/das ˈhanttuːx ˈvɛʁfn̩/ lit. ‘to throw the towel’
German idiom, everyday. To give up and admit defeat.
Draft Not yet checked by a native German speaker.
How do people use Das Handtuch werfen
?
Neutral and common in news and sport: coaches, ministers and CEOs “werfen das Handtuch” when they quit. In the past it’s “er warf das Handtuch” or “er hat das Handtuch geworfen”.
Also said das Handtuch schmeißen
Das Handtuch werfen
in real sentences
-
Er warf das Handtuch.
He threw in the towel.
Tatoeba, sentence by Pfirsichbaeumchen, translation by CM, CC BY 2.0 FR
-
Ich war kurz davor, das Handtuch zu werfen.
I was just about to throw in the towel.
Tatoeba, sentence by enteka, translation by sundown, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Das Handtuch werfen
come from?
From boxing: when a trainer sees his boxer can’t go on, he throws a towel into the ring and the referee stops the fight. German Wiktionary cites the Duden idiom dictionary for this. German borrowed the phrase from English boxing, which is why the two match word for word.
Mistakes learners make with Das Handtuch werfen
Adding “in” from English “throw in the towel”: “das Handtuch hineinwerfen” isn’t German. Just “das Handtuch werfen”.
Other German idioms like Das Handtuch werfen
Spot a mistake in Das Handtuch werfen
?
Send a correction, or a sentence you’d actually say with it. Everything is read before anything on this page changes.