Imagine tiny geese feet - the literal translation of the term - dunked in black ink. Then imagine the marks these feet might make if they scurried across a white sheet of paper. If quotation marks come to mind, you're right. "Gänsefuesschen" is a colloquial word for those two little dashes at the beginning and end of a quote.

A "water rooster" never crows, and it doesn't live on a farmyard either. It's a faucet or tap that controls the water supply of a sink or bathtub. In German, the valve that blocks the flow section is in older-model taps actually called a chick ("Küken"), so calling the faucet a water rooster is consistent with the imagery.

A spectacles snake? What on earth is that? There is, in fact, a snake by a similar name: the Spectacled Cobra. But in German, "Brillenschlange" is a rather sexist and dismissive term for a woman who wears glasses - and that in a country where more than 60 percent of the population wears corrective eyewear.

Germans sometimes add an animal name to a word to reinforce its meaning. "Bull's heat" - which can also be called "Affenhitze," or "monkey's heat" - is a colloquial way of saying that it isn't just hot. It's unbearably hot - a real scorcher of a day.

You've forgotten your boss's wife's name, the date of the Battle of Antietam, or your favorite uncle's birthday? What you need is a "donkey bridge" - a fool-proof phrase to help you remember. Supposedly the name comes from the Middle Ages, when people built simple bridges for donkeys to transport goods across rivers they didn't want to wade through. These days, donkey bridges are in your brain.

Here's another donkey word, the "wire donkey." If you take a look at the wire donkey's shape and what it is used for, it's really not that far-fetched at all. It refers to a bicycle, which is used all over the world to transport people and goods.

Literally a "savings fox," a "Sparfuchs" is a person who tends to be thrifty. But why not a savings dog or cat? Perhaps because foxes are regarded as cunning, smart creatures - just like people who know how to be economical.

"Affe" is German for monkey - but no, this has nothing to do with monkeys or apes. A "lacquered monkey" is a dandy - a pretty boy with one eye on the mirror. Unlike the fellow in the photo, he would have sported the shiniest of patent leather shoes. Being termed a Lackaffe is no compliment.

In many places, snow is often hardly recognizable as such the day after it falls. Either warm streets and pedestrians' boots turn it to grey slush, or sun rays and scantily clad adventurers cause it to melt. In German, "Schnee von gestern" describes an argument that is no longer relevant the next day. It's lost its icy punch. This man, in any case, seems to have reconciled with the cold.

Talk with the older generation in any country, and you'll likely hear that things are "going down the stream." And we're not talking about a carefree cruise. Whether it's the behavior of youth today or the guality of food at the local supermarket, it's irreparably sinking into the depths of negativity. At the far end of the proverbial stream, not even a rubber boat can help.

For urbanites, most of the birds we see are harmless, except for occasional waste dropping. Showing someone the bird, however, won't injure them, but may hurt their feelings. In English it means raising your middle finger in anger; in German it's pointing your index finger to your head to indicate someone's crazy. Both movements have one thing in common: They're often made while driving a car.

If the nearest coffee shop or gas station is just a cat's leap away from here, you're in luck because it's quite close. While "Katzensprung" offers an elegant visual image, it can be a bit misleading for the lazy among us. Compared to many animals - and, most importantly, us humans - cats can leap quite far.

A forest of signs ("Schilderwald") can be found among trees, but doesn't have to be. In this country known around the world for its penchant for order, the traffic authorities can sometimes get carried away with street signs. What do you do if there are 10 signs at once all telling you something different? Just keep driving - you're bound to find yet a different sign ahead.

In an egg, it's the yolk that has the most nutrients, essentially making it the most valuable part (unless of course you're making a soufflé). That's why "das Gelbe vom Ei" - literally, the yellow from an egg - is also used to refer to something of the highest quality. The star soprano in the opera, for example, sings with such emotion and technical perfection that she's an egg yolk.

This expression was both inspired by nature and is used to described it - in a way, at least. If you are "in der Pampa," you're in the middle of nowhere. While "Pampa" literally refers to the spacious grass plains in the southern portion of South America, the idiom can be used for any uninhabited expanse. It usually has a negative connotation, though the Pampa can often be truly gorgeous.

Let's be honest: Pigs aren't exactly the most attractive or cuddly of animals. But in the home of sausage and schnitzel, they are the most frequently eaten creature in Germany. Perhaps it's seeing them every day on their plate that gives Germans a special connection to swine. Here, pigs are a symbol for luck. So if you "have pig," you can smile because things are going well. Oink!