Why do I need to know 'ich glaub' ich spinne'?
'Ich glaub' ich spinne' can describe your own feeling of surprise or to express your disbelief about a somewhat crazy situation.
What does it mean?
The verb spinnen has, like many German words, different meanings. In English, it translates to “spin” in the sense of “spinning yarn” or “spinning a web”, and comes from die Spinne meaning “the spider”.
When a German person wants to express the feeling that they are going crazy, they usually say they are making spider’s webs, or, as it’s commonly used: Ich glaube ich spinne, which sounds like this. When speaking it, people often drop the 'e' from glaube to make it: Ich glaub ich spinne.
The literal translation would be “I believe I spin” or even "I believe, I spider" which obviously doesn't make much sense to English speakers' ears. This phrase is actually the equivalent of English expressions like: “I think I’m going nuts”, “I might be going crazy” or “I’m losing it”.
Some say that both the German word “spinnen” and the English “spin” go back etymology-speaking to the same word that means “spin thread”. The metaphor then becomes about weaving a mental tapestry, and therefore having some kind of delusion.
Others suggest that the phrase originates from sailors. They were said to avoid boredom while doing monotonous work, such as reprocessing old ropes, by telling each other stories. These stories were often quite embellished to sound more entertaining and distract sailors from their duties. Hence the “Seemannsgarn spinnen”, meaning “spinning a sailor’s yarn” in English - used to describe when people invent a very adventurous story.
Today, the phrase is quite widely used - but only in casual conversation such as among friends or in other informal situations. It can be positive or negative. Germans also use it when they have no idea what's happening, as in “I can’t believe it!” in English.
Use it like this:
Ich habe gerade zum zweiten Mal in diesem Monat mein Handy verloren. Ich glaub' ich spinne!
I just lost my cell for the second time this month. I think I’m going crazy!
Ich bin sicher, meine Brille lag auf dem Tisch. Langsam glaube ich echt, dass ich spinne.
I'm sure my glasses were on the table. I’m slowly beginning to think I’m losing it.
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