north, Grüß Gott and Servus in the south and Austria, Grüezi in Switzerland; Hallo and Guten Tag everywhere.
- Servus means both hello and goodbye.
- End a statement with oder? everywhere, ne? or wa? in Berlin, gell? in the south.
- Bavarian basics: basst scho (it's fine), mei (oh well), net / nimmer (not / not any more), a Maß (a litre of beer).
- Nobody expects you to speak dialect — understanding a little goes a long way.