Learn some of the most common proverbs
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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 of the most common German proverbs? |
| German has some really interesting proverbs! In this lesson, we’ll go over some of them. |
| First up is the expression, Abwarten und Tee trinken. This literally means, “to wait and drink tea.” This is a common phrase used when you want to express your patience about something. For example, if you applied for university and you need to wait for the results, you can use this expression. |
| Next, we have the expression Alte Liebe rostet nicht, which means, “Old love doesn’t rust.” For example, imagine you haven’t seen an ex for many years. Then, suddenly, they come back into your life and the flame rekindles. In that case, one might use this expression. |
| Next up is, Einen Bären aufbinden, literally meaning “To untie a bear.” If someone tells you a story and you don’t think he or she’s telling the truth you can say, he or she’s “untying a bear,” which actually means, “I don't believe you at all.” |
| Another interesting idiom is, Auf den Schlips treten which literally means, “To step on the necktie.” If you offend someone, you might say, Entschuldige, ich wollte dir nicht auf den Schlips treten. “Sorry, I didn't mean to step on the (your) neck tie.” |
| Let’s go over a few more-- |
| Alles in Butter, literally, “Everything (is) in butter.” If someone ask you “Are you ok?” You can tell this person, Ja, alles in Butter. “Yes, everything is fine.” |
| The next one is, Auf die Pelle rücken, literally meaning, “to move to the skin.” The imagery is quite self explanatory. If you imagine someone being too close to you physically, you can comment on his or her behavior by saying, Du rückst mir auf die Pelle. Literally, “You bother me.” |
| Last, we have Übung macht den Meister, literally, “Practice makes the master.” Imagine your friend is practicing something really hard, but just isn’t quite there yet. You can tell him or her, Übung macht den Meister, “Practice makes perfect.” |
| 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 in another series!” |
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