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German · Frustration & Fed-Up

Himmel, Arsch und Zwirn!

HIM-mel ARSH oont TSVEERN · /ˈhɪ.ml̩ aʁʃ ʊnt t͡svɪʁn/

For crying out loud! / Bloody hell and damnation!

2/5 Bar-safe

coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances

Literally

"Heaven, arse and thread"

Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.

How to use it

A folk-treasure of an oath — heaven, an arse and a spool of sewing thread, yoked together for no logical reason and all the funnier for it. Old-fashioned, theatrical, and beloved; deploying it correctly marks you as someone who actually knows German, not a phrasebook tourist. Expanded form: "Himmel, Arsch und Wolkenbruch!"

Heard in the wild

Himmel, Arsch und Zwirn, wo ist der Autoschlüssel?

For crying out loud, where is the car key?

Where it lands

Germany, Austria — folksy, all ages

Quick answers

What does "Himmel, Arsch und Zwirn!" mean?
In German, "Himmel, Arsch und Zwirn!" means "For crying out loud! / Bloody hell and damnation!". Literally it's "Heaven, arse and thread". A folk-treasure of an oath — heaven, an arse and a spool of sewing thread, yoked together for no logical reason and all the funnier for it. Old-fashioned, theatrical, and beloved; deploying it correctly marks you as someone who actually knows German, not a phrasebook tourist. Expanded form: "Himmel, Arsch und Wolkenbruch!"
Is "Himmel, Arsch und Zwirn!" offensive?
It's on the mild end — 2/5 (Bar-safe) on the Punch-o-Meter. coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances.
How do you pronounce "Himmel, Arsch und Zwirn!"?
Say it "HIM-mel ARSH oont TSVEERN" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: ˈhɪ.ml̩ aʁʃ ʊnt t͡svɪʁn.

Related in German

Scheiße! SHY-suh Shit! / Damn! — the all-purpose German expletive Mist! MIST Crap! / Rats! — the family-friendly 'damn' Verdammt! fair-DAMT Damn! / Damn it! Verdammt nochmal! fair-DAMT NOCH-mahl God damn it! / For crying out loud! Hau ab! HOW AP Get lost! / Clear off! / Beat it! Verdammte Scheiße! fair-DAM-tuh SHY-suh God-damn shit! / Bloody hell!

The same idea, elsewhere

Via concepts like "Damn".

how to say "Damn" →

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