/ˈʃlaːfn̩ viː aɪ̯n ˈmʊʁml̩ˌtiːɐ̯/ lit. ‘sleep like a marmot’
German idiom, colloquial. To sleep very deeply and soundly, without waking up.
Draft Not yet checked by a native German speaker.
How do people use Schlafen wie ein Murmeltier
?
Colloquial and friendly, the kind of thing you say over breakfast about yourself, your kids or a guest who missed the alarm. It bends like any verb: “ich habe wie ein Murmeltier geschlafen”, “er schläft wie ein Murmeltier”. You’ll also hear the word order flipped, “wie ein Murmeltier schlafen”, which is how Müller’s Lexikon der Redensarten files it.
Schlafen wie ein Murmeltier
in real sentences
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Ich habe wie ein Murmeltier geschlafen.
I slept like a log.
Tatoeba, sentence by Esperantostern, translation by CK, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Tom schlief wie ein Murmeltier.
Tom slept like a log.
Tatoeba, sentence by Pfirsichbaeumchen, translation by CK, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Schlafen wie ein Murmeltier
come from?
The picture is the marmot’s winter: these Alpine animals hibernate for several months, and German Wiktionary, citing Müller’s Lexikon der Redensarten, explains the phrase that way. Someone sleeping like a marmot looks as dead to the world as a hibernating one. Neither source gives a date for the first use, and we didn’t find one.
Mistakes learners make with Schlafen wie ein Murmeltier
Mixing it up with “Und täglich grüßt das Murmeltier”, the German title of the film Groundhog Day. That one means the same dull thing keeps happening again, and it has nothing to do with sleep.
Other German idioms like Schlafen wie ein Murmeltier
Spot a mistake in Schlafen wie ein Murmeltier
?
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