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.
Related
Das Heft in die Hand nehmen
das heft in dee hant nay-men
Geld zum Fenster hinauswerfen
gelt tsum fen-ster hee-nous-ver-fen
Auf keinen grünen Zweig kommen
ouf kine-en groo-nen tsveig kom-en
Jemandem etwas zustecken
yeh-man-dem et-vas tsoo-shtek-en
Ein warmes Plätzchen haben
ine var-mes pletz-khen hah-ben
Sich den Buckel abarbeiten
zikh den boo-kel ap-ar-bye-ten