/deːn ˈlœfl̩ ˈapɡeːbn̩/ lit. ‘hand in the spoon’
German idiom, colloquial. To die (said in a casual, joking way).
Draft Not yet checked by a native German speaker.
How do people use Den Löffel abgeben
?
Colloquial and flippant, the German cousin of “kick the bucket”: fine for jokes, gossip or a crime novel, but out of place in a condolence card. The Redensarten-Index labels it casual slang (“salopp”). It’s a separable verb, so “ab” moves to the end in simple tenses: “er gibt den Löffel ab”, “sie gab den Löffel ab”, “er hat den Löffel abgegeben”.
Also said den Löffel fallen lassen, den Löffel hinlegen, den Löffel wegwerfen
Den Löffel abgeben
in real sentences
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Tom hat den Löffel abgegeben.
Tom kicked the bucket.
Tatoeba, sentence by Pfirsichbaeumchen, translation by CM, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Als “bucket list” bezeichnet man eine Liste von Dingen, die man noch machen will, bevor man den Löffel abgibt.
A bucket list is a list of things to do before you die.
Tatoeba, sentence by Pfirsichbaeumchen, translation by Hybrid, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Den Löffel abgeben
come from?
Nobody knows for sure, and German Wiktionary flags its own explanation as unsourced. Most theories start from the idea that people in the Middle Ages owned one personal spoon that they carried for life, so giving it up meant you’d never eat again. The versions collected by the Redensarten-Index and English Wiktionary range from Black Forest farmhands who were lent a spoon for the length of their service to Cistercian monks whose spoon was taken from them at death, but none of them comes with evidence.
Mistakes learners make with Den Löffel abgeben
Forgetting that abgeben splits. Learners say “bevor er den Löffel abgibt” correctly in a subordinate clause, then write “er abgibt den Löffel” in a main clause, where it has to be “er gibt den Löffel ab”.
Other German idioms like Den Löffel abgeben
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