The popular German idiom "wie ein Auto gucken" translates as "to stare like a car." Picture automobile classics with headlights round as eyes, and a radiator grill wide as an open mouth: voila, that's what Germans say when someone gives them a really blank, perplexed look.

"Einen Gang zurückschalten": If a German implores you to "change down a gear," they aren't worried about your driving skills. The idiom is rather a way of saying: take a step back, take a breather and take it easy.

In German, people who are fuming, furious and going ballistic might say of themselves, "Ich bin auf 180" (I have reached 180 kilometers per hour) — a high speed if you are driving on regular public roads, or even on the Autobahn.

The German term "Gas geben" simply means to accelerate, to "put the pedal to the metal." But it is also used for people prone to dawdling: if you're trying to hurry Germans up, tell them "Gib Gas!"

The German term "Spassbremse" literally translates as a "fun brake," and refers to a spoilsport, a person who keeps others from enjoying themselves by, for instance, reminding them of problems and rules.

The German idiom "Die Kurve kratzen" translates as "scrape the corner," and means to disappear as fast as you can. The figure of speech, some sources say, could go back hundreds of years, when coaches would scrape house corners as they turned into narrow lanes. "Die Kurve kriegen," however, means to manage something at the very last minute — a close shave.

The German idiom "auf der Überholspur" — literally, "in the passing lane" — refers to people who assert themselves, get ahead in life. With the additional word "life" ("Leben auf der Überholspur"), it means "life in the fast lane" — a hectic, restless and potentially dangerous life.