Moving to a new country can be daunting. This handy German expression captures the comforting idea that we’re often linked to others in ways we never expected.
One of the nicest things about building a life abroad is discovering how quickly mutual acquaintances can become friends.
And it’s exactly this phenomenon which is captured by the expression über drei Ecken.
What does it mean?
The expression über drei Ecken literally means “through three corners”. In everyday English, however, it simply means to know somebody indirectly through mutual acquaintances.
It’s usually paired with a subject (i.e. a person) and the verb kennen (to know).
So if you know someone through a friend, colleague, neighbour or relative you can say: Ich kenne sie über drei Ecken (I know them through a mutual acquaintance).
The exact origin of the phrase isn’t entirely clear. Some explanations link the ‘corners’ to the branches of a family tree, while others interpret them more generally as the indirect steps connecting two people.
Germans also use the phrase Die Welt ist klein! (the world is small!) in much the same way English speakers do when an unexpected connection comes to light.
Why do I need to know über drei Ecken?
For international residents building a new life in Germany, it can be a reassuring phrase. Sooner or later, if you’re lucky, you’ll discover that you know someone über drei Ecken.
Until then – whether you’re looking for work, friends, advice or a sense of community – it’s a reminder that people are rarely as far apart as they seem.
READ ALSO: ‘Smile and make conversation’ – How to make friends with Germans
Historically, it seems that Germans also talked about knowing someone über sieben Ecken (through seven corners), as a way of describing very distant connections.
And since the idea of “Six Degrees of Separation” entered international culture, German speakers might also talk about über sechs Ecken (through six corners).
But this tends to come up more often when people are actually discussing the theory that people are connected by surprisingly short chains of acquaintances — averaging around six links it is often said.
Use it like this:
Ich kenne ihn über drei Ecken.
I know him through mutual acquaintances.
Wir haben festgestellt, dass wir uns über drei Ecken kennen.
We discovered that we know each other through mutual connections.
Ach, wie lustig – die Welt ist klein! Wir kennen uns über drei Ecken.
Oh, how funny – it’s a small world! We know each other through mutual acquaintances.
Sie hat ihre neue Stelle über drei Ecken gefunden.
She found her new job through a chain of mutual contacts.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: thelocal.de
