I was watching a "Learn German" video and heard this line:
...das ist doch Schnee von gestern!
I think I understand it, but would like to make sure. I understand that literally means "Snow from yesterday." Does this mean "Old News" or "passe"?
I was watching a "Learn German" video and heard this line:
...das ist doch Schnee von gestern!
I think I understand it, but would like to make sure. I understand that literally means "Snow from yesterday." Does this mean "Old News" or "passe"?
It does mean exactly what you suspect, old news.
It has a humorous, yet somewhat defensive connotation, like when someone calls you out on something unfavorable and you are trying to downplay the significance of the claim, without questioning its accuracy.
"Schnee von gestern" is a swift way of saying that something is already "passé" and has no more importance to the topic being discussed/talked about. A synonym is
"Das ist längst kalter Kaffee!".
Classic applications of these are: news (public or private), new technology/scientific knowledge, fashion.
I always took it to mean "water under the bridge", as in referring to something in the past that isn't worth worrying about anymore.