Langenscheidt 1000 Deutsche Redensarten libro (Texto)

by Heinz Griesbach, Dora Schulz

Delightfully illustrated 1000 idiomatic expressions in German, with German explanations. References to the appropriate field and level of language help insure success in using the new expression.

248 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Mimi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A useful resource for someone learning German, since, yes, pretty much all of these idioms are common (only a handful of them are no longer in use).
That being said, I found the explanation of the idioms often lacking finesse, and the example sentences weren't always the best example of how to use the idiom.

What I really missed (as I usually do), was an etymological explanation or probable origin of the idioms. A few times a sidenote was added to an idiom, but every time something so obvious, it was redundant (like with "aus der Rolle fallen" (fall out of a role), Rolle alludes to the part an actor plays...)

Curiously, one of the idioms (passt wie eine Faust aufs Auge - fits like a fist on the eye), is often used here in the Northeast to describe a perfect fit, even though it actually has the opposite meaning...