German Idioms and Tongue Twisters with the letter A

When you learn a language, one of the trickiest sentences to learn are idioms. They don’t translate literally and if you do translate them, they often don’t make any sense.

On the other hand, being able to use idioms in a foreign language is great and fun.

So, a while ago Steven and I started our season 4 of ‘Ask Angelika’ with an A – Z of German idioms. We’ve even thrown a few tongue twisters in it 😉

But not everybody is interested in watching videos, so I’m turning them into blog posts as well – but if you wish, you can still watch the video at the end of the post!

And to make it even better, this post will have 6 extra idioms which weren’t mentione in the video.

Ich habe ein Attentat auf dich vor.  
I have a big favour to ask of you.

Alles in einem Aufwasch!    
All in one go!

Das ist eine faule Ausrede.
That’s a lame excuse.

Du nimmst mich auf den Arm.
You’re pulling my leg.

Er hat ein blaues Auge.
He’s got a black eye.

Klappe zu, Affe tot!
End of story!

The extra idioms:

auf Achse sein
be on the move

das A und O
the be-all and end-all

ein Angsthase sein
be a scaredy cat

ein Auge zudrücken
let someone get away with something

einen Affenzirkus veranstalten
kick up a fuss

Der Apfel fällt nicht weit vom Stamm.
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Now it’s your turn to try this tongue twister. How fast can you say it?

Herr von Hagen darf ich’s wagen, Sie zu fragen, welchen Kragen Sie getragen, als Sie lagen krank am Magen in der Stadt zu Kopenhagen.

If you wish, you can watch the video and see how Steven copes with pronouncing the idioms and working out what they mean.

Or you can listen to it on Spotify

Alternatively, you can think of ways to use these idioms in your German speaking or writing.

Do you know any German idioms with the letter A that I could have added to this list?

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