https://i.redd.it/yzw9k3yv2nge1.jpeg
created by CrackerWacker59 on 02/02/2025 at 02:44 UTC
6072 upvotes, 139 top-level comments (showing 25)
I saw these buttons in the U.S., my cousin lived in Germany for a few years and said she’d heard people use “I think I spider” before but not the other ones can someone explain. I’m curious more than anything, like why’s the pony honking?
Comment by OutlandishnessOk2304 at 02/02/2025 at 02:56 UTC
1271 upvotes, 18 direct replies
They forgot "I wish you what".
Comment by MarauderXtreme at 02/02/2025 at 03:01 UTC
1205 upvotes, 8 direct replies
I myself haven't heard on a honking pony. Maybe it is a regional variation of "I think my pig whistles" (Ich glaub mein Schwein pfeift) which is an idiom for an assumed egregious lie or an unbelievable circumstance/situation.
I would say "I think I spider" (Ich glaube ich spinne) is best explained with I think I am hallucinating in the vain of an unbelievable situation.
Holla the wood fairy or Holla the forrest fairy (Holla die Waldfee) is an exclamation of surprise. The same with Holy Bim Bam (Heiliger Bim Bam) which could be exchanged with holy moly.
Comment by RunZombieBabe at 02/02/2025 at 03:19 UTC
290 upvotes, 5 direct replies
I am German and have no idea about the pony😄
I only know "I think my pig whistles!" Aka "Ich glaube, mein Schwein pfeift!"
Comment by CosmicBureaucrat at 02/02/2025 at 09:17 UTC
128 upvotes, 4 direct replies
My favourite was a real world one at a Berlin-Tegel airport bakery, where "Brötchen verschieden belegt" (rolls with different toppings) was translated as "bread rolls differently occupied".
Comment by Intellectual_Wafer at 02/02/2025 at 05:24 UTC
147 upvotes, 5 direct replies
I only understand train station, there the dog gets mad in the pan!
Comment by ISAPU at 02/02/2025 at 07:57 UTC
60 upvotes, 9 direct replies
As someone with zero exposure to the language or the culture, it feels like you're all having a stroke 😂
Comment by shiroandae at 02/02/2025 at 07:55 UTC
49 upvotes, 4 direct replies
I miss „I’ll show you where the frog has curls!“
Comment by rewboss at 02/02/2025 at 12:09 UTC
48 upvotes, 5 direct replies
These are over-literal translations of German idioms.
"Holy bim bam" represents "Heiliger Bimbam" which is just an expression of surprise. "Bimbam" is actually better translated as "bing bong", because it represents the sound of church bells. It's similar to the English expression "Holy smoke," which is a reference to incense.
"I think my pony honks" is a literal translation of "Ich glaub, mein Pony hupt." Ponies don't, of course, normally sound like a car horn, so this expression means you've just heard something you don't believe. A more usual phrase is "Ich glaub, mein Schwein pfeift" = "I think my pig is whistling."
"I think I spider" woud be the translation of "Ich glaube, ich Spinne," but the actual phrase is: "Ich glaube, ich spinne" (the different capitalization is significant). It actually means, "I think I'm going crazy." The verb "spinnen" actually refers to weaving cloth or spinning thread (hence "Spinne" = "spider", a creature that spins a thread); metaphorically you "weave" thoughts in your mind the way you weave cloth, but at some point it came to mean getting your thoughts tangled, and so to go crazy. It's another expression of disbelief: what you've just heard or seen is so nuts, you think you must be hallucinating. The metaphor is actually related to the English expression "to spin a yarn", meaning to tell a crazy and unbelievable story.
"Holla the wood fairy" is a literal translation of "Holla die Waldfee," an expression of surprise. The word "holla" is itself an expression of surprise, as was originally the English "hello" (its use as a greeting is relatively recent). It may have originally been an invocation of Frau Holle, a mythical figure very similar to Frau Perchta and the Germanic goddess Frigg. She is a supernatural being who punishes lazy children and makes it snow in winter. It's not unusual to use the names of deities and supernatural figures as expletives -- think of modern English "Oh my God!" or "Jesus Christ!"
(That's "expletives" in the linguistic sense, meaning words and expressions that convey strong emotion but which don't change the meaning of a sentence.)
Comment by cherryman001 at 02/02/2025 at 08:12 UTC
27 upvotes, 0 direct replies
There you are on the woodway
Comment by lartcestvous at 02/02/2025 at 08:18 UTC
23 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Enjoy life in full trains
Comment by Kind_Swim5900 at 02/02/2025 at 08:20 UTC
18 upvotes, 1 direct replies
A phrase i began to love
This Hits the barrel the bottom out
(Das schlägt dem fass den Boden aus)
Comment by Currywurst_Is_Life at 02/02/2025 at 10:07 UTC
17 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Where is "It is sausage to me"?
Comment by Tschakkabubbl at 02/02/2025 at 02:52 UTC
80 upvotes, 3 direct replies
it is common german phrases /idioms which do not translate normaly
like: "it's raining cats and dogs" in english for bad weather
you don't translate them
Comment by attiladerhunne at 02/02/2025 at 08:29 UTC
13 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I think the honking pony is a variation of the whistling pig. I've heard the expression "Ich glaub mein Hamster bohnert" I think my Hamster is polishing (the floor).
Comment by RealRedditModerator at 02/02/2025 at 07:29 UTC
10 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I let the pig out and now I have a tomcat.
Comment by VanillaBackground513 at 02/02/2025 at 09:26 UTC
10 upvotes, 1 direct replies
You go me on the alarm clock. You go me on the cookie.
Comment by DividedState at 02/02/2025 at 08:57 UTC
9 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Again what learned.
Comment by Falkenmond79 at 02/02/2025 at 07:55 UTC
13 upvotes, 0 direct replies
„Ich glaube mein Pony hupt“ is now living rent free in my head. Gonna use it today.
Comment by T1m0601 at 02/02/2025 at 08:37 UTC
6 upvotes, 1 direct replies
One wall free!
Comment by Same-Alternative-160 at 02/02/2025 at 09:13 UTC
6 upvotes, 0 direct replies
"My lovely Mr. singing club" "There hasn't still been falling a master from the sky"
Comment by VanillaBackground513 at 02/02/2025 at 09:23 UTC
6 upvotes, 1 direct replies
What to the vulture! What shall it.
Comment by phizztv at 02/02/2025 at 10:51 UTC
10 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Fun fact: the trend of literally translating German idioms started 15 years ago (God I feel old) when our then Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in an interview (in English, so yes literally): „I‘m sorry, my English is not the yellow from the egg“
Comment by Jitir at 02/02/2025 at 09:09 UTC
5 upvotes, 1 direct replies
My lovely mister singing club, die sind ja wild
Comment by digital_hamburger at 02/02/2025 at 10:32 UTC
5 upvotes, 0 direct replies
There goes the dog in the pan crazy
Comment by Wolkenkuckuck at 02/02/2025 at 12:13 UTC
6 upvotes, 0 direct replies
If you make me to the pig, I get fox devils wild and hau you down the kellertrepp that you never come back to the tageslicht.
