Hello everyone,
and welcome to our German Word of the Day. This time, we’ll have a look at the meaning of
schlagen
The main translation for it is to beat. But that’s not all there is. Schlagen has some really nice prefix versions that take us to surprising contexts like reading books and choosing paths. And we’ll also discover that schlagen has awful lot to do with gender.
“Emanuel, that sounds kind of sexist.”
Well, I totally am sexist so that’s not a surpr… oh… oh wait… I meant sexiest. I’m a sexiest.
Gee, what a start… let’s jump right in.
So yeah, the number one meaning of schlagen is to beat and just like in English it works for actual punches as well as for the more figurative sense of besting someone, winning over someone.
- Marias Chefin hat sie beim Schach geschlagen.
- Maria’s boss beat her at chess.
- Maria hat ihre Chefin nach dem Schach ins Gesicht geschlagen.
- Maria punched her boss in the face after chess.
Wow, that woman really can’t lose. Anyway, the noun der Schlag has a couple more abstract meanings besides a punch but it’s still pretty clear, I think.
- Ich habe meinen Laptop angemacht und einen (elekrtischen) Schlag gekriegt.
- I turned on my laptop and got an electric shock.
- Auf einen Schlag waren meine Sorgen weg.
- In one instant/ all at once my worries were gone.
There are lots of really nice and useful compounds around the idea.
- Der Schlaganfall war ein Schicksalsschlag.
- The stroke was a stroke of fate.
- Thomas würde gerne Schlagzeug spielen können.
- Thomas would like to be able to play drums (lit.: “punch-stuff“)
- Maria ist sehr schlagfertig.
- Maria is quick-witted (lit.: “ready to punch“)
(the exact meaning is that someone is really good at finding witty verbal comebacks for an attack)
And then there are of course like a gazillion prefix versions that basically tell us more specifics about how exactly something is being beaten.
- Wenn Maria wütend ist, schlägt sie zu.
- When Maria is angry, she throws punches.
- Maria schlägt die Windschutzscheibe ihrer Chefin ein.
- Maria smashes (“punches in”) the windshield of her bosses car.
- Maria hat mein Handy zerschlagen.
- Maria smashed, broke to pieces my phone.
- Maria erschlägt das letzte Einhorn und schlägt ihm das Horn ab.
- Maria beats to death the last unicorn and hacks off its horn.
(The idea of “er-” adds here is “out, all the way”)
Holy shit… what is wrong with that woman. So violent. And… oh my God, she keeps going…
- Maria schlägt das Buch über Aggressionsabbau auf.
- Maria punches up the book about aggression reduction.
Maria STOP! The poor book. It did you no harm. Leave it alone!!
Oh… wait, she actually just opened it. That’s what the sentence actually means. Because… there’s actually more to schlagen than just punching.
off-beat “schlagen”
So yeah, aufschlagen is used for cracking up eggs and whipping up cream, but it also means to open in context of books, magazines or chapters. And maybe you have a guess what the opposite is… it is zuschlagen. Oh, and then there’s also nachschlagen, which is a not so common alternative for nachgucken in sense of looking for something in a book.
- Ich schlage das Buch auf/zu.
- I open/close the book.
- “Du hast in meinem Tagebuch gelesen??? Das ist ein Vertrauensbruch!”
“Na, warum lässt du es denn aufgeschlagen auf meinem Tisch liegen?” - “You read in my diary??? That is a break of trust.”
“Well, why do you leave it open on my desk?”
- “Weißt du alle diese Daten auswendig?”
“Nee, ab und zu muss ich was nachschlagen.“ - “Do you know all these dates by heart?”
“Nah, every now and then I have to look something up.”
Now, the old Germanic warriors were not only avid readers (according to these sales stats on Amazon.germ) , they were also rough and tough so maybe they really did open and close their books in a very manly way and we’re still right on track with the punching-schlagen. But aufschlagen and zuschlagen are not the only prefix versions with weird, off-beat meanings.
The most famous one is probably vorschlagen, which means to propose (we’ve talked about it in a separate article, link below :). That’s still pretty clear once you realize that it’s basically the same as propose, except that in German you don’t just pose something pro… you smash.
But what about abschlagen? We saw that earlier when Maria hacked off that horn, but it’s also a colloquial word for to turn down in context of little requests.
- Wenn Maria so guckt, kann Thomas ihr keinen Gefallen abschlagen.
- When Maria looks at him like this, Thomas can’t turn down any favors she’s asking.
Or let’s take ausschlagen. One of the meanings is the kicking out of horses, another is for the fingers of a gauge going to extreme values. So far so good. But trees also do it in spring because auschlagen means to sprout (for trees). And while this is pretty much useless, humans have their own kind of sprouting called der Ausschlag… it’s just not as pretty as what the trees do because Ausschlag is acne.
- Wenn Thomas Tofu isst, kriegt er ganz dollen Ausschlag.
- When Thomas eats tofu, he gets very bad acne.
Now, we could think of that as pus “punching” its way outward. Pretty gross, but we’d still have a connection to punching.
But then, there’s also umschlagen.
And this one is NOT about knocking something or someone over. Instead, it is a technical term in economics for turning over goods (in a harbor for example). AND it’s also used in sense of to (suddenly) change for weather.
- Das Wetter in den Bergen schlägt schnell um.
- The weather is changing fast in the mountains.
Oh and let’s not forget about the noun der Umschlag, which is the German word for envelop.
- Ich brauche einen Briefumschlag.
- I need an envelope (for a letter).
I have a black belt (with pink dots) in mind yoga but I really can’t come up with some wacky connection to the idea of punching.
If you look at all the verbs we had in this section, it makes way more sense to think of a second core idea. And that idea is … drumroll please… turning.
Think about it… aufschlagen and zuschlagen a books means turning pages. Vorschlagen makes quite a lot of sense as turning an idea forward, an Umschlag is “turned” around the content. And when we have Ausschlag, the skin turns outward.
But the clearest example is einschlagen.
Yes, we had it earlier when Maria went on her rampage, but besides smashing in, it also used for… get ready… choosing paths and directions. Which is basically turning.
- Thomas ist froh, dass er diesen Weg eingeschlagen hat.
- Thomas is glad he took/chose that path.
- Der Musiker schlägt mit dem Album eine neue Richtung ein.
- The musician goes into a new direction with that album.
And this (vague) notion of turning doesn’t only help with the prefix versions, it also helps with one use of the stand alone schlagen, which is admittedly rare but super super weird.
- Maria schlägt mehr nach ihrem Vater als nach ihrer Mutter.
Based on what we’ve learned so far, this sentence sounds like Maria punches her dad more than she punches her mom. And it can mean that… I mean… we’ve seen what a savage Maria is. But what people would normally understand is that she’s more similar to her dad:
- Maria takes more after her dad than after her mom.
She leans, or “turns” more toward her dad personality-wise. And also the noun Schlag can carry that idea.
- Thomas und Maria sind zwei von einem Schlag.
- Thomas and Maria are two of a kind.
And brings us to the connection with gender, or biological sex. The German word for that is das Geschlecht. Looks like it is related to schlecht but it’s actually an off-spring of schlagen. And it’s based on exactly that notion of “leaning, going into a direction” . Originally, Geschlecht was referring to your tribe or your family and was in line with the Latin genus (which comes from a root that’s about origin). And then later, it shifted toward making the distinction between the basic two sides male and female.
- Der Ritter kommt aus dem Geschlecht der Merowinger.
- The knight comes from the house, lineage of the Merovingian.
- So haben sie mehr Erfolg beim anderen Geschlecht.
- This is how you have more success with the opposite sex.
- Geschlechtsverkehr ist ein förmliches Wort für Sex.
- Intercourse (lit.: “gender-traffic”) is a formal word for sex.
So… we’ve seen that schlagen isn’t only about punching, hitting but that there’s also a notion of turning in it. And now the question is why. How did these two meanings get in there? Do they connect in any way?
And the answer is … I don’t know :). Together with the German word die Schlacht (the fierce battle) and the English slaughter and slay, it comes from the super ancient Indo-European root *slak which was about punching, hammering. And that notion of turning, going toward one side was just kind of there at some point in the German word. So you can just make up your own connection, and share it in the comments – the crazier the better :).
Cool.
Now, there’s actually lots more we could mention about schlagen, like several niche uses, more prefix versions and loads and loads or nice nouns and compounds, not least of them the infamous German Schlager, the worst thing in music since The Beatles.
Ohhhhhhhhhh…. that’s right.
But I think we’ve already done enough for one day and more would be a bit overwhelming. I added quite a bit to the vocabulary list below, so you can check that out if you want, and we can talk about all the other schlagen-words and uses you come across in the comments.
I’m out for now, I hope you guys had a fun time and learned a bit and I’ll see you nächste Woche :)
Bis dann.
Disclaimer:
The way Maria was portrayed in this article was fiction. In reality, she is a very loving person with a very kind heart and incredibly sexy hair.
** vocab **
schlagen – punch, beat
der Schlag, die Schläge – the punch(es)
der (Stromschlag) – the electrical shock
der Hitzschlag – heat stroke
der Herzschlag – the heart beat
der Schicksalsschlag – the stroke of fate
der Schlaganfall – the stroke, brain attack
die Schlagader – the artery (big ones)
das Schlagloch – the pothole
das Schlagzeug – the drumset
Schlagzeug spielen – play drums
die Schlagsahne – whipped cream
der Schläger – the bat, rack (sports), also: person who beats up someone
die Schlägerei – the fist fight
der Schlager – specific kind of (bad) popular German music, think Helene Fischer
der Verkaufsschlager – very popular item that sells very well
schlagartig – suddenly
schlagfertig – quick to come up with a witty response, quick witted
abschlagen – turn down (for little requests), hack off
der Anschlag – the terror attack
angeschlagen – a little under the weather, slightly sick
aufschlagen – open (for books and magazines), crack open (for eggs), whip (for cream)
der Aufschlag – the service (in tennis)
ausschlagen – kick (horses), move quickly (fingers of a gauge), sprout (trees)
der Auschlag – the acne
den Ausschlag geben – fixed phrasing for “being the determining factor for the decision”
ausschlaggebend – crucial
einschlagen – punch in, take a turn (in combination with direction)
der Einschlag – the impact (of a meteorite)
der Nachschlag – the second serving (mostly for food, but also used in a figurative sense)
sich überschlagen – flip (for vehicles)
überschlagen – roughly calculate (mostly for costs)
umschlagen – change (only for weather), something boring with trade
der Umschlag – the envelope
vorschlagen – to suggest, to propose
der Vorschlag – the suggestion
zuschlagen – punch (used when we don’t specify a target), colloquial for taking an opportunity, close (for books)
der Zuschlag – the addition (mostly for costs)
zerschlagen – smash into bits
erschlagen – beat to death, also: as an adjective for really tired
beschlagen – fogged (that layer on windows and glasses), also: skilled (as an adjective)
beschlagnahmen – confiscate
die Schlacht – the battle (fierce one)
schlachten – slaughter
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Hi Emmanuel, could you please explain ‘anschlagen’? Does it mean ‘to take effect” ?
Yeah, but only in the context of medicine or therapy or some similar measures. It then means that they “start kicking in”.
Hi
Is another offbeat definition of aufschlagen “to hit your head”: Aber er schlug mit seinem Kopf auf dem metallenen Boden auf.
Appreciate it
Oh, true, I forgot about that. So yeah, “aufschlagen” can mean “hit the ground after falling”
1) Story time
Es war einmal ein widerspenstiges Einhorn, das die Knochen anderer der Einhörner zerschlägt. Es schlägt zu, erschlägt,schlägt ab gern. Er glaubt, dass neimand bei seinem Spiel schlagen kann.
Aber, Die Welt hat den schlagfertigen Stromschlagmann. Er würde nei die welt abschlagen.
Translation
Once upon a time, there was a revolting unicorn who smashed other unicrons bones. He liked throwing punches; beating to death; hacking off. He thought no own could beat him at his own game.
But the world has quick-witted electric shock man. He would never turn the world down.
2) Questions
a) Can “Schlagen” be used in sense of “beat to sth”
I will beat you to the prey
b) I am confused by “aufschlagen”, can it be used in a violent sense?
3) so I was trying to see if the word “liebeschlagen” existed or not to discover duden has 17 meaning for “schlagen” Waaaarum? ( you can ignore this part, it’s a terrible joke)
1) Pretty good, overall.
“He thought noone could beat him…”
You forgot the subject in the German version.
“turn down the world…” that sounded really odd in German but based on English your translation is correct. I think you mean “let down”.
Oh and it’s das Einhorn so any pronoun will be neuter, not “er”.
2) not really. I think the meaning of “beat to the prey” means something like “to come first”? You’d probably just say exactly that in German.
b) Yes, lips can be “aufgeschlagen” or a knee. And in schoolyards you hear it, too. But don’t think of it as “to beat up”. Using that pair will be wrong more often that it will be right.
3) Duden lists EVERY nuance and phrasing, and often as a separate entry. Look their at your own peril :)
3) well, sometimes duden doesn’t have some stuff and sometimes its outrageous like the with “schlagen” case. Even with 17 meanings, Meaning 1 has sub meanings up to “O”
Buahhahahahaha… that is CRAZY :D!!!
Take h) and i) for instance.
– aus der Hand schlagen
– ins Aus schlagen
It’s the same thing, god dammit. You change the location of something by hitting it. But no, stupid Duden makes it “remove something” and “make go somewhere”.
I hate Duden.de… it’s a shit website in my opinion, and this schlagen entry just reaffirmed that.
Shouldn’t it be “Maria hat ihre(r) Chefin nach dem Schach ins Gesicht geschlagen”?
Good question!!! To me, both actually sound completely idiomatic :).
Another thing I used to hear: “Schlag(t) zu!” meaning “dig in!” at the start of a meal. Is that regional? I assume it’s pretty colloquial, but the only person I ever heard say it grew up in Bavaria, so I wasn’t sure if it was out of place in Berlin.
I think, I would understand it from context but the standard for me (Berliner) is “Hau(t) rein.”
Which is essentially the same :)
Dear Emanuel,
you left out the most important, the most delicious use of “schlag”.
Schlagobers!!
The entire Hapsburg Empire could never have been the wonderful thing it was were it not for a hefty dollop of Schlagobers on absolutely everything sweet (and most things were!). In remnants of the Hapsburg empire, for example in Zagreb, whipped cream is still called “shlag”.
Marko
:). It’s not that wide spread in Berlin, that’s why I didn’t think of it. You know… old Habsburg and old Prussia weren’t exactly the best friends :)
After I read this post, I heard aufschlagen used in two other ways in conversations on the same day.
One was in the context of prices being raised “Sie haben aufgeschlagen”, “They raised prices”. But, the other usage I thought really fit well with the turning idea was “to turn up” at a place. (The dictionary mentions aufschlagen meaning “to turn up” in the sense of rolling up a sleeve. But, I heard it used in the sense of arriving or appearing somewhere (by chance).)
Oh yeah, “aufschlagen” is a really bad one with all its little meaning.
“aufschlagen” in context of raising prices is not that common and at least for my ears, you’d always have to say “etwas aufgeschlagen”. Just “aufgeschlagen” alone sounds weird in that sense.
What’s more common is the noun “der Aufschlag”.
– Du musst einen Aufschlag zahlen.
The meaning makes sense, when you think of slapping something on top of the price.
And as for the other “aufschlagen”… I would use “hochkrempeln” in that context. Using “aufschlagen” strikes me as “Southern” but I might be completely wrong there.
Last but not least “aufschlagen” in sense of “arriving” … that’s pretty colloquial and I don’t know how common it is but I do use it every now and then. You “hit” the location you’re heading to.
– Wir schlagen so gegen elf bei deiner Party auf.
Thanks for those additions :)
I’ve never heard “aufschlagen” used in the sense of arriving somewhere, but I recently heard “aufkreuzen” used in this sense and was clueless at first to the meaning. I visualize it as “crossing” paths with someone.
I’m reading a novel in German and have come across a few expressions with schlagen in them. Can you give me some native speaker insight into the meanings? Are they formal or umgangssprachlich? Below are my guesses…
einen bestimmten Ton anschlagen – to change your tone of voice in a striking way?
schlagkräftig – something that makes a strong impact? When would you use this?
“Alkohol schlägt mir nie auf die Nerven” – Alcohol never affects me
Das schlägt mir aufs Gemüt – That lowers my spirits/makes me despondent
Thankyou so much to the people who helped me got this account :) i will study very hard and get my scholarship to Germany!! Thankyou again. You make the world a better place to live in.
It might be kind of dumb to even point this out, but one almost literal translation of “auf einen Schlag” is “in one stroke” as well as “in one instant.” Love your blog.
Oh, I wasn’t aware that existed. perfect then :)! It’s the best translation. Danke !!!
ausschlagen – kick (horses), move quickly (fingers of a gauge), sprout (trees) In English sometims we come across an “outbreak of acne” or measles or shingles. Its not exactly colloquial, yet it does encourage one to think about leaves and zits in an outbreaking way.
Yeah, I forgot to mention this – not only “an outbreak,” but “to break out” is pretty common, either with acne or some other rash.
– Strawberries make me break out in hives. (describing an allergic reaction)
Und wenn ich Campen gehe, schlage ich mein Zelt auf? Oder baue ich mein Zelt auf? Oder schlagen nur Pfadfinder ihrer Zelte auf? (Oder Soldaten oder so was…)
Nee, stimmt, ein Zelt schlägt man auch auf. “aufbauen” ist mehr der Prozess, “aufschlagen” hat ein bisschen mehr den Fokus auf “Here’s where we’ll stay”.
In Wien sagen wir ‘mit Schlag’ für die Sahne auf einer Nachspeise!
Ah, interessant. Eine Frage dazu… ich war neulich in Villach und da gab es zum Espresso/Kaffee ein kleines Schälchen Schlagsahne mit einer Erdbeere dazu. Ist das eine Österreichische Tradition oder war das nur das Café wo ich war?
This post says so much about why I love German!
I thought of another expression that’s worth knowing: “Wurzeln schlagen,” meaning “put down roots” (either literally or figuratively, when someone becomes settled and connected to a place/community).
Good one!!
Dankeschön!
I’ve heard it in “DARK” and couldn’t find its meaning (as a slang).
The sexist part was when you tried to explain violent tendencies as a result of PMS. I suggest you remove that.
Suggestion accepted. I changed it.
Ich mag Maria. :) Sie ist sehr gutsy (don’t know the Deutsch word)…you make learning German fun
Für “sie ist gutsy” würde man sagen “sie ist mutig” oder umgangssprachlich “Sie hat Eier”… but maybe that’s too sexist again :/
Love it…here is my take. Ich habe Eier. Ich bin mutig. Thanks Em
Cheers to that!!
The examples are a bit violent for my liking. Sorry, I am rather sensitive and struggle with stuff. Maybe I will use this as an opportunity to re-write the example sentences with something gentler, whilst trying not to lose the essence. I just want to say that I really appreciate the in-depth detailed explanations you offer.
Well, apologies then :). I didn’t mean to unsettle anyone (I think you know that) but I do understand that stuff can get under one’s skin that other people don’t even recognize.
If you do rewrite the examples, please share them, if you like (and I’ll correct them if there’s a need for it)
Liebe Grüße!!
I totally understand that the theme is rather scary. I worked a way round it and I am substituting people in the examples you have given with molecules and aggregates (I am a Chemist transitioning into the arts). So it makes it somewhat easier for me. Thanks for the kind offer for checking my sentences. I may take you up on the offer at some point in the future. Thanks once again for all your support and understanding.
Some of the audio files don’t seem to be working. From the examples of “Maria erschlägt das letzte Einhorn und schlägt ihm das Horn ab.” onwards. I encountered issues in both Chrome and Firefox. In case it was my laptop, I tried it on my phone (android 6.0.1) with chrome browser. Maybe its a system glitch. Anyone else having these issues or is it just me!! Thanks for your help and time in advance.
You’re actually right about the audios. Some of them had a double “https://” in the link (sloppy copy and paste on my part).
I fixed them now and they should work. Thanks for letting me know!!
Yeah, I can play the audio files now. Thank you so much for fixing the issue!!
Du hast auch der Schlagbaum.
Er schlägt Leute mit Baum :)
In Russisch das Wort Anchlag (natürlich aus Deutsch gekommen ist) bedeutet etwas gut z.B alle Tickets waren ausverkauft.
Wow, echt? Was für ein komischer Import :). Wie würde man das in einem Satz benutzen?
zum Beispiel (wörtliche Übersetzung)
“Heute gibt es Anschlag in dem Theater”
“Sie ist eine tolle Singenerin, sie hat immer Anschlagen im Konzerten”
Hahahaha…. die direkte Übersetzung klingt echt komisch für mich :)