SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

GERMAN WORD OF THE DAY

German phrase of the day: Öl ins Feuer gießen

When there's a tense or volatile situation, some things you do will only make it worse. That's where this popular German saying could come in handy.

German Word of the Day The Local
Photo credit: Francesco Ungaro / Unsplash + Nicolas Raymond / flickr

Why do I need to know Öl ins Feuer gießen? 

Because this commonly heard phrase is great to have in your repertoire for both casual conversations and more serious discussions about current affairs – and it’s only a matter of time before you hear it being used. 

What does it mean?

Öl ins Feuer gießen literally translates as “pouring oil on the fire”. As the image suggests, this is a phrase you use when someone appears to be exacerbating a difficult, tense or potentially explosive situation. 

You might hear some people use it to reject the idea of sending weapons to Ukraine – claiming that supporting the war-torn country will only “pour oil on the fire” of the conflict. Or you might hear people accuse far-right politicians of “pouring oil on the fire” of anti-migrant sentiment in Germany. 

In this sense, it’s very similar to an English phrase we use when someone seems to be making a bad situation worse. In these instances, we may accuse someone of “fanning the flames” – which, as any good builder of bonfires knows, will generally encourage the fire to spread. 

READ ALSO: German phrase of the day: Bekannt wie ein bunter Hund

Anything else I should know? 

German grammar aficionados out there will notice that the accusative “ins” is used in this phrase instead of the dative “im”. That’s because the gesture here involves movement – pouring the oil into the flames – rather than a static location. 

If some foolhardy type had already poured oil in the flames, and you wanted to tell somebody else that it was there, you would switch to dative and say: “Es gibt Öl im Feuer” (“There’s oil in the fire”). 

By the same principle, someone going into a cinema would say, “Ich gehe ins Kino” but someone who’s already there would say, “Ich bin im Kino”. 

When using the “in” preposition, this is usually the best way to work out whether the dative or accusative case applies.

Use it like this: 

Ich will kein Öl ins Feuer gießen, aber…

I don’t want to pour any oil on the fire, but… 

Es war echt dumm von Ihm, wieder mal Öl ins Feuer zu gießen!

It was really stupid of him to pour oil on the fire yet again! 

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

GERMAN WORD OF THE DAY

German word of the day: Sommersonnenwende

This German word marks the changing of seasons, and the longest day of the year.

German word of the day: Sommersonnenwende

Die Sommersonnenwende, pronounced like this, is the German term for the summer solstice, which is the day that marks the meteorological beginning of summer in Germany and the northern hemisphere.

Alternative names for the day are Sommer Solstitium, which comes from the Latin term, and Mittsommer.

Like so many great German words, the term for the summer solstice is a compound noun which translates quite literally. It’s made up of three simple words: Sommer (summer), Sonnen (sun) and Wende (turn or turnaround).

So the name for the summer solstice in German is meant to remind you that this is the day that the sun ends its journey northward in the sky, and turns around.

As you can probably guess, the winter solstice is called die Wintersonnenwende.

You might recognise the term Wende from another compound noun that got a fair amount of attention in recent years – Energiewende, which means energy transition, has also been used to describe Germany’s big picture plans to phase out fossil fuel use.

The summer solstice usually falls on June 21st or 22nd. But it fell on June 20th this year, due to 2024 being a leap year.

How is ‘die Sommersonnenwende’ observed in Germany

Humans have taken note of, and celebrated, the summer solstice for thousands of years.

Archaeologists suggest that Stone Age cultures were already able to determine the day. Evidence of this was uncovered in 2004 at the site of a 7000-year-old solar observatory found in Goseck in Saxony-Anhalt.

Among Germanic tribes, the summer solstice was celebrated with pagan folk festivals that often included fire rituals.

After Christianization of the region, the Catholic Church tried to abolish the pagan solstice traditions – eventually designating the day for a memorial day for John the Baptist (June 24th), and adopting the fire as a symbol for Jesus Christ. 

Most of the original solstice traditions have been lost, but some are being reinvigorated for tourism, especially on the Baltic Sea coast.

More broadly, the long daylight hours experienced in the weeks before and after the summer solstice, offer a chance to stay out or do outdoor activities late into the evening. There are also a number of music festivals around Germany at this time of year.

READ ALSO: How to make the most of Germany’s long summer days

Use it like this:

Die Sonne geht so spät unter, es muss die Sommersonnenwende sein.

The sun is setting so late, it must be the summer solstice!

Haben Sie dieses Jahr Pläne, die Sommersonnenwende zu feiern?

Do you have plans to celebrate the summer soltice this year?

SHOW COMMENTS