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Help me with these expressions, what is it in German?


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Posted

I would like to know the German expressions, a lot of them I guess are very similar to Norwegian and Swedish in both words  and meaning.

I know that Schnee von gestern , N: Snøen fra i fjor or Snøen om falt i fjor. Leave things in the past, don't drag it up again, as the snow from last year is not there anymore, and the snow from yesterday , is already here. As its history, let it be or commonly used , a thing of the past or water under the bridge.

A pig in a poke ,N: Katten i sekken , to have something. Is it correct with "die Katze im Sack"?

To be promised something to good and too much  N: "lover deg gull og grønne skoger= promise you gold and green forests. What is the German form?

En bjørnetjeneste , Å gjøre noen en bjørnetjeneste, in Norwegian is to do someone  a favor that backfire's, help someone in a way that is not helpful at all. What do you say in German?

When someone is very clumsy its said in Norwegian: Hun/han er som  en elefant i et glasshus. He/she is like an elephant in a house of glass.  How do you say this in German?

When someone is very much in love , what do you say?

N: Oppover ørene forelsket ; above the ears in love, an English saying is "Head over heels".

  • 3 weeks later...
Center Script Content
Posted

Hello Kaffi

My mother tongue is German, so I guess I'm pretty qualified to help you. Nevertheless it's often quite impossible to translate idioms to another language. But I will try my best :)

1. "die Katze im Sack" is the beginning of two different idioms:

"die Katze im Sack kaufen" means foolishly accepting an offering without examining it first. This would be the translation of "buying a pig in a poke"

"die Katze aus dem Sack lassen" is another german idiom, that means "to lift a secret.

2. The german form of this idiom would be "das Blaue vom Himmel versprechen" (=to promise the blue from the sky). It's also used in different constellations:

"das Blaue vom Himmel lügen"

"das Blaue vom Himmel erzählen"

3. I don't think we have an idiom for that.

4. We have a really similar idiom for this: "Elefant in der Porzellankiste" (= elephant in crate full of porcelain"). We also have another similar idiom: "Vorsicht ist die Mutter in der Porzellankiste" (=Careful is the mother in the crate full of porcelain) which means "Safety first" or "Better safe than sorry."

5. Our idiom of that is just the same as yours: "Über beide Ohren in jemanden verliebt sein"

I hope I could help :)

  • 8 months later...
Posted

Hi, I know this reply is way to late, but I can`t let this false information stay uncommented.

Å gjøre noen en bjørnetjeneste

In German we say: "Jemandem einen Bärendienst erweisen"

Nr. 4 is only known to me as "Elefant im Porzellanladen" .... Maybe what weltschoendenker mentioned is a version that is used locally.

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