Don’t you just love idioms? Like ‘the early bird catches the worm’ or ‘a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’. I was always told that, if you know idioms in a foreign language, you’re fluent (or, alternatively, if you can swear in that language ☺)
So, are there any ‘bird’ idioms or phrases in German? Yes is the answer and here they are:
- einen Vogel haben – to have bats in the belfry
- den Vogel abschießen – to take the biscuit
- ein komischer Vogel – an odd duck
- ein schräger Vogel – an odd fish
- frei wie ein Vogel – free as a bird
- Der frühe Vogel frisst den Wurm – the early bird catches the worm
- Der Vogel ist ausgeflogen – the bird has flown the nest
- weder Fisch noch Vogel sein – to fall between the stools
- Du siehst wie einen Vogelscheuche (scarecrow) aus – You look like something the cat’s dragged in
- Vogel-Strauß-Politik betreiben – to bury one’s head in the sand
- der Pechvogel – jinx, unlucky person
- Vogel friss oder stirb – sink or swim
- ein lustiger Vogel – a funny guy
Have you heard any of these phrases before? Which one is your favourite?
I’ll leave you with some ‘lustige Vögel’, some real funny birds – no German required ☺
very in-depth, thank you. I had not come across the odd fish/duck. Which reminds me – I live in the East Midlands where people in working class contexts greet each other as ‘duck’ (pronounced with u not a!) – clearly a term of endearment.
When I had my first telephone conversation with my first client in my first locum social work assignment here some 9 years ago, I insisted the male client use my name instead. – He was very apologetic, I soon learned the connotations and we got on very well from there.
He he, here they often call people ‘love’, which took me quite a while to get used to.
Thanks for stopping by!
Das ist toll….sehr interessant.
Gibts such Sprueche aug Deutsch ueber bragging?
Bestimmt! Das könnte ein neuer Blogpost werden…
My Bavarian mother-in-law had a saying that sounded like this: “Geckel (or Gickel) on a misthaven”
She would use it when someone thought a little too highly of themselves. And said it literally was about a rooster on a compost heap. I can’t find this anywhere. Perhaps it is some sort of slang from Bavaria. Does anyone know anything about this?
I only know the word ‘Gockel’, which is another word for rooster, but I just found ‘Gickel’ as well. Both words are southern German / Austrian terms.
Gickel was new to me, but here is a dictionary entry: https://www.dict.cc/?s=Gickel