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(Keinen) Bock haben auf...

The German noun der Bock means a mammal of the male gender, similar to the English word "buck," and is often particularly used to describe a male goat or "billy goat." However, the expression Bock haben auf or keinen Bock haben auf has a meaning quite different from what you might expect based on the direct translation of the noun!

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Blumio hat Bock auf gute Unterhaltung.

Blumio is keen on good entertainment.

Caption 6, Blumio - Rappen für gute Unterhaltung

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Oh, zerkleinern, das macht mir Spaß. Da habe ich Bock drauf.

Oh, chopping, that's fun. I'm up for that.

Caption 10, CHoE Rocker - Profi-Grilltipps

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Sie hat Bock auf Shopping, also in die Stadt

She feels like shopping, so it's off to the city

Caption 23, Cro - Bye Bye

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Ey, Nina, hast du Bock auf 'ne Wurst?

Hey, Nina, do you want to go out for a wurst?

Caption 6, Die Pfefferkörner - Cybermobbing

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The slang expression Bock haben auf is the equivalent of the expression Lust haben auf and may be translated in a variety of ways. Note that if a noun follows the preposition auf, then the noun case should be accusative. When you use the expression as a negation, just place the accusative case of kein in front of the masculine noun Bock

 

Jeder kann so seiner Wege gehen,

Everyone can go their own way

wenn er keinen Bock auf die anderen hat.

whenever they aren't in the mood to be around the others.

Caption 47, rheinmain - Szene Selig

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Jedes Mal, wenn du von deiner Arbeit,

Every time when you come home from your work,

von deinen Führungen, nach Hause kommst, bist du fertig,

from your tours, you are exhausted,

hast keinen Bock mehr auf irgendwas.

don't want to do anything.

Captions 28-29, 12 heißt: Ich liebe dich - Kapitel 4: Liebe auf den ersten Blick

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You may also use the phrase in the form of question, in which case auf becomes worauf:

 

Worauf hast 'n du Bock?

What are you up for?

Caption 29, Mario Barth und Paul Panzer - Männersache

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Further Learning
Read the Duden dictionary page for der Bock and scroll down to Wendungen, Redensarten, Sprichwörter to read other expressions related to this noun. You can also go to Yabla German and search for other examples using the noun der Bock to see other contexts where the phrase is used.

Populist Movements in Germany

Some people see the rise of populism, with Donald Trump in the United States and the Brexit movement in the UK, as a threat to democracy. Fans of Trump and Brexit, however, see these developments as a legitimate expression of democracy. Germany too has seen a rise in populist movements in recent years, but with Germany's history—the Nazis, the Second World War, and the Holocaust—the country is particularly sensitive to extreme right-wing political movements.

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There was a major controversy in 2011 when it was discovered that the murder of nine immigrants in Germany, all previously falsely attributed by the German police to immigrant criminal gangs, turned out to have been committed by a group of German neo-Nazis called the NSU (Nationalsozialistischer Untergrund).

 

Weil die parlamentarische und politische Aufbereitung des NSU-Komplexes erfolgt ist...

Because the parliamentary and political preparation of issues surrounding the NSU have taken place...

Captions 9-13, Aufklärung der NSU-Verbrechen - SPD fordert Sonderkommission

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Die NSU-Morde scheinen bei ihm großen Eindruck hinterlassen zu haben.

The NSU murders seem to have left a great impression on him.

Caption 23, Blumio - Rappen für gute Unterhaltung

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In 2014, a political movement called Pegida was founded in Dresden. The name stands for Patriotische Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes, or "Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident." The founder of Pegida resigned in 2015 after releasing images showing him posing as Adolf Hitler and making racist statements, but he was later re-elected to lead the movement. 

 

Ich war auch nur einmal bei Pegida.

I’ve only been to one Pegida demonstration.

Caption 62, Böhmermann - Wie geht man als Satiriker mit Rechtspopulismus um? - Part 2

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Also in München: 100 Leute Pegida, 45 000 Gegendemonstranten.

So in Munich: 100 Pegida people, 45,000 counter demonstrators.

Caption 70, Böhmermann - Wie geht man als Satiriker mit Rechtspopulismus um? - Part 2

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The AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) political party, however, which was founded in 2013, has been far more successful. 

 

Man sollte auch nicht den Fehler begehen, AfD immer nur mit Flüchtlingen zu verknüpfen und jeden Menschen, der die AfD wählt, mit Antiflüchtlingsbewegung zu verknüpfen.

You shouldn't make the mistake of always just linking the AfD with refugees and associating every person who votes for the AfD with the anti-refugee movement.

Captions 47-49, Böhmermann - Wie geht man als Satiriker mit Rechtspopulismus um? - Part 3

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The AfD party currently (June 2021) occupies 88 (12.4%) of 709 seats in the German Parliament. 

 

The conservative Bavarian CSU leader Franz Josef Strauß once declared, "Rechts von der CSU darf es keine demokratisch legitimierte Partei geben," or "No democratically legitimate party should be allowed to exist to the right of the CSU." But with the AfD firmly established in German parliament, it appears Strauß's idea of limiting the right wing has now been overstepped. German voters, like voters in many countries in recent years, appear to be fed up with career politicians who seem to do nothing for the common man. Whether these right-wing parties and movements will actually change things for the better remains to be seen.

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Further Learning
Read some German Wikipedia articles on Pegida and the AfD and get more insight into the rise of populism in recent years in Germany.

Two-Way Prepositions

Most commonly spoken German prepositions take the accusative or dative case (the genitive case is used more often in the written form). Some prepositions, such as bis, durch, für, gegen, je, ohne, um and wider, take only the accusative case. Others, like aus, außer, bei, gegenüber, mit, nach, seit, von and zu, take only the dative case.

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There are, however, certain prepositions that can take either the accusative or the dative case, depending on the context: an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor and zwischen. Even experienced German speakers can get it wrong sometimes, so although you've probably learned this before, this may be a good time to review these two-way (or dual) prepositions.

 

The general rule to remember: if the preposition is dealing with "where" something is in a static sense, it takes the dative case; if it is dealing with motion or destination ("where to" or "what about") in an active sense, then it takes the accusative case.

 

Der Spiegel hängt an der Wand.

The mirror is hanging on the wall.

Caption 39, Deutschkurs in Tübingen - Mehr Wechselpräpositionen

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Since the wall is where the mirror is statically hanging, the feminine noun die Wand takes the dative case in this context.

 

Sie geh'n an die Arbeit wieder.

They're going to work again. [They're going back to work.]

Caption 29, Der Struwwelpeter - Hans Guck-in-die-Luft

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Since work is where they are actively going to, the feminine noun die Arbeit takes the accusative case. Note that the word wieder above has an unusual placement in the sentence; this is because it is part of an old-fashioned poem and needed to rhyme!

 

Wie war eigentlich das Konzert auf dem Mond?

How was the concert on the moon?

Caption 8, Undertube - Peer erzählt einen Witz

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Since where they statically are is on the moon, the masculine noun der Mond takes the dative case.

 

Wir gehen auf die Straßen.

We're going on the streets.

Caption 34, Blumio - Rappen für gute Unterhaltung

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Since their destination is actively towards the streets, the plural feminine noun die Straßen takes the accusative case.

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Further Learning
Look on Yabla German for other examples of the two-way prepositions an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor and zwischen and discover the different contexts in which they take the dative or the accusative case.

 

Grammar