Redensart

German

Etymology

From Reden +‎ -s +‎ Art, a calque of French façon de parler. Cognate to Low German Rädensoarten (plural).

Pronunciation

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Noun

Redensart f (genitive Redensart, plural Redensarten)

1. a commonly used expression, sentence, or proverb

   Synonym: Spruch

Usage notes

• Typically, a Redensart is something in between a Redewendung (“expression, idiom”) and a Sprichwort (“proverb”), meaning that it is a full sentence with little or no variation but does not express a particular wisdom or truth.
• For example, auf keine Kuhhaut gehen (“to be unbelievable”, literally “to be more than fits on a cow's skin”) is a Redewendung because it can be used freely in various sentences; whereas da brat mir doch einer 'n Storch (“that's unbelievable!”, literally “someone fry me a stork now!”) is a Redensart because it is used only in this sentence form. Neither of the two is a Sprichwort because there is no wisdom or morale.

Declension

Declension of Redensart [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Redensart	die	Redensarten
genitive	einer	der	Redensart	der	Redensarten
dative	einer	der	Redensart	den	Redensarten
accusative	eine	die	Redensart	die	Redensarten

Derived terms

• redensartlich

Related terms

• Redewendung

Further reading

• “Redensart” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Redensart” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.
• “Redensart” in Duden online