47 Must-Know German Idioms to Understand and Use Yourself! [With Examples]

🇩🇪 Get Unstuck Learning German with my FREE course here: https://free.germanwithlaura.com/47-i...
------
You likely use idioms WAY more than you think. Inside, we go through some of the most common German idioms and how they relate (or don't!) to familiar English idioms. Plus, some of them are quite quirky and have hilarious literal English translations. We'll also look at the interesting origins (pretty much always from the Middle Ages) of some of the German idioms such as 'to keep the church in the village.'

4 Sections:
1. 🔄 Exact Match Idioms - These have identical counterparts in English and German! E.g., 'das Rad neu erfinden' = 'to reinvent the wheel'.
2. 🧐 Slightly Different Idioms - Strikingly similar but with tiny differences. Like 'sich in die Höhle des Löwen wagen' = 'to walk [German: dare oneself] into the lion's den'.
3. 🎭 Comparable but Unique Idioms - The fun ones where the meaning is the same but the phrase is worlds apart, like 'Das ist Schnee von gestern' ('that's snow from yesterday) = that's water under the bridge.
4. 🤷‍♂️ No English Equivalent - Unique German idioms that don't have an English counterpart.

🗣 Your Turn!:
Have any funny idioms to share? Drop them in the comments! Let's learn and laugh together. 😆

⏱️ Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:12 (1) das Rad neu erfinden (to reinvent the wheel)
01:45 (2) den Nagel auf den Kopf treffen (to hit the nail on the head)
02:19 (3) den Wald vor lauter Bäumen nicht sehen (to not see the forest for the trees)
02:56 ** Section 2: Slightly Different **
03:14 (4) sich in die Höhle des Löwen wagen (to walk into the lion's den)
03:47 (5) den Kopf in den Sand stecken (to bury one's head in the sand)
04:20 (6) auf den Punkt kommen (to get to the point)
05:03 (7) Himmel und Hölle in Bewegung setzen (to move heaven and earth)
05:43 (8) das fünfte Rad am Wagen (a third wheel)
06:25 (9) den Faden verlieren (to lose one's train of thought)
06:58 (10) ein Ohr abkauen (to talk someone's ear off)
07:29 (11) sich zum Affen machen (to make a fool of oneself)
07:53 (12) in den sauren Apfel beißen (to bite the bullet)
09:14 (13) (etwas) an den Nagel hängen (to hang up one's boots)
09:47 (14) die Flinte ins Korn werfen (to throw in the towel)
10:48 (15) in den Wind schreiben (to kiss something goodbye)
11:45 (16) wie ein Fisch auf dem Trockenen (like a fish out of water)
12:35 (17) wie ein Elefant im Porzellanladen (like a bull in a china shop)
13:14 (18) ein heißes Eisen sein (to be a hot potato)
14:11 (19) Das ist ein Katzensprung (That's a stone's throw away)
14:40 ** Section 3: Comparable but Unique **
15:05 (20) unter den Tisch fallen lassen (to sweep under the rug)
16:02 (21) um den heißen Brei herumreden (to beat around the bush)
17:19 (22) fix und fertig sein (to be running on fumes)
18:15 (23) die Suppe auslöffeln müssen (to have to face the music)
19:06 (24) einen Zahn zulegen (to put the pedal to the metal)
19:38 (25) auf dem Schlauch stehen (to not be able to make heads or tails out of something)
20:15 (26) das Blaue vom Himmel versprechen (to promise the moon)
21:13 (27) einen Bären aufbinden (to pull someone’s leg)
21:53 (28) über den Tellerrand schauen (to think outside the box)
22:59 (29) Das ist Schnee von gestern (That is water under the bridge)
23:38 (30) Nicht dein Bier! (Not your beeswax!)
24:02 (31) Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof (It's all Greek to me!)
24:52 (32) etwas aus dem Ärmel schütteln (to be a piece of cake)
25:41 (33) den Teufel tun (when pigs fly)
26:38 (34) Tomaten auf den Augen haben
27:06 (35) etwas aus dem Ärmel schütteln (to be a piece of cake)
28:35 (36) Das ist nicht gerade das Gelbe vom Ei (That's not quite up to snuff)
29:09 (37) den Teufel an die Wand malen (to meet trouble halfway)
30:03 (38) wie ein Schluck Wasser in der Kurve (thin as a rail)
30:46 ** Section 4: No English Equivalents **
31:11 (39) die Nase voll (von etw.) haben (to be sick and tired of something)
31:38 (40) (etwas) hinter die Ohren schreiben (to make a mental note of something)
32:11 (41) die Kirche im Dorf lassen (to keep things in perspective)
33:01 (42) Alles in Butter! (Everything's hunky-dory!)
33:30 (43) aus allen Wolken fallen (to be completely taken aback)
34:17 (44) sich aus dem Staub machen (to abscond)
35:08 (45) ein Haar in der Suppe finden (to nitpick)
36:41 (46) auf dem Holzweg sein (to be off the mark)
37:31 (47) einen Korb bekommen (to be spurned)
38:58 Outro