Muscle hangover

Went on a hike with the Realschule from Malbun (Liech) to Feldkirch (Austria), along the Saminatal.

Mountains, rivers, forests... The scenery was breathtaking and, after 14km, I was breathless.

The next day, as I hobbled around school, I proudly spoke my latest German phrase to all and sundry. "Ich habe Muskelkater" [Lit: I have a muscle hangover].

Metaphorical flowers

"Danke für die blumen," was one of the phrases I learnt in my first German class; not too different from the Afrikaans.

A pretty phrase, and pretty useless. I resigned myself to sitting around waiting for someone to give me flowers so I could add it to my active vocabulary

Until H explained to me that it also means "Thank you for the compliment". A pretty and useful idiom after all.