Ever had one of those days where everything just gets on your nerves? The printer jams, the meeting runs late, and the coffee machine is still broken… again.
You’re trying to stay calm — but you’re about to lose it.
In German, there’s a wonderfully dramatic way to say exactly that:
Mir platzt der Kragen
((literally: To me bursts the collar))
der Kragen is the collar of a shirt (von einem Hemd).
And if it’s too tight on your neck, it can platzen (burst)
If this is happening to you, we say in German mir (to me).
- Mir platzt der Kragen (To me bursts the collar)
Now, what do we actually mean by this expression?
When your collar is very tight, you might start feeling uncomfortable (unwohl).
You start getting stressed and nervous. You start sweating (Du fängst an zu schwitzen.)
The situation is so annoying and stressful that you are about to lose your temper (du bist dabei, die Geduld zu verlieren).
And that’s exactly what we mean by this German expression.
So when we say in German:
- Mir platzt der Kragen!
We actually mean:
- I’m about to burst
- I’m about to explode
- That was the last straw
Got it?
So here’s your action step:
Imagine you’re having a coffee break with your German-speaking colleague Karl-Anton.
However, the coffee machine has not worked again for the second day in a row (den zweiten Tag in Folge).
Look at Karl-Anton and say:
- Mir platzt der Kragen! (I’m about to burst!)
- Die Kaffeemaschine funktioniert schon wieder nicht. (The coffee machine is not working again.)
And this is what it sounds like:
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