Mist or Nebel?
a2English mist is German Nebel or Dunst. German Mist means manure - and as an exclamation damn. The false friend turns a weather report into a curse.
der Mist
Farmyard dung; colloquially also nonsense („red keinen Mist“) and, as an exclamation, a mild curse.
Mist, ich habe den Zug verpasst.Damn, I missed the train.
der Nebel
What English mist and fog mean. For the lighter kind there is der Dunst.
Am Morgen lag dichter Nebel über dem Feld.In the morning thick fog lay over the field.
The mistake
Heute Morgen war viel Mist.
Heute Morgen war viel Nebel.
The wrong sentence talks about dung in the field, not about the weather. For weather it is „Nebel“.
Rule of thumb
Picture it: German Mist lies on the ground, English mist hangs in the air.
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