This is a collection of German idioms, expressions, proverbs, and sayings with, if possible, their English equivalents, which I have gathered over the last two years since I've start to learn the German language.

Learning Idioms help to gain a prospective on German thinking as it relates to English. It is also helpful to study the example sentences for sentence structure, article usage, and vocabulary building, such skills which could always use some refreshing.

You can sort the German sayings according to an object which each idiom may refer to -although this may change after some time if there is a better way to organize them. Eventually I'll post pictures with each German expression to aid in remembering each German idiom.

Good Luck!

Literal Translation: to write something behind one's ears
English saying: to be sure to remember, to get into one's thick head

Click 'read examples' to view practice sentences.

Literal Translation: to find a hair in the soup
English saying: to find something to moan about

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Literal Translation: to show the cold shoulder to someone
English saying: to give someone the cold shoulder, to deliberately ignore someone

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Literal Translation: to keep something behind the mountain
English saying: to keep something to oneself

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Literal Translation: to slide into the basement
English saying: to reach rock-bottom

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Literal Translation: to stick one's nose into everything
English saying: to poke one's nose into everything

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Literal Translation: a thick dog
English saying: a shocking piece of news

Click 'read examples' to view practice sentences.