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GERMAN WORD OF THE DAY

German word of the day: Der Brückentag

Nothing beats making the most of public holidays - and a Brückentag or two can help you do just that.

Published: 7 March 2022 16:32 CET
Updated: 2 October 2023 10:13 CEST
German word of the day: Der Brückentag
Photo: Francesco Ungaro / Unsplash + Nicolas Raymond / flickr

Translating literally as ‘bridge day’ or ‘bridging day’, this word does exactly what it says on the tin: when a public holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, eagle-eyed Germans will smugly book a day off of work on the Monday or Friday, effectively ‘bridging’ the holiday and the weekend.

This tactic gives you a luxurious four days of relaxation, and only costs one annual leave day from your holiday allocation. 

These Brückentage have become deeply ingrained in the German cultural consciousness – they even have a dedicated website, which documents all of the possible regional combinations of public holidays and weekends and, in typical German fashion, gives you an efficiency rating of each combination to show how best to use your holiday time.

This level of fixation on efficient holiday extensions has developed because of Germany’s irritating rule of not giving employees an extra day off whenever a public holiday falls on a weekend.

READ ALSO: What are Germany’s state and national public holidays in 2023?

The German Left Party (die Linke) have made several bids over the past few years to change this rule, arguing that many other countries (the UK and US included) do offer compensatory extra days off when a public holiday falls on a weekend.

If you managed to book your Brückentag in time, you might be enjoying Monday off before the Tag der deutschen Einheit (German Unity Day) on Tuesday, October 3rd.

But if you missed the chance this time around, there are a more Brückentage coming your way in 2024, including two in May (the days between Labour Day on Wednesday, May 1st and Ascension Day on Thursday, May 9th).

READ ALSO: Brückentag, Fenstertag or Zwickeltag: All the German words for getting longer holiday weekends

Examples:

Wie willst du deinen Brückentag nächste Woche verbringen?

How do you want to spend your bridge day next week?

Nimmst du sich die Brückentage um Ostern frei?

Are you taking the bridge days off at Easter?

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GERMAN WORD OF THE DAY

German word of the day: Toi, toi, toi

If a friend or family member is doing something brave like performing on stage you will need this German expression.

Published: 18 September 2024 13:07 CEST
German word of the day: Toi, toi, toi

Why do I need to know toi, toi, toi?

Because this expression is fun to say and it’s perfect for showing how much you support someone. 

What does it mean?

Toi, toi, toi! , which sounds like this, is a colloquial expression used by Germans to wish someone good luck. Similar to the English phrase “break a leg”, toi, toi toi is often used in the context of stage performances. It can sometimes be used to mean “touch wood” or “knock on wood”. 

However, nowadays you can also use it in another scenarios such as when your friend is about to do a test or a job interview – so basically whenever you want to encourage someone to perform well. You can also of course wish someone good luck or viel Glück (but don’t say to this to performers – more on that below).

The background to toi, toi, toi is an interesting one because it stems from superstition. 

Traditionally, many cultures believed spitting three times warded off evil and bad influences. 

But as this can be quite rude, people began making the spitting noise instead, which sounds a bit like repeating the letter: t, which in turn has turned into toi, toi, toi in German. So it is an onomatopoeic expression which essentially means: no bad luck. 

This was especially important during performances such as at the opera or theatre. Since it was taboo in superstition to wish each other luck directly, the way to do it was to hug each other, spit over the other person’s shoulder and say “toi, toi, toi”.

Meanwhile, some linguists interpret toi toi toi as “teu, teu, teu” which would be a nod to the devil – Teufel in German. By saying this, it’s argued that the devil will feel appreciated and nothing will stand in the way of a person’s desired happiness.

And by the way, after someone has wished you toi, toi, toi in the theatre context, you’re not to meant to say anything. Instead, keep silent and go ahead and smash your performance. 

We’ve no idea if actors in Germany do the spitting today or if they stick to just saying: toi, toi, toi!

Use it like this:

Ich mache morgen meinen Einbürgerungstest.

I’m doing my citizenship test tomorrow.

Na, dann toi, toi, toi!

Well then, good luck!

Bisher hat alles gut geklappt – toi, toi, toi.

So far it has all worked out well – touch wood!

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