GermanDas ist mir Wurst
Meaning: I couldn't care less either way.
Literally: That is sausage to me
Example: “Ob wir Pizza oder Pasta essen, ist mir Wurst.” — Whether we have pizza or pasta, I don't give a hoot.
English equivalent: Not to give a hoot
Origin: Redensarten-Index traces it to the old custom of neighbors exchanging sausage and meat at the home pig slaughter: sausage was given for sausage, so the exchange came out even. An earlier form, Wurst um Wurst, was recorded in proverb collections from 1540, probably as a joke on the biblical "an eye for an eye"; it faded around 1700, and the present das ist mir Wurst, "it's all sausage to me," took over. The often-repeated explanation that a sausage has two identical ends is a later rationalization.
Equivalents in other languages
Spanish: Importar un pepino Literally: To matter a cucumber
French: Ça m'en touche une sans faire bouger l'autre Literally: It touches one of mine without moving the other
Italian: farsene un baffo Literally: To make oneself a mustache of it- French: N'en avoir cure Literally: To have no care of it
- French: S'en tamponner le coquillard Literally: To dab one's coquillard with it
- French: S'en moquer comme de l'an quarante Literally: To care about it as much as about the year forty
English: not to give a hoot
More German idioms
- Auf dem Holzweg sein To be on completely the wrong track.
- Die Kirche im Dorf lassen To keep things in proportion and not get carried away.
- Das Leben ist kein Ponyhof Life is not all fun and games; expect hardship.
- Die Katze im Sack kaufen To buy something sight unseen and get cheated.
- Eine Extrawurst verlangen To expect special treatment.
- Da kannst du Gift drauf nehmen You can bet your life on it; it's absolutely certain.
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- Waldeinsamkeit The serene, faintly mystical feeling of being alone in the woods, at peace with nature.
- Backpfeifengesicht A face that is just begging to be slapped — someone so smug you can't help the urge.
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