For instance if somebody asks what do you do at work, how to say 'a bit of this and a bit of that'.
I don't need an exact translation but something that expresses the mild humour of the phrase and also an approximate meaning.
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2Dies und das, Mal dies, mal das, Mal dieses, dann wieder jenes, Mal solches, mal solches and endless variations of that.– JankaCommented Mar 30, 2017 at 14:38
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1@Janka Dies und das is spot-on.– Martin PetersCommented Mar 30, 2017 at 19:46
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2 Answers
ein wenig hiervon, ein wenig davon
would be a word to word translation which is also quite common
In context with work - if you do basically a little bit of everything you could also say
Ich bin das Mädchen für alles.
Which is also used for males. It's just an expression.
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"Ich bin das Mädchen für alles"?? Are you pulling my leg here? :)– ITguyCommented Mar 30, 2017 at 14:53
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1This is a very common expression. By the way, nobody links it to sexual services. The concept behind it (culturally rooted) is simply that of a servant girl, or maid. Having one was common in bourgeois households a hundred years ago. There were no washing machines, no dish washers, no vacuum cleaners then, you remember? Commented Mar 30, 2017 at 15:04
Not very humorous, just giving plain information:
"Was machst du bei der Arbeit?" - "Alles mögliche."
"Was machst du bei der Arbeit?" - "Alles was so anfällt."
"Was machst du denn bei der Arbeit?" - "Ach, mal so, mal so."
"Was machst du bei der Arbeit?" - "Ein bisschen von allem."
"Was machst du bei der Arbeit?" - "Alles was sonst liegen bleibt."
There may be a slight undertone of humor, but this is not by way of the expressions (they are quite neutral), rather because this occupation as such seems to be not really qualified.
The
Ich bin das Mädchen für alles
sentence mentioned by another contributor is clearly the most typical way of saying this with (friendly) irony.
Moreover, you could imagine other phrases like the following. However, they then would probably be coined ad hoc; they are not standard phrases out of a phrase book.
"Was machst du denn bei der Arbeit?" - "Ich bin bei uns das Universalgenie."
"Was machst du denn bei der Arbeit?" - "Ich mache alles, was die anderen nicht können."
The following phrase would be less humorous, rather sarcastic:
"Was machst du denn bei der Arbeit?" - "Ich bin der Depp vom Dienst."
(This is like 'Mädchen für alles', but rather acrimoniously expressed.)
answered Mar 30, 2017 at 15:22
