schwedische Gardinen

== German == === Etymology === Literally, “Swedish curtains”. The idiom was borrowed from the cant called Gaunersprache (≈ thieves’ argot). The word Gardinen refers in an ironic/humorous way to the bars on the window in a prison cell. The qualifier schwedisch alludes either to the material of the bars, formerly often Swedish steel, considered as extraordinary robust, or perhaps to the atrocities committed by the Swedish during the Thirty Years’ War. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): [ˌʃveːdɪʃə ɡaʁˈdiːnən] Hyphenation: schwe‧di‧sche Gar‧di‧nen === Noun === schwedische Gardinen pl (plural only, definite plural die schwedischen Gardinen) (plural only, colloquial, humorous) bars (jail, prison, imprisonment) (as in behind bars) Synonyms: Gefängnis; (slang) Schembeis ==== Usage notes ==== This idiom predominantly takes the preposition hinter (“behind”). ==== Declension ==== ==== Synonyms ==== (colloquial) Bau, Bunker, Kahn, Kiste, Kittchen, Knast, Loch (Austria, slang) Häfen, Kotter ==== See also ==== hinter Gitter hinter Schloss und Riegel === References === === Further reading === “Gardine” in Duden online “Gardine”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎[2] (in German) “schwedische Gardinen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon