Just don't care? Then it's "sausage" to you. Austrian singer, drag queen and LGBT activist Conchita Wurst has said he chose his second name based on this German expression - because it just doesn't matter where you're from or what you look like.

Getting an extra sausage can be sweet rather than savory if it's an extra scoop of ice cream. An Extrawurst can be anything above and beyond what the others receive - like time off work when your co-workers are doing overtime, or a free first-class upgrade when your friends are sitting in coach. If you have three sausages on your plate while the others have two, an Extrawurst is an Extrawurst.

You're a sprinter who's been training for the Olympic games for the past four years. The day of the race finally arrives. While you've been watching your diet, of course, now "it's all about the sausage." That is, the decisive moment has arrived and the stakes are high. If you're Usain Bolt, then chances are pretty safe the outcome will be in your favor.

All good things come to an end. But German optimism - apparently not an oxymoron after all - shines through in this expression. Here, sausage - which indeed has two ends - stands for a second chance. It's up to you to make the most of it.

To "throw ham after sausage" sounds like a vegetarian's nightmare. Indeed, the situation could be dire, or at least is becoming so. Ham is more valuable meat than sausage, so having to throw the latter means the good stuff has run out. Of course, as most of us learned at a young age, food shouldn't be thrown at all. But that's another story.

C'mon, stop acting like a "beleidigte Leberwurst" - an offended liver sausage. Legend has it that "offended liver" dates back to the Middle Ages when people thought our emotions, particularly anger, were connected to our livers. When that was disproven, a sausage story was added for fun: A butcher cooked a pot of sausages and the liver variety was upset that it took longer than the others.

"You poor little sausage!" Being called a sausage is certainly not a compliment - even in a country that loves to eat them. It's often used half seriously to show (partial) sympathy with someone in a tough but not life-threatening situation. Perhaps they have two sick toddlers at home or have to cram for three exams at once. Just get over it? Sausage is also a comfort food.