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.
Schicht im Schacht
(Shift in the shaft)
This expression comes from the time when in Germany mining played an important role in the industrial landscape (in der Industrielandschaft).
Once the miners ended their shift (die Schicht) they were transported through the mine shaft (der Schacht).
And when the “shift“, so the miners of that shift, were in the “shaft” (wenn die Schicht im Schacht war), it was a sign that work had finished.
So, in German we still use it to express when…
- something is finished or needs to be finished
Got it?!
So here’s your action step:
Imagine it’s Friday afternoon and after long hours of intense work …
finally it’s “Feierabend” (finishing time/knocking off time/ quitting time).
Go to your German-speaking colleague Karl-Gustav and say to him:
- Jetzt ist aber Schicht im Schacht! Lass uns nach Hause gehen. (Now, let’s finish! Let’s go home.)
And this is what it sounds like:
Then, tell me in the comments below how they reacted :-)