/ɪm ˈʃnɛkn̩ˌtɛmpo/ lit. ‘at snail tempo’
German idiom, everyday. Very slowly.
Draft Not yet checked by a native German speaker.
How do people use Im Schneckentempo
?
Neutral, heard in traffic reports and office complaints alike. It goes with verbs of movement or progress: “im Schneckentempo vorankommen”, “sich im Schneckentempo bewegen”, “im Schneckentempo fahren”.
Im Schneckentempo
in real sentences
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Der Verkehr bewegt sich im Schneckentempo.
The traffic is moving at a snail’s pace.
Tatoeba, sentence by Waldelfe, translation by megamanenm, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Die Angelegenheit kommt im Schneckentempo voran.
The issue is proceeding at a snail’s pace.
Tatoeba, sentence by freddy1, translation by cathrynm, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Im Schneckentempo
come from?
A plain compound of “Schnecke” (snail) and “Tempo” (speed), and the snail has stood for slowness since antiquity. German Wiktionary lists “im Schneckentempo” as the set phrase built on it. No first use is recorded.
Mistakes learners make with Im Schneckentempo
Saying “mit Schneckentempo” or “in Schneckentempo”: the fixed form is “im” (in the), “im Schneckentempo”.
Other German idioms like Im Schneckentempo
Spot a mistake in Im Schneckentempo
?
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