In English, we say that something that’s not too distant is a stone’s throw away. In German, that kind of distance can be described as a Katzensprung, or “cat’s jump.” This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “A Katzensprung”
In English, if something isn’t that far away, we’ll say it’s just a stone’s throw. But I love the German expression, it’s Katzensprung, which means cat’s jump. It’s a cat’s jump away. Oh, and I love that because it’s just comprehensive in English.
Cots and sprung. That’s very good. Cat sprung. Right, just a springing cat. I love that expression because you can just picture it, right? I mean, as many times as you’ve seen your cat spring from one spot to another, it’s just a little distance.
I’ve got one who is a great jumper. She can do like a nearly 10-foot vertical leap on top of my big bookshelves. It’s lovely to see.
We know we have a lot of bilingual, trilingual, and multilingual listeners. Tell us the interesting words in the languages you know, 877-929-9673, or email words@waywordradio.org.
