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I came across a lot of German idioms that are based on Wurst as key word to express different meaning, such as:
Es geht um die Wurst! (means: „now or never“ )
I know that Wurst are very popular in Germany and part of it's identity, therefor I'm really excited to know why do the Germans use the word “Wurst” in this context?
According to this post (sprichwoerter-redewendungen.de), you were rewarded with a sausage at old traditional events! The people used to play games like on a fair I can imagine.
Poor peasants were happy about sausages because they couldn't get the chance to eat meat that often. Meat still often has a special meaning to many Germans and they are thankful. (they should be!)
Anyways, I'm sure the real reason why this idiom is still important today is because it just sounds funny. You wouldn't say that in a serious conversation, that would be out of place.
