böhmisches Dorf

German

Etymology

Literally, “a Bohemian village”, or more loosely translated as “a village in Bohemia”, referring to the unintelligible and hard-to-pronounce Slavic languages.

Pronunciation

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Noun

böhmisches Dorf n (strong, definite nominative das böhmische Dorf, genitive (des) böhmischen Dorfs or (des) böhmischen Dorfes, plural böhmische Dörfer, definite plural die böhmischen Dörfer)

1. (often in the plural) something strange or unintelligible; double Dutch; all Greek

   Das sind für mich böhmische Dörfer.

   It's all Greek to me.

   (literally, “Those are Bohemian villages to me.”)

   Die Mathematik ist mir immer ein böhmisches Dorf geblieben.

   Mathematics has always remained double Dutch to me.

   (literally, “Mathematics has always remained a Bohemian village to me.”)