die Katze im Sack kaufen
to buy a pig in a poke; to buy something sight unseen
Origin
Probably from medieval market trade: swindlers would palm off a worthless cat in a closed sack on unwary buyers instead of a valuable piglet.
Building blocks
Words in this expression
Grammar that uses this word
- Irregular verbs: a → ä (fahren, schlafen)Unregelmäßige Verben: a → ä (fahren, schlafen)
- Definite article 'die' (the, feminine, nominative)Bestimmter Artikel 'die' (feminin, Nominativ)
- Indefinite article 'eine' (a/an, feminine, nominative)Unbestimmter Artikel 'eine' (feminin, Nominativ)
- Negation with 'keine' (feminine)Negation mit 'keine' (feminin)
- Pronoun 'wir' (we, nominative)Pronomen 'wir' (Nominativ)
- Pronoun 'sie' (they, plural, nominative)Pronomen 'sie' (Plural, Nominativ)
Examples
Ohne Probefahrt kaufe ich kein – ich will nicht die im .
I won't buy a car without a test drive — I don't want to buy a pig in a poke.