/ˈʁeːdn̩ viː aɪ̯n ˈvasɐˌfal/ lit. ‘to talk like a waterfall’
German idiom, colloquial. To talk a lot, often without stopping.
Draft Not yet checked by a native German speaker.
How do people use Reden wie ein Wasserfall
?
Colloquial and mostly friendly, said about chatty kids, nervous dates or that one colleague: “Sie redet wie ein Wasserfall.” It describes how someone talks in general, so it’s usually in the present tense.
Reden wie ein Wasserfall
in real sentences
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Tom redet wie ein Wasserfall.
Tom could talk the hind leg off a donkey.
Tatoeba, sentence by Adelpa, translation by sundown, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Er redet wie ein Wasserfall.
He talks nonstop.
Tatoeba, sentence by Alois, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Reden wie ein Wasserfall
come from?
German Wiktionary cites Müller’s Lexikon der Redensarten: speech has been compared to flowing water since antiquity, and a waterfall is that flow at its loudest and most unstoppable. No first recorded use is given.
Mistakes learners make with Reden wie ein Wasserfall
Using “sprechen” instead of “reden”: “spricht wie ein Wasserfall” sounds off to natives, since the fixed verb is “reden”.
Other German idioms like Reden wie ein Wasserfall
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