... doesn't mean nothing to most of you, right?
But if you are a German-speaking person, you can understand for sure the meaning of this idiomatic expression.
'08/15' means for most German speakers 'standard' or, even worse, 'nothing special'.
If you would like to describe a situation, an habit, a result or a product that is standard, a little bit cheap and maybe boring as well, you can use this idiom and almost every person would get your point.
This is a good example about something very difficult to translate and also difficult to understand, if you manage to know a little German (as a language) but no German at all (as a culture).
I always find extremely fascinating how much a language and a culture are related and tend to influence each other massively without giving this impression at all. This is one of the reasons because speaking a foreign language with proficiency is challenging and requires a lot of exercise (and the right background).
There is no place for 08/15 performances, if you want to speak a foreign language very well. Instead of seeing a problem in it, I like and accept the challenge. It's part of the game, after all.
And you? Do you have a favourite idiomatic expression?
ps. Despite the title of the post, my day wasn't 08/15 at all.
Further information:
08/15 Redewendung [in German]
Tags: 08/15, Translation, Idiomatic expression, German, Standard
