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Es geht nur ums Geld: German Idioms about Money

Many German expressions having to do with money are very similar to those in English, in fact the expressions may have been derived from and adapted by one or the other of the two languages. Some examples are: Geld waschen (to launder money), Das Geld zum Fenster hinauswerfen (to throw money out the window) and nach Geld stinken (to be filthy rich). Some expressions are not quite so direct, however, such as: Geld regiert die Welt (money makes the world go round, literally "money rules the world"), Im Geld schwimmen (to roll in money, literally "to swim in money"), and Das Geld liegt nicht auf der Straße (money doesn't grow on trees, literally "money doesn't lie on the street"). Here are some more examples from Yabla videos:

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

This one is pretty obvious:

 

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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Here the expression Es geht ins Geld means it will get expensive:

 

Dann geht es aber auch irgendwann mal ins Geld.

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

Caption 29, Endlich glücklich - Liebe im Netz

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But this is the most important thing of all to remember about money:

 

Geld allein ist nicht alles.

Money alone isn't everything.

Caption 62, Für Tierfreunde - Tierheim Nied

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BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Learning Suggestions:

See if you can understand the correct English meanings for the following German money-related expressions without resorting to a search engine or online dictionary by just using the vocabulary you already have: Geld allein macht nicht glücklich; Wer den Pfennig nicht ehrt, ist des Talers nicht wert (a hint on this one: a Taler is an old-fashioned currency like the dollar or euro); Sie haben Geld wie Heu; Es geht nur ums Geld; and last of all, the most difficult one: Unrecht Gut gedeihet nicht. 

Expressions

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