A2Business
Am Hungertuch nagen
In German
Am Hungertuch nagen
am hoon-ger-tookh nah-gen
🇬🇧 English
🇪🇸 Español
🇮🇹 Italiano
📖 Literal Translation
To gnaw on the hunger cloth
💡 Meaning
To suffer from extreme poverty, to be very poor.
🌍 Equivalent:"To barely scrape by"
📜 Origin:During times of famine, people were so hungry they would metaphorically try to gnaw on anything, even a 'hunger cloth' (a cloth used to cover food, or just any cloth out of desperation).
Example Sentences
1
Nach dem Verlust seines Jobs nagt er am Hungertuch.
After losing his job, he's barely scraping by.
2
Viele Künstler müssen am Hungertuch nagen, bevor sie Erfolg haben.
Many artists have to scrape by before they achieve success.