Hände falten, Goschn halten
fold your hands and shut up (Bavarian-Austrian phrase: be quiet and behave)
Origin
A Bavarian-Austrian saying; 'Goschn' (also 'Gosche/Goschen') means mouth/gob. Literally 'fold your hands and keep your mouth shut' - a demand to be quiet and obedient. It goes back to early-20th-century schoolroom rhymes and prayer discipline, and today is mostly used critically, to denounce meek conformity and blind faith in authority.
Building blocks
Words in this expression
Grammar that uses this word
- Irregular verbs: a → ä (fahren, schlafen)Unregelmäßige Verben: a → ä (fahren, schlafen)
- Plural with -e (der Tisch → die Tische)Plural mit -e
- Two-way prepositions with accusative (Wohin? / where to)Wechselpräpositionen mit Akkusativ (Wohin?)
- Reflexive verbs (sich freuen, sich waschen)Reflexive Verben (sich freuen, sich waschen)
Examples
Jetzt is : Hände , Goschn !
Quiet now: fold your hands and shut up!