“Animal Spirit”
***
Hi everyone,
and welcome to day 8 of the German Learning Advent Calendar.
Today, we’re in for some cool German expressions with animals. And instead of just going over them, I have decided to try something a little different… drumroll please…. get ready for the epic
German Animal Expression Quiz
I’ll give you a few expressions that include an animal.
For each expression, I’ll give you a short explanation what it means and an example, and your task is to pick the right animal for that expression.
So are you ready?
Then, viel Erfolg :)
And how’d it go?
Did you know any of them already? And do you like this kind of quiz? And most importantly, do you have any questions about any of them?
Let me know in the comments below :).
Have a great day and bis morgen!
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I got only one right, but I’m really fond of this type of exercise. Bravo!
Happy to hear that :)
Sehr Spass! Vielen Danke!
In the USA, it’s more generic: we say, “put a bug in your ear…” to get you thinking about something.
Great quiz, Emanuel! :)
Camille H
In UK English there’s the very similar phrase “to send someone away with a flea in their ear”, but it means to tell them to go away with a sharp rebuke. Pretty archaic though.
It seems to me (Emanuel please opine) that ein Floh ins Ohr haben and a bug in the ear is not exactly the same.
It seems that ein Floh ins Ohr haben refers to someone who can’t stop thinking about something / is obsessed with something / leads every conversation back to the same topic.
Putting a bug in someone’s ear in English is to encourage someone to do something. It’s a subtle suggestion to someone, to encourage them to come up with a desired course of action. It’s has nothing to do with an obsession or recurrent thought.
Musically, an earworm is the inability to stop thinking of a melody that one has heard. Stupid advertising jingles can become earworms, but so can great songs.
What do you think about Floh ins Ohr, Emanuel?
Hmm, Floh ins Ohr does often come in contexts where someone is getting a “weird idea” and then can’t let go of it. So there might also be encouragement in there.
Maybe they’re closer than you thought, but not 100% the same.
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Awesome quiz! Wenn ich einige Dieser Redewendungen nur erinnern könnte…
* Wenn ich mir einige dieser Redewendungen nur merken könnte
“erinnern” is the recall, “sich merken” is the storing.
Super Spaß! Nur 2 richtig.
That was fun! Of course here in Austria people tell me to keep my ears stiff. I’m 65 years old and I tell them I have trouble keeping other more important things stiff??? Never quite figured out what the importance of stiff ears are LoL.
Keep your ears pricked – to hear secrets, or gossip or….
The German version of that is “die Ohren spitzen” and it’s about “listening closely/with attention”, so not limited to secrets.
Without having looked into it, I’d say that it either comes from:
1) the idea to keeping the ears at attention, a bit like “stay sharp”
2) the idea that some dogs let their ears hang when sad, and when the ears are up, the dog is in a good mood.
Love this!
sehr spiel :)
Was meinst du damit :)?
Hallo, I read all of your posts and I love the quizz! More quizzes please?
There are a few more coming up in the calendar :)!
Sehr Gut
I think you mean FLEA not FLEE
Ops, yes :)
I had seen Katzensprung before and am familiar with “put a flea in his ear” in English so I had those two right. I also guessed two correctly, but still ended up with one wrong.
Oh, I didn’t know the flea one existed in English, as well. Is it common at all?
I believe it is well known in English; probably doesn’t rise to “common”.
I’ve never heard it :D
I’ve come across it in reading. I don’t think I know anyone who says it in real life. I think of it as rather old-fashioned. I know what it means but would not use it myself, except for humourous effect. There is no knowing what I might say then. I’ve even been know to call myself “a real hep cat”.
So much fun!
Enjoyed this. Some very similar to English, others needed intuition.
Didn’t do great but had lots of fun with the quiz. Would happily do another.
I have a couple more in the pipeline :)
I think you meant “insight” not “inside” for the explanation of question 4 (about how the rabbit runs) :)
Yup, changed it, danke dir :)
Amazing! I guessed all except the last one. I love the one about stealing horses. Makes a lot of sense.
Lustig! Ich habe Hirsch statt Hase gewählte, da ich dachte Rabbit “Kaninchen” wäre, was nicht zum männlichen Artikel passt! Aber auf jeden Fall wusste ich auch nicht dass Hase männlich ist!
Beim ersten, die englische Version ist “like a bull in a china shop”, which rolls off the tongue a little smoother meiner Meinung nach. I never heard these saying before so it was interesting thanks!!
I does roll off the tongue smoothly, but pronouncing the German one is a better match for how an elephant/bull would move in said shop :D
Very interesting to know which animals German refers to. I will think of which animals Japanese uses to express. Thank you.
Oh, let me know please!! There must be expressions with animals, too.