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.
Den Geist aufgeben
(to give up the ghost)
der Geist is the ghost and aufgeben means to give up.
But, den Geist aufgeben actually has nothing to do with a ghost (mit einem Geist).
It means:
- to go belly up
- to pack up
- to run down
- to conk out
So imagine you’re in the middle of the street driving by car (mit deinem Auto).
And suddenly the car stops and smoke rises from the front (und Rauch steigt von der Vorderseite auf).
- Verdammt! Das Auto hat den Geist aufgegeben! (Damn! The car packed up!)
Got it?
So here’s your action step:
Next time you wait for your German-speaking colleague Klaus in your office, lay down on the floor and put your head on your laptop (stell deinen Kopf auf das Laptop).
Once your colleague Klaus comes in and sees you, he’ll ask:
- Was machst du da? (What are you doing?)
Then look at him and tell him:
- Der Computer hat den Geist aufgegeben! (The computer conked out!)
And this is what it sounds like:
Then, tell me in the comments below how he reacted :-)