Den Nagel auf den Kopf treffen
Meaning: To be exactly right.
Language: German
Literally: To hit the nail on the head
Category: Daily Life
Origin: From the carpenter's clean strike on the nail head; the image of precise correctness is shared across many languages.
Equivalents in other languages
- Portuguese: Acertar na mosca — literally: To hit the fly
More idioms — Daily Life
- Ponerse las pilas — To get your act together and start working hard.
- Бить баклуши (Bit' baklushi) — To loaf about doing nothing.
- Pisar na bola — To mess up or let someone down.
- 바가지를 쓰다 (bagajireul sseuda) — To be overcharged; to get ripped off.
- 비행기를 태우다 (bihaenggireul taeuda) — To flatter someone over the top.
- Pabucu dama atılmak — To fall out of favor and be cast aside.
More German idioms
- Da wird der Hund in der Pfanne verrückt — An exclamation of utter disbelief.
- Die Kuh vom Eis holen — To resolve a precarious situation.
- Sein blaues Wunder erleben — To get an unpleasant surprise.
- Da haben wir den Salat — Now we've got a fine mess.
- Den Löffel abgeben — To die.
- Ins Fettnäpfchen treten — To commit an embarrassing social blunder.