/voː zɪç ˈfʊks ʊnt ˈhaːzə ˈɡuːtə ˈnaxt ˈzaːɡn̩/ lit. ‘where fox and hare say goodnight’
German idiom, colloquial. A very remote place, far from towns and people.
Draft Not yet checked by a native German speaker.
How do people use Wo sich Fuchs und Hase gute Nacht sagen
?
Colloquial with a smile, often about where someone lives or grew up. It works as a whole clause after “da” or “dort”: “Sie wohnt da, wo sich Fuchs und Hase gute Nacht sagen”. It’s gently mocking, so think twice before saying it to someone about their own hometown.
Wo sich Fuchs und Hase gute Nacht sagen
in real sentences
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Sie wohnt da, wo sich Fuchs und Hase gute Nacht sagen.
She lives in the middle of nowhere.
Tatoeba, sentence by Pfirsichbaeumchen, translation by DJ_Saidez, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Tom wohnt da, wo sich Fuchs und Hase gute Nacht sagen.
Tom lives in the middle of nowhere.
Tatoeba, sentence by Pfirsichbaeumchen, translation by Hybrid, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Wo sich Fuchs und Hase gute Nacht sagen
come from?
Nobody seems to know where it comes from. The joke is that a fox and a hare, hunter and hunted, would only wish each other goodnight in a place so empty that no one else is around. English Wiktionary quotes it from Die Zeit in 1990, but that’s an example of use, not a first record, and we found no date for when it started.
Mistakes learners make with Wo sich Fuchs und Hase gute Nacht sagen
Dropping “sich”. The fox and the hare say goodnight to each other, so it’s “wo sich Fuchs und Hase gute Nacht sagen”; without “sich” they’re just saying goodnight to nobody in particular.
Other German idioms like Wo sich Fuchs und Hase gute Nacht sagen
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?
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