Last week, we looked at the words daran and dran. You have likely also seen the word ran, which is a colloquial German adverb meaning “up to it,” “over to,” or simply “near,” depending on the sentence.

Das macht ihm Spaß: direkt ran an den Schaltkasten.

That's fun for him: directly to the control panel.

Caption 2, Deutsche Welle: Lieber Ausbildung als Studium

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Wir müssen noch näher ran. -Ja, ja.

We have to get even closer to it. -Yes, yes.

Caption 46, Abenteuer Nordsee Unter Riesenhaien und Tintenfischen - Part 1

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Schön eng dran bleiben, ja, schön! -Ran an den Ball! -Lass ihn nicht durch!

Stay nice and close to it, yes, nice! -Up to the ball! -Don't let him through!

Caption 52, Die Pfefferkörner: Eigentor

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Just like daran and dran, you'll often see ran in verbs.

Lass sie näher rankommen, damit wir sie beobachten können.

Let them come closer so we can observe them.

Caption 67, Es war einmal... der Weltraum: Die Saurier

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Rauf und runter are colloquial German adverbs meaning “up and down.” They are often used together to express movement in both directions.

Es ging rauf und runter und wieder rauf und runter.

He went up and down and up and down again.

Caption 29, Piggeldy und Frederick: Fahren Achterbahn

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Und weiter geht's: rauf und runter.

And on we go: up and down.

Caption 26, Ab in den Urlaub: So kommt der Koffer in den Flieger

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While "to bring someone down" can have negative connotations in English, the German verbs runterkommen and runterbringen can colloquially mean to calm down or help someone relax.

Wenn alles in mir laut ist und ich mich selbst nicht hör bringst du mich wieder runter.

When everything inside me is loud and I don't hear myself you bring me back down [calm me down].

Captions 5-7, Adel Tawil: 1000 gute Gründe

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Further Learning

You'll find many more examples with ran, rauf, and runter on Yabla German!

There are quite a few English words that have been adopted by the German language but given different meanings or used in different contexts. These are called pseudo-anglicisms, with German speakers sometimes re-importing what they mistakenly think are English words into their non-native English, often with unintentionally humorous or incomprehensible results. This is the third installment in this series.

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Geh und check sein Handy! 

Go and check his mobile phone!

Caption 50, Die Pfefferkörner - Eigentor

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If something is "handy" in English then it is convenient, but German has taken the convenience of the cellular telephone and turned it into the pseudo-anglicism das Handy.

Public Viewing oder echte Stadion-Atmosphäre,

Outdoor screening or genuine stadium atmosphere,

der Übergang ist fließend.

the transition is fluid [seamless].

Captions 2-3, Fußball-Weltmeisterschaft - Deutschland - Portugal 4:0

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The English words "public" and "viewing" placed together as "public viewing" make sense as something that is accessible to be viewed by the public, but the German pseudo-anglicism das Public Viewing refers very specifically to a live outdoor screening of a sporting event.

Gibt's irgendwelche No-Gos auf dem roten Teppich für Sie?

Are there any taboos on the red carpet for you?

Caption 42, Bambi-Verleihung - Stars auf dem roten Teppich

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A "no-go" in English is an event that has been cancelled, or in the case of a "no-go area" someplace that is off limits, but in German das No-Go somehow came to mean a taboo.

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Further Learning
Review earlier Yabla newsletters German Pseudo-Anglicisms and More German Pseudo-Anglicisms and look for more examples on Yabla German to see how these words are used in a real-world context.