Learn some idioms with parts of the body
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| Hi everybody! Anja here. Welcome to Ask a Teacher, where I’ll answer some of your most common German questions. |
| The question for this lesson is: What are some German idioms that refer to parts of the human body? |
| There are many sayings in German that use parts of the body as idiomatic expressions. In this lesson, we’ll go over some of them. |
| First up is Unter die Arme greifen, literally meaning “to grab someone under the arms.” It means that you’re helping someone with something or giving him or her support. For example-- |
| Gerne greife ich dir unter die Arme, wenn es dir finanziell nicht gut geht. Meaning “Of course I will support you when you are in financial trouble.” |
| Next, we have Auf gleicher Augenhöhe sein, literally meaning, “Being on the same eye height.” This expression is used to show equality between people. For example-- |
| Politiker sollten auf gleicher Augenhöhe debattieren. “Politicians should debate on equal terms.” |
| Next we have, Sich ein Bein ausreißen. This literally means, “to tear out a leg.” This is used when you want to express that you’re putting forth your best efforts when doing something. For example-- |
| Ich habe mir für diesen Job das Bein ausgerissen. meaning “I put so much effort into this job.” |
| Let’s do one more! Jemandem am Herz liegen, literally meaning, “Someone lies at the heart.” This is used if you want to express that someone is very important to you. For example-- |
| Du liegst mir sehr am Herzen. “You mean so much to me.” |
| How was this lesson? Pretty interesting right? |
| Do you have any more questions? Leave them in the comments below and I’ll try to answer them! |
| Tschüss, bis zum nächsten Mal! “Bye, see you next time!” |
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