German · Joy & 'Hell Yes'
Der Hammer!
dair HAH-mer · /deːɐ̯ ˈha.mɐ/
Amazing! / A total knockout!
1/5 Grandma-safe
mild, playful; fine on daytime TV
Literally
"The hammer"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
Clean, punchy praise — something excellent "ist der Hammer." Also works for shocking news either direction ("Die Nachricht war der Hammer"). "Hammer-" bolts onto anything: Hammerpreis (amazing price), hammergeil. No vulgarity at all, safe for the office Weihnachtsfeier.
Heard in the wild
Die neue Wohnung ist der Hammer!
The new flat is amazing!
Where it lands
Germany, Austria — universal
Quick answers
- What does "Der Hammer!" mean?
- In German, "Der Hammer!" means "Amazing! / A total knockout!". Literally it's "The hammer". Clean, punchy praise — something excellent "ist der Hammer." Also works for shocking news either direction ("Die Nachricht war der Hammer"). "Hammer-" bolts onto anything: Hammerpreis (amazing price), hammergeil. No vulgarity at all, safe for the office Weihnachtsfeier.
- Is "Der Hammer!" offensive?
- It's on the mild end — 1/5 (Grandma-safe) on the Punch-o-Meter. mild, playful; fine on daytime TV.
- How do you pronounce "Der Hammer!"?
- Say it "dair HAH-mer" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: deːɐ̯ ˈha.mɐ.
Related in German
The same idea, elsewhere
Via concepts like "That's awesome".
- French Ça déchire ! That rocks! / That's awesome!
- Greek ρε μαλάκα Hey man / dude / bro — the affectionate-insult greeting between friends.
- Italian Figo! Cool! / Awesome! / Sick!
- Japanese やばい Insane / crazy / no way — good OR bad, from context
- Korean 존나 Fucking / hella — the vulgar intensifier that goes in front of everything.
- Polish zajebisty Fucking awesome / badass — the great slang-POSITIVE of the jebać family.
- Portuguese Do caralho Fucking awesome — OR, with 'casa do', the middle of nowhere
- Russian Класс! Awesome! / Great! / Cool!
Reviewed by native speakers. Rate it differently? Tell us what we got wrong.