einen Bären aufbinden

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German

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Etymology

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Literally, to tie a bear on (someone’s back). The word Bär (bear) is very probably an—ignorant or rather humorous—malapropism for a word meaning “burden” (compare Bürde, Bahre). This use is thought to be of German Low German origin.

Pronunciation

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  • Audio:(file)

Verb

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einen Bären aufbinden (class 3 strong, third-person singular present bindet einen Bären auf, past tense band einen Bären auf, past participle einen Bären aufgebunden, past subjunctive bände einen Bären auf, auxiliary haben)

  1. (idiomatic) to trick; to cheat someone

Conjugation

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