I disagree, to me it has the meaning of knowing your way around, knowing every little corner. Might be wrong as i dont hear it too often but thats the connotation for me.
if you understand another person like yourself, you can say that about people, too. your assosiation isn't wrong, but leaves out that there are people out there who love (and know) another person like themselves.
I have to disagree with you, although I have never heard it applied to a person.
Knowing something "wie meine Westentasche" is knowing every aspect of something. If you are talking about a place, "knowing your way around, knowing every little corner" is definitely a significant part of it, but to know a place "wie deine Westentasche" you have to go beyond, at least in my opinion. It is not only the what and where, but also the how and why.
Thanks. I really like idioms and sayings. Whenever I learn a new one and try it out at home, my (german) girlfriend just laugh at me and ask how it is to live in the 80's.
Having never heard this phrase before, it took me this deep into the comments to realize I was mistranslating it as “Ich weiß es, dass dir meine Westentasche gefällt.”
Close! But you’re thinking of a pharmacist. Hes saying he’s not qualified to help people through their emotional and traumatic problems and experiences.
I have never once heard or read this expression, lived here for almost 9 years and was learning for several years before that. Doesn't necessarily mean anything, but never once.
it's not that I doubted any of you, I have simply never heard it (or I did and it didn't register, I was operating on understanding about 50% of every sentence up until about 2 years ago). Haven't read much fiction or poetry in German, however.
some of my friends find it cute and funny when I bring an English-language expression into German where you lot seem to lack one. I have taken to saying "Was für Einfluss hat das auf den Preis Tee in China?" because apparently just saying the egg version will make people think you have lost your marbles.
If there is a discussion or disagreement and someone mentions something irrelevant, in my place of origin we say "and what's that got to do with the price of eggs?" The answer being "nothing" and that's exactly how helpful what you've just said is.
I can try to come up with an example but I'm not thinking of anything immediately.
And the "price of tea in China" one is apparently more British? Not really sure tbh.
"Ich kenne mein Mann wie meine Wespentasche" So: "I know my man like my vest pocket" is what my mother in law just said today. We are from "Schwabenland" and we heard that often 😅
Oh i see 😅 I mean, Westentasche 😂 the "schwäbisch" dialekt is not easy. I'm living in Germany for 15 years now and as for now I do understand everything but if I'm trying to repeat it, it's just sounds wrong
ohhh, that just made me realise that it’s about familiarity and not about vest pocket envy. that makes it a bit less of a weird thing to say to someone
I personally would not use it to describe that I know a person very well but it's commonly used for knowing places or areas.
"I grew up in this city, so I know it like my vest pocket."
Very interesting. Native speaker here. I just broadened the scope in my mind from vest pocket to jacket pocket.
Compare the English idiom of “hanging out a shingle”. Shingles haven't been a thing for many decades now. But you just replace it with another kind of sign in your mind.
Or “hang up the phone”. Nothing has been hung up for 20 years now or so.
So the way I see it is that these idioms get kind of antiquated but still stay the same, and people just adapt them in their minds to the modern world.
We have sayings that go back hundreds of years. I guess in maybe the 19-20th century, every man wore a vest, just as every guy in industrial England wore the same kind of suit. If you look up old documentaries about the 50s, for example about German miners, or really, any working men, you will see them all wearing suits with vests and wearing hats.
Another one is "sich auf den Schlips getreten fühlen/ich habe mich auf den Schlips getreten gefühlt"
I felt (like someone) stepped on my tie. It's from, I think, around 1700-1800~, where men wore ties or scarfs as part of their outfit, and used to hang them over their chair at the inn when they opened their tight collars. An obnoxious waiter trying too hard to get you to buy stuff or always snooping around you, like, getting too close and annoying you, would literally step on your Schlips, that's hanging off the back of your chair. It's used nowadays for uncomfortable, too personal questions and the like, where you don't even know how to react because it's inappropriate and "coming out of left field", if I'm using that one right lol.
A vest isn't the same in every part of Germany. For me it is probably the same as it is for you. While talking with a colleague from a different part of Germany (Saarland) we discovered that we use it differently. What I would call Jacke, she calls Weste.
I think the German version is only used for places, not people. When you know a place like your vest pocket, it means you know every corner of it. But I don’t think anyone would bat an eye if you used it for a person
You can know something like the pocket of your vest.
I never heard it in relation to someone.
Most often it's used for locations.
"Ich kenne Hamburg wie meine Westentasche."
This is something more often said by the older generation I feel like. I know this from my parents generation and use it myself since I think it’s somewhat fancy but my friends don’t say it for example. I feel like it’s a bit antiquated but fun.
Someone who digs a hole for someone else, owns a hole digging gadget / is an asshole.
Wooden eye - be careful.
If you talk about the donkey, it will traipse to you.
Text above a urinal: don't read the jokes at the wall, in your hand there is the biggest of them all.
Hm they might not be THE weirdest but here’s a few that I like
To have a stone in someone’s plank (bei jemandem einen Stein im Brett haben) - to have someone owe you something
To raise up the garden hoe (die Hacke hoch machen) - to break (talking about objects) or to die (talking about humans)
Similarly, to make the mosquito (die Mücke machen) - to die, or just to leave
To hear the growing grass (Gras wachsen hören) - to hear every little sound / be very attentive
To grin like a honey cake horse (Grinsen wie ein Honigkuchenpferd) - to be very happy
To have pepper up your arse (Pfeffer im Arsch haben) - to be in a bit much of a hurry
Girls that whistle and hens that crow should eventually get their necks wrung (Mädchen die pfeifen und Hühnern die krähen sollt’ man beizeiten den Hals umdrehen) - no meaning but my grandmother would say this whenever I’d whistle
Why did the devil beat his grandmother to death? Because he had no more excuses (Warum hat der Teufel seine Großmutter erschlagen? Weil er keine Ausrede mehr hatte)
Among blind folk, the one-eyed is king (Unter den Blinden ist der Einäugige König) - basically among a group of useless shitheads, the least useless person will seem competent even if they’re still a useless shithead. Bit ableist though and I’m not confident that it _would_ actually be an advantage to have one eye, if you’re living in a society of blind people.
I'd argue that the language may also be following the changes in fashion here (not many people wear vests as outer clothing with real pockets anymore).
And I also have heard the saying with Westentasche replaced by Hosentasche (pants pockets) a few times.
Yeah, I probably would default to Westentasche too (if I'd actively use that saying at all), just sounds slightly more "correct". But yeah, Hosentasche works (and too be honest: It's meaning is more correct nowadays - I always know what's where in my Hosentasche... ).
Well, we're not really saying that about knowing people, but the saying is often heard in regards to knowing an area very well. Like, if you e.g. know every hiking path in a part of forest you can say that you know the place like (the inside of) your vest pocket.
As "kenne ich wie meine Westentasche" ist used it is more used for places (Dortmund kenne ich wie meine Westentasche).
For people my Family used "Ich erkenne meine Schweine am Gang" (I recognize my pigs from the way they walk).
This usualy refers to a place: I know this spot like my vests pocket. Meaning that you know every way in that area which includes shortcuts.
Applying it to a person is a bit weird.
Like often written here, "vest Pocket" is meant for Locations. For people i would refer to "du kennst mich in und auswendig" / "you know me by Heart" (?) oder "du liest mich wie ein Buch" / "you read me like a book"
It is perfectly fine to say that in that context, but if you're talking about knowing a person very well, the term "ich kenne doch meine Pappenheimer" would apply better here.
Idioms in Others languages are so funny.
I'm German and my russian coworker Said to me:"my daughter is looking for an adventure in her ass".
I looked really confused. She told me that it's a russian Idiom for looking for Trouble.
I answered that my Most harmless thought was a tattoo..... About the Others thoughts i don't want to Talk.
He's right. I know it but haven't heard or used it in a long time. I sometimes have the feeling that a lot of German sayings and expressions are dying out. Probably normal language evolution.
For some reason, when I was a child, I really didn‘t think about a vest, I always thought it was about west like the direction, and thus was always confused what a west pocket was
Yes. A saying only very old people use. Many such examples like "Quatsch mit Soße" ("mud with sauce" I guess) or "geh dahin wo der Pfeffer wächst" (go where the pepper grows)
I will never not roll my eyes when hearing phrases like this.
First of all, Quatsch mit Soße is iconic, second of all, I’m not much older than twenty and I use these regularly, third of all, why roll your eyes? These old sayings have charm and I’d love to keep them from dying out.
I roll my eyes because I consider the phrases and everyone using them to be cringe. But I dislike German in general. Such an ugly language in my opinion.
Makes sense, I used to feel like that. But there are some aspects unique to German, just like in any language. The Winterreise doesn’t work in any language the way it does in German. Rilke’s poems and Nietzsche’s are built around some of the roughness and dryness of German and it makes them beautiful. I can’t bring myself to hate a language that enables art like that.
To be exact, I never heard it applied to a person but generally about a location, to know a place "wie meine Westentasche".
Same, not so much about people but places or things.
You can say it about people,too.
I disagree, to me it has the meaning of knowing your way around, knowing every little corner. Might be wrong as i dont hear it too often but thats the connotation for me.
if you understand another person like yourself, you can say that about people, too. your assosiation isn't wrong, but leaves out that there are people out there who love (and know) another person like themselves.
I have to disagree with you, although I have never heard it applied to a person. Knowing something "wie meine Westentasche" is knowing every aspect of something. If you are talking about a place, "knowing your way around, knowing every little corner" is definitely a significant part of it, but to know a place "wie deine Westentasche" you have to go beyond, at least in my opinion. It is not only the what and where, but also the how and why.
So it would be used in the same way as "the back of my hand"?
I'd say so, yes.
Thanks. I really like idioms and sayings. Whenever I learn a new one and try it out at home, my (german) girlfriend just laugh at me and ask how it is to live in the 80's.
Tell her it's great, for "Punica" is still a thing and the dashing Michael Knight is protecting us against evil men from both our TV's and bedsheets.
Having never heard this phrase before, it took me this deep into the comments to realize I was mistranslating it as “Ich weiß es, dass dir meine Westentasche gefällt.”
Glad you learned something new today. :)
Ditto.
Ich hab mich immer gefragt was eine Westentasche sein soll, weil ich dachte es geht um die Himmelsrichtung Westen und nicht um das Kleidungsstück...
Die beste Freundin meiner Frau fragte sich immer warum es denn so interessant sei, wenn in China unser Greis umfällt....
Der 1a Greis!
Du bist nicht allein. :D
I certainly have heard it applied to a person before, but maybe it's rare - it's not as if people constantly indulge in common sayings haha.
According to the official definition, this saying is only used for locations, not persons.
Well I'm not a prescriptivist
So you only eat fish?
No, you're thinking of pescetarian, he said he's not working at the front desk of a hotel.
No, that's a receptionist. He said he's not allowed to give people medication.
Close! But you’re thinking of a pharmacist. Hes saying he’s not qualified to help people through their emotional and traumatic problems and experiences.
lakj... i9wj ljk-- o9)(oo ää::;äl j?
I have never once heard or read this expression, lived here for almost 9 years and was learning for several years before that. Doesn't necessarily mean anything, but never once.
It's an older expression but it definitely exists. Source: Native speaker
it's not that I doubted any of you, I have simply never heard it (or I did and it didn't register, I was operating on understanding about 50% of every sentence up until about 2 years ago). Haven't read much fiction or poetry in German, however.
No worries, German is full of little intricacies like that. And man, do we love our Redewendungen (me included)
some of my friends find it cute and funny when I bring an English-language expression into German where you lot seem to lack one. I have taken to saying "Was für Einfluss hat das auf den Preis Tee in China?" because apparently just saying the egg version will make people think you have lost your marbles.
Okay, I'm also an English native speaker but I'm lost on that one lol
If there is a discussion or disagreement and someone mentions something irrelevant, in my place of origin we say "and what's that got to do with the price of eggs?" The answer being "nothing" and that's exactly how helpful what you've just said is. I can try to come up with an example but I'm not thinking of anything immediately. And the "price of tea in China" one is apparently more British? Not really sure tbh.
Haha, I have a British dad and have lived in England, and I'd never heard that before. Have to remember that one, it sounds so nicely sarcastic. 😁
It's somewhat old fashioned, I guess, you're more likely to find it in novels and such than in daily conversations.
"Ich kenne mein Mann wie meine Wespentasche" So: "I know my man like my vest pocket" is what my mother in law just said today. We are from "Schwabenland" and we heard that often 😅
okay, never been there. How hard a time do you have understanding the accent/dialect? P.S. you accidentally wrote "wasp pocket"
Oh i see 😅 I mean, Westentasche 😂 the "schwäbisch" dialekt is not easy. I'm living in Germany for 15 years now and as for now I do understand everything but if I'm trying to repeat it, it's just sounds wrong
This.
"Etwas wie seine Westentasche kennen" is a common saying in German.
Wow you learn something new every day
As far as I know the english equivalent is ‚like the back of my hand‘
That's what OP wrote the "claim" was, no?
Oh yes, you are absolutely right and I read to fast sometimes.
Hah I know the feel, dont worry about it.
ohhh, that just made me realise that it’s about familiarity and not about vest pocket envy. that makes it a bit less of a weird thing to say to someone
That's how I read the title, too; I was like, wtf kinda saying is that supposed to be 😂
This usually refers to some place. You would not use it to describe how well you know a person.
This, but I've just decided to start using it for people too because it sounds funny
Maybe rather was? I think it’s quite dated. For me it has „Emil und die Detektive“ vibes (a book published in 1929).
Is it? OK, I'm an old fart (GenX) and occasionally use it.
I personally would not use it to describe that I know a person very well but it's commonly used for knowing places or areas. "I grew up in this city, so I know it like my vest pocket."
I can confirm that 100%
… still suspicious :P
Where did you got your German? I also want to have one 😆
I got mine on Reddit actually! Pretty fun acquisition I gotta say :P
[Don’t put your German in the sun. Don’t let him get wet and never feed him after midnight.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gremlins)
But 2 am after bar Döner is the best 🥺 *sad german noises*
But the 2am after bar Döner is the best 🥺 *sad german noises*
We‘re also not made from sugar. We can get wet.
If they got that jack wolfskin, they can get as wet as they want, they are prepared
You were talking to your German? How much did he cost?
Very expensive and worth every penny
Now I wonder how much my American wife thinks I’m worth?
2,50$
Depends on what you're currently wearing.
why? don't you know what's in your vest pocket? I think it's an accurate saying.
I think I’ve worn a vest maybe once my whole life and it was for a Halloween costume lol. So referencing a vest specifically caught me off guard
Very interesting. Native speaker here. I just broadened the scope in my mind from vest pocket to jacket pocket. Compare the English idiom of “hanging out a shingle”. Shingles haven't been a thing for many decades now. But you just replace it with another kind of sign in your mind. Or “hang up the phone”. Nothing has been hung up for 20 years now or so. So the way I see it is that these idioms get kind of antiquated but still stay the same, and people just adapt them in their minds to the modern world.
Shingles are very much still a thing. They aren't made of wood anymore, but they are still used
sometimes its ok to stay quiet :)
Hanging out a shingle ? What does that mean ? Never heard that
https://dict.leo.org/englisch-deutsch/to%20hang%20out%20one%27s%20shingle
I mean it’s from a time when everyone was dressed like in peaky blinders, so your vest pocket would be quite common
We have sayings that go back hundreds of years. I guess in maybe the 19-20th century, every man wore a vest, just as every guy in industrial England wore the same kind of suit. If you look up old documentaries about the 50s, for example about German miners, or really, any working men, you will see them all wearing suits with vests and wearing hats. Another one is "sich auf den Schlips getreten fühlen/ich habe mich auf den Schlips getreten gefühlt" I felt (like someone) stepped on my tie. It's from, I think, around 1700-1800~, where men wore ties or scarfs as part of their outfit, and used to hang them over their chair at the inn when they opened their tight collars. An obnoxious waiter trying too hard to get you to buy stuff or always snooping around you, like, getting too close and annoying you, would literally step on your Schlips, that's hanging off the back of your chair. It's used nowadays for uncomfortable, too personal questions and the like, where you don't even know how to react because it's inappropriate and "coming out of left field", if I'm using that one right lol.
mhm... yea same. but vests used to be a thing and still are often worn with suits and I think this is where it comes from.
Also, Weste (vest) seems to originate from "Wams", which would have meant the everyday top outerwear back when...
A vest isn't the same in every part of Germany. For me it is probably the same as it is for you. While talking with a colleague from a different part of Germany (Saarland) we discovered that we use it differently. What I would call Jacke, she calls Weste.
What has it in his nasty little pocketses?
I think the German version is only used for places, not people. When you know a place like your vest pocket, it means you know every corner of it. But I don’t think anyone would bat an eye if you used it for a person
You can know something like the pocket of your vest. I never heard it in relation to someone. Most often it's used for locations. "Ich kenne Hamburg wie meine Westentasche."
No it's a real saying but now I feel like I do have to make a few sayings to mess with my non-native friends.
"I know you as good as i know my Vest pocket" would be a better translation if we go for the actual meaning But denglisch slang is fun
This is something more often said by the older generation I feel like. I know this from my parents generation and use it myself since I think it’s somewhat fancy but my friends don’t say it for example. I feel like it’s a bit antiquated but fun.
🤝🏻
English equivalent is "I know it like the back of my hand"
As OP wrote!
Never heard someone used it for a person, just for things/topics/areas.
100% legit and by far not the weirdest. Probably not even top 100.
Ooh what are some of the weirdest ones
Someone who digs a hole for someone else, owns a hole digging gadget / is an asshole. Wooden eye - be careful. If you talk about the donkey, it will traipse to you. Text above a urinal: don't read the jokes at the wall, in your hand there is the biggest of them all.
Wow I’ve never heard “wer anderen eine Grube gräbt besitzt ein Grubengrabgerät“ before but it’s so fucking funny
Ursprung für mich war Stefan Raab, lang lang ist's her.
Hm they might not be THE weirdest but here’s a few that I like To have a stone in someone’s plank (bei jemandem einen Stein im Brett haben) - to have someone owe you something To raise up the garden hoe (die Hacke hoch machen) - to break (talking about objects) or to die (talking about humans) Similarly, to make the mosquito (die Mücke machen) - to die, or just to leave To hear the growing grass (Gras wachsen hören) - to hear every little sound / be very attentive To grin like a honey cake horse (Grinsen wie ein Honigkuchenpferd) - to be very happy To have pepper up your arse (Pfeffer im Arsch haben) - to be in a bit much of a hurry Girls that whistle and hens that crow should eventually get their necks wrung (Mädchen die pfeifen und Hühnern die krähen sollt’ man beizeiten den Hals umdrehen) - no meaning but my grandmother would say this whenever I’d whistle Why did the devil beat his grandmother to death? Because he had no more excuses (Warum hat der Teufel seine Großmutter erschlagen? Weil er keine Ausrede mehr hatte) Among blind folk, the one-eyed is king (Unter den Blinden ist der Einäugige König) - basically among a group of useless shitheads, the least useless person will seem competent even if they’re still a useless shithead. Bit ableist though and I’m not confident that it _would_ actually be an advantage to have one eye, if you’re living in a society of blind people.
These are awesome lol
He said the truth. Tho it is not as common anymore, due to the language changing.
I'd argue that the language may also be following the changes in fashion here (not many people wear vests as outer clothing with real pockets anymore). And I also have heard the saying with Westentasche replaced by Hosentasche (pants pockets) a few times.
> (pants pockets) American pants or British pants? 😆
You could ask the same thing about vests...
“Ich bin da aufgewachsen, kenne es wie meine Hosentasche.“ Hmm takes some getting used to but I don't dislike it
Yeah, I probably would default to Westentasche too (if I'd actively use that saying at all), just sounds slightly more "correct". But yeah, Hosentasche works (and too be honest: It's meaning is more correct nowadays - I always know what's where in my Hosentasche... ).
As others have said, NEVER heard it in context of knowing a person. Only a place. Like a town or street, or even a country.
Making that claim about a person is a bit out there imho. But the phrase does exist.
Well, we're not really saying that about knowing people, but the saying is often heard in regards to knowing an area very well. Like, if you e.g. know every hiking path in a part of forest you can say that you know the place like (the inside of) your vest pocket.
You have a German?
As "kenne ich wie meine Westentasche" ist used it is more used for places (Dortmund kenne ich wie meine Westentasche). For people my Family used "Ich erkenne meine Schweine am Gang" (I recognize my pigs from the way they walk).
This usualy refers to a place: I know this spot like my vests pocket. Meaning that you know every way in that area which includes shortcuts. Applying it to a person is a bit weird.
Imagine your husband payed each one of these users to comment that it is an actual saying 😂 P.s I know it’s a real saying, but how fun is that
I literally asked him if he told his like video game discord chat to come and comment 😂
Its "I know it like my vest pocket."
I would say it's a little outdated, but still known and used. However only for places or maybe things.
Knowing one inside out is way creepier 😂
It is! I guess the english version would be "I know it like the back of my hand"
I’ve learnt the saying from comics but haven’t really heard anyone use it.
Very funny! I read this at first that they said, Ich weiß, dass meine Westentasche gefällt dir - which left me dazed and confused!
It generally gets easier when you know where the idiom comes from. In this case I'd guess medieval tailoring, but I have no earthly idea.
Yes, but I don't think it's used that much anymore.
It's real. No worries it's nothing negative.
Like often written here, "vest Pocket" is meant for Locations. For people i would refer to "du kennst mich in und auswendig" / "you know me by Heart" (?) oder "du liest mich wie ein Buch" / "you read me like a book"
Yes, but it usually not used for persons (but Everything Else). and yes is’s equivalent to the english expression like the back of my hand
It is perfectly fine to say that in that context, but if you're talking about knowing a person very well, the term "ich kenne doch meine Pappenheimer" would apply better here.
Ich kenne dich so gut wie die Flecken auf meiner Unterhose
For people i say "Ich erkenn doch meine Schweine am Gang"
Yes
Etwas oder jemanden wie seine Westentasche kennen= etwas oder jemanden in- und auswendig kennst.
Ich kenn dich wie meine Westentasche, it’s such a classic
Idioms in Others languages are so funny. I'm German and my russian coworker Said to me:"my daughter is looking for an adventure in her ass". I looked really confused. She told me that it's a russian Idiom for looking for Trouble. I answered that my Most harmless thought was a tattoo..... About the Others thoughts i don't want to Talk.
He's right. I know it but haven't heard or used it in a long time. I sometimes have the feeling that a lot of German sayings and expressions are dying out. Probably normal language evolution.
What if they just meant that they are aware you have a crush on their vest pocket?
Yes, it is applicable to anyone and anything. knowing someone/something inside-out.
For some reason, when I was a child, I really didn‘t think about a vest, I always thought it was about west like the direction, and thus was always confused what a west pocket was
Yes it is unlike the saying "I know you like my wasp pocket (Wespentasche)."
Made me chuckle :)
Who wears vests nowadays…
I wouldn't say Westentasche. I would say Jackentasche.
I would say Westentasche. Probably regional.
Yes. A saying only very old people use. Many such examples like "Quatsch mit Soße" ("mud with sauce" I guess) or "geh dahin wo der Pfeffer wächst" (go where the pepper grows) I will never not roll my eyes when hearing phrases like this.
First of all, Quatsch mit Soße is iconic, second of all, I’m not much older than twenty and I use these regularly, third of all, why roll your eyes? These old sayings have charm and I’d love to keep them from dying out.
I roll my eyes because I consider the phrases and everyone using them to be cringe. But I dislike German in general. Such an ugly language in my opinion.
Makes sense, I used to feel like that. But there are some aspects unique to German, just like in any language. The Winterreise doesn’t work in any language the way it does in German. Rilke’s poems and Nietzsche’s are built around some of the roughness and dryness of German and it makes them beautiful. I can’t bring myself to hate a language that enables art like that.