German Idioms using food Idioms are phrases or expressions that are unique to a particular

language. Defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as “A speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements,” idioms are key to understanding the soul of a language. Idioms point to a shared experience and culture between speakers of the same language. Idioms and other similar colloquial phrases spice up a language by giving it much of its vibrancy and texture. The German language is rich in idioms.

At first, understanding German idioms can be confusing for non-native speakers, especially students. Looking up the individual words that make up an idiomatic expression in a German to English dictionary will confound the student as the words on their own won't make any sense, the entire phrase has to be taken into account when dealing with idioms. Because of this, students of the German language must study idioms in the same way as they do vocabulary. Baseline knowledge is required when dealing with idioms in any language, this knowledge cannot be had intuitively and can only come from study and experience speaking the language.

Naturally, lots of idioms involve FOOD….

Er findet immer ein Haar in der Suppe.

Die Suppe = soup; das Haar = hair He always finds a hair in the soup. He always finds something to complain

about.

Der Apfel fällt nicht weit vom Stamm.

Der Apfel = the apple The apple does not fall far from the trunk. Like father like son

Parody: "Der Abfall fällt nicht weit vom Auto." (The trash doesn't fall far from the car.)

Das ist Banane

Die Banane = the banana That is bananas! That’s crazy! That’s nuts!

Related rhetorical question: Warum ist die Banane krumm? (Warum? Warum? Warum?)

DAS IST MEIN BIER!

That is my beer!That’s MY business!

Das ist nicht dein Bier!

That is not your beer! That’s none of your business!

dumm wie Bohnenstroh

Der Bohnenstroh = bean straw Dumb as bean straw Thick as a brick

Related: dumm wie Brot Das Brot = the bread Dumb as bread Idiot

das Ei des Kolumbus

Das Ei = the egg The egg of Columbus Just the thing; a simple solution to a

difficult problem

ein Ei legen

Das Ei = the egg; legen = to lay To lay an egg To hatch a plan

WARNING: THIS MAY ALSO HAVE THE VULGAR MEANING TO TAKE A DUMP!!

nicht Fisch, nicht Fleisch

Fisch = fish; fleisch = meat Not fish, not meat Neither fish nor fowl; not recognizable

Du Flasche!

Die Flasche = the bottle You bottle! You loser!

Das ist kein Honiglecken

Honig = honey; lecken = to lick That is no lick of honey This is no picnic; no bed of roses

Das ist kalter Kaffee

Kaffee= coffee That is cold coffee. That’s old hat. (old news)

Da kommt einem der Kaffee hoch

Hoch = high There comes one of the coffees high (The

coffee comes back up) It’s enough to make you sick

Im Wein liegt die Wahrheit

Der Wein = the wine; die Wahrheit = truth

In wine lies the truth (people can’t lie effectively when drinking?)

einen Kater haben

Der Kater= tomcat To have a tomcat To have a hangover

Alles hat ein Ende, nur die Wurst hat zwei.

Das Ende = the end; die Wurst = sausage Everything has an end, only the sausage

has two. Everything must come to an end.