German word of the day: Der innere Schweinehund
The Local - [email protected] •
19 Oct, 2018
Updated Fri 19 Oct 2018 08:34 CEST
The word we all need as the days are getting shorter and colder and we are switching trips to the gym for Netflix and a blanket.
Literally translated as ‘inner pig dog’, your innere Schweinehund is the lazy voice inside your head which leads to you choosing to spend your weekends curled up on the sofa in front of the TV, rather than doing housework and going to the gym.
It could be translated differently in different contexts, perhaps as ‘inner couch potato’, or ‘inner laziness’.
Some people might also think of ‘inner demons’, but the inner Schweinehund is easier to defeat. You overcome your ‘innere Schweinehund’ if you get out of bed and go for a run, but ‘inner demons’ are perhaps a bit darker than this.
Example:
Wir müssen den inneren Schweinehund überwinden!
We need to defeat our laziness!
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Literally translated as ‘inner pig dog’, your innere Schweinehund is the lazy voice inside your head which leads to you choosing to spend your weekends curled up on the sofa in front of the TV, rather than doing housework and going to the gym.
It could be translated differently in different contexts, perhaps as ‘inner couch potato’, or ‘inner laziness’.
Some people might also think of ‘inner demons’, but the inner Schweinehund is easier to defeat. You overcome your ‘innere Schweinehund’ if you get out of bed and go for a run, but ‘inner demons’ are perhaps a bit darker than this.
Example:
Wir müssen den inneren Schweinehund überwinden!
We need to defeat our laziness!
--
Do you have a favourite word you'd like to see us cover? If so, please email our editor Rachel Stern with your suggestion.
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