I want to know what this sentence means:
Du kannst mich mal.
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Sign up to join this communityIt is a short version of
Du kannst mich mal am Arsch lecken.
Literally:
You can lick me at my ass.
In English you would say:
Kiss my ass.
Maybe interesting to know:
In previous times, German speaking people did not lick at the ass, but in the ass:
Leck mich im Arsch.
Two famous quotes:
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote this lines in the third act of his stage play »Götz von Berlechingen«:
Götz: Mich ergeben! Auf Gnad und Ungnad! Mit wem redet Ihr! Bin ich ein Räuber! Sag deinem Hauptmann: Vor Ihro Kayserliche Majestät, hab ich, wie immer schuldigen Respect. Er aber, sags ihm, er kann mich im Arsch lecken.
Götz: Surrender? To grace and disgrace? Who are you talking to? Am I a robber? Tell your captain: I, as always, properly respect your imperial majesty. But he, tell him this, he can lick me in the ass.
Here, on Youtube, is a canon in six voices from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart about licking in the ass: »Leck mich im Arsch« on Youtube
Read more about this canon on Wikipedia: »Leck mich im Arsch« on Wikipedia
It's a shortened variety of the Swabian salute. ("Kiss my arse.") It comes in many varieties, sometimes omitting parts, sometimes changing words to "hide" the offensive bits - while the listener clearly understands the meaning.
A frequent version is your Du kannst mich mal am Arsch lecken! and it's so standard, that even the beginning is clearly recognized without saying the "offending" parts aloud.