/ˈjeːmandən fɛɐ̯ˈzɛt͡sn̩/ lit. ‘move someone (somewhere else)’
German idiom, colloquial. To not turn up for a date or meeting without telling the other person.
Draft Not yet checked by a native German speaker.
How do people use Jemanden versetzen
?
Colloquial, and used for any missed meeting, a date as much as a friend who never shows up for coffee. English Wiktionary points out that it carries no special romantic flavor, unlike English “stand up”. It’s mostly used in the perfect, “Er hat mich versetzt”, or in the passive, “Ich bin versetzt worden”, with context doing the work, since versetzen has a lot of other meanings.
Jemanden versetzen
in real sentences
-
Tom hat Maria versetzt.
Tom stood Mary up.
Tatoeba, sentence by brauchinet, translation by CK, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Jemanden versetzen
come from?
Versetzen is “setzen” (to set, to put) with the prefix ver-, and goes back to Old High German. Wolfgang Pfeifer’s etymological dictionary on DWDS traces older senses like moving something, pawning it and dealing a blow, and DWDS lists “to make someone wait in vain at an agreed meeting place” as a colloquial meaning. None of the usual sources explain how or when that sense developed.
Mistakes learners make with Jemanden versetzen
Forgetting how many jobs versetzen has. “Ich wurde versetzt” on its own usually means you were transferred at work or moved up a grade at school; to say you were stood up, make it clear: “Sie hat mich gestern versetzt” or “Ich habe eine Stunde gewartet, er hat mich versetzt.”
Other German idioms like Jemanden versetzen
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?
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