Have you ever had one of those weeks in which you just have entirely too much to do? A week in which you feel that your to-do list grows exponentially, even though you have already crossed off at least a dozen tasks? Doesn't matter whether the to-do list is for work or for personal stuff, or even both. Yes, I've just had one of those weeks in which I'm completely swamped.

"Swamped" brings up images of marshlands, washing over me. Being swept away by mud certainly does not sound like a pleasant experience. But then, having too much to do is also not pleasant. "Swamped" is one of those idioms that has even made it into standard dictionary definitions, such as Merriam-Webster (ref: http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/swamped), "to overwhelm numerically or by an excess of something: flood ."

The direct German translation of "swamp" is "Sumpf." However, no one would use Sumpf to indicate being overwhelmed. Instead, I would say that I am "unter Wasser," or under water. While the imagery is similar, with some kind of liquid washing over me, the German idiom does not connotate mud or muck. A typical statement would be, "ich bin bei der Arbeit komplett unter Wasser," or "at work, I am completely swamped."

To take the word Sumpf one step farther, Germans have been known to say "ich bin versumpft," literally translating into "becoming marshy." At first glance, that would have been the logical translation of being swamped, or under water. But since when has language, and especially idioms been logical? "Ich bin gestern versumpft" actually translates to "Yesterday, I stayed out late, drinking."

Right now, although I am still swamped, I will leave my to-do list for the rest of the day, and experience another way of being under water. See you at the pool.

Second grade homework is not something that typically stays with you. Except for the one assignment that gave me the idea for this blog.

We were told to select three phrases that brought a picture to our minds, and then draw them. Next, we were to explain to the class what the saying really meant. I still recall the picture I drew of a little man, with a bright green shirt and blue pants (the color that most closely resembled jeans in my crayon box). Poor guy, I drew him in a bright red strawberry jam jar. To spell it out, yes, he was "in a jam." (At this time, I will ignore the jam versus jelly discussions, which only second-graders can interpret into a simple assignment.)

The "Simple English Wikipedia" defines an idiom as "...a word or phrase which means something different from what it says," and goes on to say that "Only people who are very good at speaking the language of the idiom will know what an idiom means." (ref: http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiom) This is very true, since being "in a jam" will not mean much to someone just learning the English language.

Yet every language has these idioms. Some sayings, if translated, are almost the same, while others are worlds apart, assuming, of course, that I still had to draw them as a second grader. For example, the German equivalent is "in der Patsche sitzen." Interestingly, in current dictionaries, the meaning of the word "Patsche" has almost gotten lost as its own noun. In most dialects, it means a large hand. Of course, as a second-grader, I could have had a field-day with a vivid graphic of "sitting in the large hand."

Still: while the images are certainly different, I can imagine that both situations are difficult to get out of.

I will be exploring these idioms in the posts to come. As a native German, I will draw primarily on my native knowledge of both English and German. Please enjoy.

*Birgit

p.s. Oh, and as for the man in the jam jar? I drew a ladder to help him get out.