Friday, June 30, 2017

Quirky German phrases and insults

Here's a special German treat from Lilian Noack. It takes the cake:

This man is 'nicht mein bier' (not my beer, ie, not my cup of tea). He is such an 'eigenbrotler' (one who makes his own bread, ie, an eccentric character) and always 'gibt seinen senf dazu' (brings his mustard along, ie, has a word to say), even if nobody is interested. And then he acts like a 'beleidigte leberwurst' (insulted liver sausage, ie, insulted child). I really think 'an ihm ist hopfen und malz verloren' (hop and malt are wasted on him, ie, nothing can be done with him). I guess 'gegen ihn ist kein kraut gewachsen' (there is no herb grown against him, ie, there is no cure for people like him), and life around him is certainly 'kein honigschlecken' (no honey lickin', ie, no fun).


'Nun ist mir alles wurst' (now it is all sausage to me, ie, now I don't care any more) and 'ich werde mir nicht die zahne ausbeissen' (I won't break my teeth on this case). 'So ein kase!' (such a cheese! ie, what a shame). It could have been so nice. But when he started 'mich durch den kakao zu ziehen' (to pull me through the cocoa, ie, to make me look ridiculous), I knew 'es geht um die wurst' (it is about the sausage, ie, it is a question of now or never). I said to myself: 'da haben wir den salat' (there we have the salad, ie, that's a nice mess). After I left him, I went through a 'durststrecke' (thirsty stretch, ie, difficult period). But looking back, I know that I had 'schwein' (pig, ie, I was lucky). I could have 'die radieschen von unten angeschaut' (looked at the radishes from below, ie, ended up lying in the graveyard).

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