das geht auf keine Kuhhaut
that's beyond belief; that's outrageous
Origin
From the Middle Ages: it was believed the devil noted sins on parchment made of animal hide; if there were too many, they would not even fit on a large cowhide.
Building blocks
Grammar that uses this word
- Two-way prepositions with accusative (Wohin? / where to)Wechselpräpositionen mit Akkusativ (Wohin?)
- Possessive articles in the dativePossessivartikel im Dativ
- Subordinate clause with 'weil' (because, causal)Nebensatz mit 'weil' (Kausalsatz)
- Adjective declension after the definite article (nom./acc.)Adjektivdeklination nach bestimmtem Artikel (Nom./Akk.)
- Subordinate clause with 'dass' (that)Nebensatz mit 'dass'
- Conjunctional adverb 'deshalb' (therefore)Konjunktionaladverb 'deshalb'
Examples
Was er sich da geleistet hat, geht auf keine Kuhhaut.
What he pulled off there is beyond belief.