Well, since I'm new here and German is my native language, I thought I'd make myself useful by posting a couple of my favourite German Idioms! Here they come:
1. Der frühe Vogel fängt den Wurm!
Literal translation: The early bird catches the worm!
Use: There a two main uses of this one. The first one is to get kids out of bed (Anna, steh auf! Der frühe Vogel fängt den Wurm!) and the second one to ridicule people who simply came to late to something or acted to slowly to secure a benefit/position for them. The early birds all handed in their applications for a great new position early, but Peter missed the deadline an therefor missed the chance: A classic case of "Tja, Peter, der frühe Vogel fängt halt den Wurm!".
2. Schnee von Gestern
Literal translation: Snow from yesterday
Use: When something is no longer actual or relevant, you can say that it's "Schnee von Gestern."
3. Wie Faust aufs Auge
Literal translation: Like fist on eye
Use: Now, that one is a little crude and I wouldn't use it in a job interview. There is an even cruder version of it out there that I'm not going to include here *lol*. It's used if something fits perfectly together, both literally or methaphorically. As in: "Peter and Anna are a cute couple. They fit together like Faust aufs Auge!"
4. Klar wie Kloßbrühe
Literal translation: Clear like a special kind of (very clear) soup (I'm unsure whether Kloßbrühe exists outside of Germany)
Use: When something is very logical and simple to understand, it's "klar wie Kloßbrühe".
5. Dumm wie Brot
Literal translation: Dumb like bread
Use: An insult to someone who is really, really dumb. Like, really idiotic.
I hope you enjoyed the list!
1. Das Einzige, was für den Sieg des Bösen notwendig ist, ist, dass gute Menschen nichts tun.
2. In einer Welt, die ständig versucht, aus einem etwas anderes zu machen, man selbst zu sein, ist die größte Errungenschaft.
5 great German Idioms
in German Idioms
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1. Das Einzige, was für den Sieg des Bösen notwendig ist, ist, dass gute Menschen nichts tun.
2. In einer Welt, die ständig versucht, aus einem etwas anderes zu machen, man selbst zu sein, ist die größte Errungenschaft.
3. Worte sind nur Bilder unserer Gedanken.
4. Lächle, und die Welt verändert sich.
5. Die Hoffnung stirbt zuletzt.