eine tote Mücke
be a dead mosquita
The German phrase 'eine tote Mücke' is used to express the English phrase 'a dead mosquito'. It is a compound noun where 'eine' is the indefinite article for feminine nouns, 'tote' is the feminine form of the adjective 'dead', and 'Mücke' is the noun for 'mosquito'. The phrase is used in the same contexts as the English phrase.
Example sentences using: eine tote Mücke
Onkel Hans sagt, er ruht sich aus und bezeichnet das als 'eine tote Mücke machen'.
Uncle Hans says he is resting and refers to it as 'making a dead mosquito'.
In this sentence, 'eine tote Mücke machen' is used metaphorically. Uncle Hans is referring to resting or doing nothing as making a dead mosquito, implying that he is being lazy or idle.
Du machst aus 'eine tote Mücke' einen Elefanten.
You are making an elephant out of a 'dead mosquito'.
This conveys the English saying 'making a mountain out of a molehill'. The speaker is accusing someone of exaggerating the importance or seriousness of 'a dead mosquito', which in this context refers to a minor or trivial issue.
In der Flasche schwimmt 'eine tote Mücke'.
There is a 'dead mosquito' floating in the bottle.
In this example, 'eine tote Mücke' is used literally to describe a dead mosquito that is in a bottle. It refers to an unwanted and possibly disgusting object in a drink, which can ruin one's enjoyment of the beverage.