Last week, we discussed the conjunctions denn, weil, and da, the most common ways of saying "because" in German. There is, however, yet a third far less common German word that can be translated as "because" in slang usage: darum. But first, let's take a look at the way darum is more commonly used.

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The adverb darum, depending upon its context in a sentence, most commonly has a topical meaning as "about," almost always in conjunction with the verb gehen:

Es ging eigentlich darum, Wohnraum zu schaffen in der Stadt.

It was actually about creating living spaces in the city.

Caption 20, Umweltbewusstes Wohnen - Architekturpreis Green Building

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Or as "therefore, which can also be alternately translated as "that's why" or "for this reason":

Darum nenn mich nie mehr dummes Huhn

Therefore never call me "dumb chick" anymore.

Caption 20, Cosma Shiva Hagen - So trägt man Pelz

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You sometimes see darum as part of the separable verb darumstehen, which can translate as "to stand around" or "to stand around there," as opposed to the more common herumstehen ("to stand around" or "to stand around here"). Darumstehen can also mean to stand around something, as in um etwas herumstehen: 

Wir sehen das Fahrrad und die Kinder, die darumstehen.
We see the bicycle and the children standing around it.

A slang usage of the adverb darum, however, is typically seen as a childish answer to a question, or an answer that is really no answer at all! 

Warum hast du das gemacht? -Darum! 
Why did you do that? -Because! 

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Further Learning
Go to Yabla German and search for darum to see the word used in a real-world context. For a more advanced article on the various uses of darum, read this DWDS article.

Since most of us are probably pretty broke after holiday expenses, here are some money expressions in German that are good to know!

Ich hätte zweihundert Schlösser und wär' nie mehr pleite [Umgangssprache].

I would have two hundred castles and would never again be broke.

Caption 19, Rio Reiser - König von Deutschland

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The word pleite is slang, but if you are seriously pleite, you wind up thus:

Jetzt sind wir bankrott,

Now we are bankrupt,

obwohl, äh, wir zehn Jahre lang [Geld] gespart haben.

even though, uh, we've saved money for ten years.

Caption 2, Deutschkurs in Tübingen - Weil oder obwohl?

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The holidays aren't getting cheaper every year, that's for sure. At some point they always start costing money (ins Geld gehen):

Sollte es länger dauern,

Should it take longer,

dann geht es aber auch irgendwann mal ins Geld.

then at some point, however, it will also start costing money.

Captions 28-29, Endlich glücklich - Liebe im Netz

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And on this, we can all agree:

Zeit ist Geld und Geld ist gut.

Time is money and money is good.

Caption 9, Jan Wittmer - Leben für den Lebenslauf

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Not forgetting, of course, that:

Geld allein ist nicht alles.

Money alone isn't everything.

Caption 62, Für Tierfreunde - Tierheim Nied

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Since after all, the holidays should remind us not to forget that love is the most important thing of all!

Zeigt die Liebe allen Wesen, die da atmen.

Show the love to all beings that breathe there.

Caption 18, Cosma Shiva Hagen - So trägt man Pelz

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Further Learning:

Do a search on Yabla German for financial expressions in English and see in what context they are used in German. For a bit of cheer, see what kind of expressions a search for die Liebe brings up. Happy New Year from all of us at Yabla!