Germanvom Hundertsten ins Tausendste kommen
Meaning: To jump chaotically from one topic or thought to another without finishing any of them.
Literally: To come from the hundredth into the thousandth
Example: “Beim Kaffee kamen wir vom Hundertsten ins Tausendste.” — Over coffee we went off on one tangent after another.
English equivalent: To go off on a tangent
Equivalents in other languages
Spanish: irse por los cerros de Úbeda Literally: To go off into the hills of Úbeda
English: go off on a tangent
Origin: From the counting boards (Rechenbänke) widely used from the 15th to the 17th century, when many currencies circulated. Lines on the board stood for ones, tens, hundreds and thousands, and counters were laid on them; putting a counter on the thousands line instead of the hundreds threw the whole sum into confusion. The older forms were das Hundert ins Tausend werfen and das Hundertste ins Tausendste werfen; the modern one describes talk that wanders from one subject to another.
More German idioms
- jemanden zur Schnecke machen To scold or rebuke someone harshly; to give someone a severe dressing-down.
- auf den Leim gehen To be deceived or tricked; to fall for a trap or deception.
- Eine Nadel im Heuhaufen suchen To search for something you have almost no chance of finding, because the thing is tiny a…
- Zwei Fliegen mit einer Klappe schlagen To achieve two aims with a single action.
- Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof I don't understand anything at all.
- Da steppt der Bär It's going to be a great party.
Explore another collection: Proverbs
Short sayings of timeless wisdom from more than 50 cultures, each with its meaning and origin.
- Wer zwei Hasen zugleich jagt, fängt keinen Chase two goals at once and you will reach neither.
- Geteiltes Leid ist halbes Leid Talking about a trouble with someone makes it easier to bear.
- Wenn der Reiter nichts taugt, ist das Pferd schuld People who lack skill blame their equipment or their circumstances.
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