rot sehen
to see red; to fly into a rage
Origin
Red has always been the colour of anger and arousal; the phrase probably draws on the image - popularly linked to bullfighting - of rage coming over the furious person 'red'. In German 'to see red' has been common since the 19th century.
Building blocks
Words in this expression
Grammar that uses this word
- Definite article 'der' (the, masculine, nominative)Bestimmter Artikel 'der' (maskulin, Nominativ)
- Definite article 'die' (the, feminine, nominative)Bestimmter Artikel 'die' (feminin, Nominativ)
- Definite article 'die' (the, plural, nominative)Bestimmter Artikel 'die' (Plural, Nominativ)
- Possessive article 'sein' (his/its)Possessivartikel 'sein' (his/its)
- Pronoun 'wir' (we, nominative)Pronomen 'wir' (Nominativ)
- Pronoun 'sie' (they, plural, nominative)Pronomen 'sie' (Plural, Nominativ)
Examples
Wenn ihn behandelt, sieht er .
If you treat him unfairly, he sees red at once.