Let’s have some fun with this weird German language!
In this series of posts, I’ll show you how to make your German-speaking colleagues laugh, with ONE simple sentence.
Das kannst du knicken
(That can you break)
When you bend a stick too much (zuviel), it can break (knicken), right?!
Now, imagine you’re planning to go to the park (zum Park) with your family (mit deiner Familie) this afternoon.
But, when your son looks outside the window (aus dem Fenster) ….
It’s raining (Es regnet gerade).
So you see, even plans (sogar Pläne) can break as well :-)
And that‘s exactly a situation where we would say:
- Sollen wir in den Park gehen? Nein, das können wir knicken. Es regnet.
- (Shall we go to the park? No, forget that. It’s raining.)
So when we say in German:
- Das kannst du knicken!
We mean:
- Nothing doing!
- You can forget that!
Got it?!
So here’s your action step:
Imagine your German-speaking colleague Karl-Bernhard asks you to take a coffee with him (mit ihm).
Once you get the bill (Nachdem du die Rechnung bekommst), he looks at you and starts begging you once again…
“Can you pay for the coffee (den Kaffee) today, please?”
Look at him and tell him:
- Karl-Bernhard, das kannst du knicken! Heute bist du dran. Ich habe gestern schon bezahlt.
- (Karl-Bernhard, you can forget that! Today, it’s your turn. I paid already yesterday.)
And this is what it sounds like:
Then, tell me in the comments below how he reacted :-)