Trying not to sound excessively formal in a foreign language requires practice and attention. It can happen that in your aim to sound colloquial you will pick up words and phrases that you think are everyday material you can use with your colleagues at work, in a classroom or when you get introduced to people you would like to give a good impression to, only to later be informed that maybe you got a little too carried away with the argot and you’re coming off as rather vulgar or rude. It sounds like a fun mistake to make but it can also have nasty consequences depending on the situation you’re in, so watch out!

I spent some time this past month paying extra attention to the sneakiest phrases I could share with you, those that are so much a part of the everyday language that they do not even stand out anymore to my ears but that back in the day were definitely alien to me and forced me to ask the nearest kind German to please explain their meaning to me. Are you ready for them?

Nice museum exhibit about the roots of the German language, its heritage to other languages and words it has adopted. Foto: LauraV

Besoffen.  “Hammered”, for practical purposes. Yes, we know “trinken” is the verb for drinking and when someone drinks too much then they are “betrunken”. I have yet to hear a German speaking of “trinken” and “betrunken” instead of “saufen” and “besoffen” in a regular conversation.

Kein Schwein war da. “Not a pig was there” is the literal translation for this and it is used to say that a place or event was not as concurred as it was expected or that there were few people and therefore it sucked. It always has a negative connotation and is meant as a critic.

Bock / kein Bock. It’s something like “being in the mood” and “not being in the mood” for something. The twin sister of this word is the word “Lust”, you can have “Lust” or “keine Lust” but “Bock” is way more colloquial.  At any rate both mean to have the will/wish/desire/stamina to do something, go somewhere or put up with a situation. It’s also great for ending an argument, when you have reached your peak of irritation then you can say you have “kein Bock” to keep on with the discussion and leave.

More wise German words. Taken at a museum in Berlin. Foto: LauraV

Die Nuss. Literally ‘the nut’. This one is a personal favorite used to refer to a feminine persona that exhibits a not-so-clever behavior or to one that you don’t like in particular so you feel like mildly insulting her cognitive abilities when you mention her in a conversation. Spice it up with adding “blöde” for an extra dose of despise. Your co-worker screwed up your work again with her incompetence? “die blöde Nuss!”

Ein Fass aufmachen. This one is a bit tricky; it translates to “opening up a barrel” but what they really mean is a barrel of some extremely foamy drink: beer. This is the right expression to use when someone is making a problem out of nothing or when someone throws an unreasonable tantrum; they’re blowing things out of proportion and making a show out of it with their behavior.

Naturally there are hundreds of expressions and sayings out there in the German language, they vary from region to region and let’s not forget the dialects that sure have their own collection of colloquialism. Still, I hope this piece of “expat wisdom” serves a purpose.