And why on Yabla German of all places? Well, that's easy: it's because you want to learn German and you know how great the Yabla language learning system is! But speaking of learning, how do you say phrases like "... of all places" and "... of all people" in German? 

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First, a little background on the phrase. The separable German verb ausrechnen, in its standard form, means "to compute," "to figure out," "to calculate," or "to estimate," as in this example: 

Wie rechnet ihr eure Chancen aus zu gewinnen?

What do you estimate your chances of winning are?

Caption 11, Yabla-Filmfestspiele - Preisverleihung

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However, a slang adverb developed out of the past participle of the verb ausrechnen:

Ja, ausgerechnet Stauffenberg. Wer hätte das gedacht?

Yes, Stauffenberg of all people. Who would have thought that?

Caption 54, Die Stunde der Offiziere - Dokudrama über den 20. Juli 1944 - Part 13

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Ich wundere mich ein wenig,

I'm a bit surprised

dass ausgerechnet heute Ihre Sekretärin nicht da ist, Herr General.

that today of all days your secretary isn't here, General.

Captions 54-55, Die Stunde der Offiziere - Dokudrama über den 20. Juli 1944 - Part 8

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Und ausgerechnet im „Skatershop“

And in the skate shop, of all places,

wartete auch schon der nächste Spießer.

the next philistine is waiting too.

Caption 9, Thomas D - Ärgernisse

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Und das ausgerechnet von Hühnern…

And that, of all things, from chickens…

Caption 5, Tierakademie Scheuerhof - Tiertrainer im Hühner-Seminar

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So basically you can use the slang adverb ausgerechnet to mean "... of all" and then whatever the topic of your discussion is. Occasionally, the slang adverb ausgerechnet may be translated otherwise: 

… und wieso man ausgerechnet für die betreffende Firma arbeiten möchte.

… and why you specifically would like to work for the respective company.

Caption 25, Eva erklärt - Bewerbungen

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Of course, this could also have been translated: "... and why you would like to work for this respective company, of all companies." As with all translations, it's best to use whatever catches the meaning and is most graceful at the same time. 

Achtung: sometimes the past participle of ausrechnen shows up and might fool you:

… über hundertsechzig Filme,

… more than one hundred and sixty movies,

hab' ich jetzt mal einfach so grob ausgerechnet.

I've just now roughly estimated.

Caption 38, Kurzfilm-Festival - Shorts at Moonlight

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Further Learning
Look for more examples of ausgerechnet used in a real-world context on Yabla German, and for further study compare the Duden definition of the verb ausrechnen with the slang adverb ausgerechnet.

Thank you for reading this newsletter and keep up the good work! If you have any good ideas for lesson topics, please email them to us at newsletter@yabla.com, and you can tweet us @yabla.

For the next two lessons, we’ll look at vocabulary for expressing different types of relationships in German. This week, let’s take a look at platonic relationships.

In professional settings, we often hear der Kollege / die Kollegin. This means “the colleague” or “the co-worker.”

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Das ist der Kollege,

That is the colleague

der zusammen mit Jannik Sternberg auf dem Gerüst gearbeitet hat.

who was working with Jannik Sternberg on the scaffolding.

Caption 41, Großstadtrevier - Von Monstern und Mördern

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For young people who attend school together rather than work together, der Klassenkamerad / die Klassenkameradin is a term that means “classmate.” In university settings, der Kommilitone / die Kommilitonin is a common word for referring to one’s fellow students. 

Ich hab' zusammen mit meiner ehemaligen Klassenkameradin

Together with a former classmate of mine, I

einen Abiturientenlehrgang besucht...

visited a high school graduate seminar...

Captions 8-9, Die Klasse - Berlin '61

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You may already know that der Bekannte / die Bekannte indicates an acquaintance, whereas der Freund / die Freundin means “friend” or in some cases even “boyfriend”/“girlfriend.” In this case, the context becomes very important. 

und dann laden wir viele Bekannte und Freunde ein

and then we invite a lot of acquaintances and friends

Caption 18, Mode - mit Niklas

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To indicate a close relationship, enger Freund / enge Freundin (“close friend”) and guter Freund / gute Freundin (“good friend”) may be used. Men might also refer to a close friend as der Kumpel, which is more like “buddy” or “mate.”

Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim,

Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim,

ebenfalls Oberst im Bendlerblock,

also a colonel in the Bendlerblock,

ist enger Freund und Mitverschwörer.

is a close friend and co-conspirator.

Captions 4-6, Die Stunde der Offiziere - Dokudrama über den 20. Juli 1944

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Dann hat mein Kumpel gesagt:

Then my buddy said:

„Na, vielleicht wollten wir doch abhauen.“

"Well, but perhaps we indeed wanted to take off."

Caption 9, 25 Jahre Mauerfall - Radtour durch die Geschichte

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Further Learning
We’ll be back next week with vocabulary for various types of romantic relationships. In the meantime, you can learn the plural versions of these words (masculine and feminine), look for other examples on Yabla German, and practice any of the vocabulary above.