Lass uns nicht um den heißen Brei reden (let’s not beat around the bush) und schon legen wir los mit Lingo Bingo (check out the Lingo Bingo archive)…

Um den heißen Brei

um den heißen Brei reden

• Meaning: to avoid coming to the point, to talk about it in a round-about way,
• English equivalent: to beat around the bush

Auf die lange Bank damit!

etwas auf die lange Bank schieben

• Meaning: etwas unendlich lange aufschieben
• Origin: There are various theories - read them in an article by bildung-news.de or by the ceryx.de. In addition to the theories of the article, here is another plausible approach: During lawsuits in the Middle Age, long benches were used to store files. The longer it took to find a solution, the further back the files were pushed.
• English equivalent: to put into/on cold storage (Here the origin is obvious, isn’t it? If not, check this out.)

Bonkers/ Bananas/ Barmy/ Loony

to go bonkers/ bananas/ loony/ barmy

• Meaning: to go insane, to lose sanity
• German equivalent: verrückt sein/werden; ausflippen, auszucken, überschnappen …
• Additional phrase: to drive someone bonkers

Did you see Christie go bonkers last night? - Hast du gesehen wie Christie gestern ausgeflippt ist?

La-Di-Da & La-La

la(h)-di-da(h) (GB) - geziertes, vornehmes, überhebliches Getue

Look, everybody is avoiding Katy at the cocktail party, because she is a tad lah di dah. -

la-la land (specifical term for the Los Angeles area) (US) - the phrase makes fun of the LA area by swamping it with prejudice against it (say, shallowness or eccentricity,…)

Christoph lived in la-la land for several years. What do you expect?

to be in la-la land (general usage)

• Meaning: to be disconnected with the real word, in a state of mind that has someone live in his/her own world
• German equivalent:

Mark seems to be in la-la land. Isn’t he remote lately?

• Additional info: to be in la-la land (US sland) - zugedrönt sein

All Ears

to be all ears

• Meaning: to be very keen on hearing what someone is going to talk about, to listen carefully;
• German equivalent: ganz Ohr sein

Are you interested in future investment plans? - I’m all ears. Shoot! — Bist du an den zukünftigen Investmentplänen interessiert? - Ja, ich bin ganz Ohr. Schieß’ los!

On Heels

• to be in love head over heels - Fuß über Kopf verliebt sein in jemanden

• to be hot on one’s heels - jemandem dicht auf den Fersen sein

Hook Here, Hook There - It’s Everywhere!

There are a couple (well, more than that!) sayings and phrases that utilize the word “hook”. Let’s try to find some German equivalents!

• by hook or by crook (by all means available, possible - fair or unfair) - auf Teufel komm raus, unter allen Umständen, Koste es was es wolle, auf Biegen und Brechen
• by one’s own hook (by one’s own power) - auf eigene Faust

I will take care of this matter by my own hook - Ich werde diese Angelegenheit auf eigene Faust klären.

• to swallow something hook, line and sinker (to accept something without reservation) - er hat es vollkommen/gänzlich hinuntergeschluckt (etwas zur Kenntnis nehmen ohne Vorbehalt/bedingungslos)
• Hook it! (GB) - Hau ab! Ziehe ‘ne Leine (DE)
• to take one’s hook - sich aus dem Schneider machen
• to be off the hook (also: to be out of the woods) - aus dem Schneider sein, aus der Klemme, gut aus einer Sache rauskommen (AT),
• to let someone off the hook (relieve someone from responsibilty - let someone go and discontinue blaming that person) - jemanden aus der Verantwortung nehmen, jemandem verzeihen

Let her off the hook. She has admitted the mistake. Let’s move on!

• That’s off the hook (that’s awesome) (US slang) — Das ist ja abgefahren!

Festive & Insults - Do they go together?

Finally, I have to add a festive saying to build up some mood. Jesus Christ, Christmas is approaching pretty quickly.

Not the brightest bulb on the tree - Night gerade die hellste aller Leuchten am Baum.