/diː ˈdaʊ̯mən ˈdʁʏkn̩/ lit. ‘press your thumbs’
German idiom, everyday. To hope that things turn out well.
Draft Not yet checked by a native German speaker.
How do people use Die Daumen drücken
?
Everyday German, said before exams, job interviews and penalty shootouts. The person you’re rooting for goes in the dative: “ich drücke dir die Daumen”, “drück mir die Daumen!”. The gesture is real too: tuck your thumbs inside your fists and squeeze.
Also said jemandem die Daumen halten, für jemanden die Daumen drücken
Die Daumen drücken
in real sentences
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Drück mir die Daumen!
Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Tatoeba, sentence by brunoalbinus, translation by korobo4ka, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Ich werde dir die Daumen drücken.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.
Tatoeba, sentence by Esperantostern, translation by Sanaseppo, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Die Daumen drücken
come from?
German Wiktionary, quoting Röhrich’s Lexikon der sprichwörtlichen Redensarten, points to Pliny the Elder’s Natural History (28.25), which says a proverb even tells us to press our thumbs when we want to show favor. The link to Roman gladiator crowds asking for mercy is a theory on top of that. The same source mentions the gesture in the Middle Ages as a way of keeping witches and demons off.
Mistakes learners make with Die Daumen drücken
Crossing your fingers. In Germany, people press their thumbs, so “ich kreuze die Finger” sounds like a translation. English Wiktionary also notes that “Daumen” is normally plural here, because the gesture uses both hands.
Other German idioms like Die Daumen drücken
Spot a mistake in Die Daumen drücken
?
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