/ɪn deːɐ̯ ˈtɪntə ˌzɪt͡sn̩/ lit. ‘to sit in the ink’
German idiom, colloquial. To be in trouble or a difficult situation.
Draft Not yet checked by a native German speaker.
How do people use In der Tinte sitzen
?
Colloquial, often with “jetzt” when things have just gone wrong: “Jetzt sitzen wir in der Tinte.” “Stecken” (to be stuck) works as well as “sitzen”, and “tief” (deep) makes it worse. Wiktionary notes the trouble is often about money.
Also said in der Tinte stecken, tief in der Tinte sitzen
In der Tinte sitzen
in real sentences
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Ich sitze in der Tinte.
I’m in a real fix.
Tatoeba, sentence by Pfirsichbaeumchen, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Jetzt sitzen wir in der Tinte.
We’re in trouble now.
Tatoeba, sentence by wolfgangth, translation by CK, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does In der Tinte sitzen
come from?
Nobody knows for sure. German Wiktionary gives no origin; the usual explanation is that ink, like mud in “in der Patsche sitzen”, is a dark liquid you can’t get clean of once you’re in it. That is a theory, not a recorded source.
Mistakes learners make with In der Tinte sitzen
Using the perfect with “sein” in northern Germany: English Wiktionary notes “ich habe in der Tinte gesessen” is the northern and central form, while “ich bin ... gesessen” is southern, Austrian and Swiss.
Other German idioms like In der Tinte sitzen
Spot a mistake in In der Tinte sitzen
?
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