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Hundewörterbuch: Der redensartliche Hund

Redensartliches um den Hund -- Deutsch > Englisch

eine Hundearbeit drudgery, grind

armer Hund poor slob

Hunde, die bellen, beißen nicht. Barking dogs don't bite. His bark is worse than his bite.

Viele Hunde sind des Hasen Tod. Approximately: One against many is a losing battle.

Den letzten beißen die Hunde. The devil take the hindmost.

Du fauler Hund! You lazy dog!

wie Hund und Katze like cats and dogs

wie ein Hund leben to live/lead a dog's life

Hundeleben a dog's life

jdn wie einen Hund behandeln to treat somebody like a dog

jdm wie ein Hund folgen to follow somebody like a dog

ein Wetter, bei dem man nicht einmal einen Hund vor die Tür jagen möchte weather in which one wouldn't want to turn a dog out

Hundewetter weather you wouldn't wish on a dog

Hundekälte freezing cold

hundemüde dog tired

Damit kann man keinen Hund hinter dem Ofen hervorlocken. That wouldn't tempt anybody.

auf den Hund kommen to go to the dogs

vor die Hunde gehen to perish

krummer Hund a cigar with misaligned (crooked) wrapper (With thanks to Chris Stach)

Du krummer Hund! You dirty dog!

Da liegt der Hund begraben. That's the rub!

hündisch abject, slavish

jdm hündisch ergeben sein to have a doglike devotion to somebody

mit allen Hunden gehetzt wily, slippery; Er ist mit allen Hunden gehetzt. There are no flies on him.

ein feiger Hund cowardly wretch

Du gemeiner Hund! You dirty dog!

mit traurigen Hundeaugen ansehen to look at somebody like a mournful dog

Mir ist hundeübel. I feel sick as a dog.

Hundekurve dog leg (See Note 1)

Hundsfott scoundrel (See Note 2)

hundsgemein very mean

Hundsgemeinheit dirty trick, base act

hundsmiserabel very bad, rotten, lousy

Mir gehts hundsmiserabel. I feel lousy.

Hundsstern Dog Star (See Note 3)

Hundstage dog days (See Note 4)

wie ein begossener Pudel dastehen to stand abashed, to look crestfallen

(With thanks to Dr. Helga Tichy)

Das ist des Pudels Kern. That's the heart of the matter.(See Note 5)

einen Pudel schieben to roll a gutter ball (in bowling)

pudeln to dog paddle

pudelnaß soaking wet

pudelnackt stark naked

sich pudelwohl fühlen to feel snug and cozy

Notes

In most cases, the prefix “hunde-, Hunde-, hunds-, Hunds-“ has lost its semantic link to the animal and is perceived by speaker and hearer alike as meaning “excessively unpleasant” (Hundearbeit, Hundewetter, Hundeleben) or, if the main element of the word already has a negative connotation, as emotional intensifier of this negativity (Hundekälte, hundeübel, hundsgemein).

Over all, it is somewhat surprising and distressing, that there seems to be not a single idiom that reflects man’s affection for his “best friend.” Perhaps, while I love my dog I may dislike, hate or fear yours, and if I should dislike, despise, hate or fear you, you become “Hund, dog, cur, bitch”. Or, the idioms may reflect an earlier time when dogs were less pets than working members of the household. -- I recommend a visit to the web page "Redensartliches" on the web site www.hundefreunde-dresden.com

‘Hundekurve” appears to me a not very successful translation of the English “dog leg” in that it does not capture the visual reference to a dog’s (hind) leg bent at the knee.
“Scoundrel” is too tame a (dictionary) definition of this contemptuous invective. ”Son of a bitch” seems closer to the word’s original (literal) sexual insult “bitch’s vulva” (Lat. cunnus canis).
“Hundsstern”: not a Redensart proper but rather the German word for the (post-classical) Latin star name canicula or Sirius (< Gk. σεíριος κύων ‘scorching dog’), The link between the animal and the star is somewhat elusive. Sirius is the main star in the constellation Canis major, the greater of the two dogs accompanying (the constellation of) Orion the Hunter. The constellation Cma with Sirius as the dog's nose is visible in the northern hemisphere between November and March.
“Hundstage”: a period of approximately 30 to 40 days in July and August when the weather in the northern hemisphere is at its hottest and most uncomfortable. Both, the German word (attested to since the mid-1300s) and the English ‘dog days' (first found in 1538) translate the Latin dies caniculares. This phrase could also be rendered as “Days of Sirius” (see Note 3) because during this period Sirius rises and sets with the sun and the ancients (erroneously) believed that the star added its heat to that of the sun.
The precise wording of this quote from Goethe’s Faust: “Das also war des Pudels Kern.”

[The Idiomatic Dog]

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