Don’t be a frog! = Don’t be a wet blanket!

Here’s a new one: »Da lachen ja die Hühner!«

You say this when you want to express that something is very ridiculous or nonsensical.

Translated literally: That makes the chickens laugh.

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour made a stop in the German city of Gelsenkirchen in summer 2024. In this context, an American TV host once said, »Gelsenkirchen? Where the hell is Gelsenkirchen? I’ve never heard of it!« Even many Germans don’t know where Gelsenkirchen is, but everyone knows what is meant by Schalke, a suburb of Gelsenkirchen. Just enter Schalke in the Google search engine and you will know what it is known for.

If you have never heard of Mönchengladbach, I tell you, this city has also a soccer team with a long tradition. Besides soccer, the main attractions in this city are the old water tower and beer. This top-fermented beer is dark and is called Altbier. If you should ever try a glass of Altbier in a Lower Rhine region’s pub and pick up the word foals, then it’s about soccer, because the team is called The Foals.

I don’t know how many snowdomes (skiing hall, indoor ski slope) there are in America, but in Germany there are exactly five, one of which is near Mönchengladbach called Alpenpark Neuss. Please consider, the rhyme has often been lost in the translation of the poems, but who cares?