Why do Germans go on alarm clocks and cookies?
Random German Expression of the Day: “Du gehst mir auf den Wecker.” – In German there are several colorful ways of letting people know that they’re annoying you, many of them starting with “Du gehst mir auf…” (literally “You’re going/walking on my…):
“Du gehst mir auf die Nerven.” – lit. “You’re going on my nerves.”
“Du gehst mir auf den Wecker.” – lit. “You’re going on my alarm clock.”
“Du gehst mir auf den Geist.” – lit. “You’re going on my spirit/ghost.”
“Du gehst mir auf den Senkel.” – lit. “You’re going on my (shoe)lace.”
“Du gehtst mir auf den Keks.” – lit. “You’re going on my cookie.”
Whereas the “Nerven”-variant is quite similar to the English “You’re getting on my nerves.”, “Geist” is loosely related, and “Senkel” also makes sense (because nobody likes it when someone steps on their shoelaces), the alarm clock and cookie variants are baffling and of uncertain origin.
Nonetheless, all of these expressions are extremely common, in addition to some more off-color ones…
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