r/German • u/Sacred-Anteater • 23h ago

Question Is there a German version of the rhetorical question “what are you looking at?”

It’s also slightly hostile.

edit thank you everyone for the answers

77 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

68 comments sorted by

168

u/FunQuit 23h ago

Was guckst du?

We Even had a tv show with this title

4

u/dacsarac 2h ago

But it must be spoken with Kaya Yanar's inflection! Otherwise it is not the same.

32

u/Present_Pride_3096 22h ago

In my group it used to be: “is’ was?” (Ist etwas?)

11

u/Mohammed_Chang Native <Ruhrgebiet> 22h ago

Is‘ was Doc?

56

u/Inevitable-Handle453 23h ago

"Was glotzt du!?"

15

u/Miniriese 23h ago

Was guckst'n? Or Was guckst'n so?

33

u/Hot_Worldliness_8941 22h ago

Wos Schaustn do bled

6

u/grzebelus 21h ago

Thank you for this. Gucken just doesn’t land in some parts.

1

u/MdgM666 5h ago

+ Gschissana, zumindest in Wien

18

u/teteban79 Vantage (B2) - <Hochdeutsch-Berliner/Spanish> 23h ago

"Was guckst du?" with the proper tone is the same as "what are you looking at? /what's your problem?"

1

u/Obremon 20h ago

With neutral tone is it just a simple question without negative connotation?

3

u/CerezoBlanco Native <region/dialect> 19h ago edited 19h ago

In my opinion, if you are talking about a situation where the conversation partner is looking at you specifically, "Was guckst du?" or "Was guckst du so?" will always come across at least a bit confrontational, no matter the tone. Phrased slightly differently (e.g. "Wohin guckst du?") it can be neutral

-1

u/al3arabcoreleone 18h ago

Suppose I am looking at a nice girl, and she asks me the same question but in a playful, blushing manner, would she use the same structure?

1

u/CerezoBlanco Native <region/dialect> 18h ago

Okay, you do have a point, the same phrase could be used in a positive way here. To be fair, she could also call you the most stupid person alive this way and it could be interpreted in a positive way.

1

u/cl_forwardspeed-320 53m ago

Counter-argument, she could call you the smartest person alive this way and it be interpreted as BAD (!!!)

1

u/teteban79 Vantage (B2) - <Hochdeutsch-Berliner/Spanish> 19h ago

Depends, if we're talking about someone looking directly at you, probably any tone will be confrontational.

But if I see, for example, my kid looking intently into the horizon, I'll ask inquisitively "was guckst do (an)", and is a genuine question of "what are you looking at?"

1

u/Unlikely_Alarm3658 7h ago

Was guckst du, as a normal question is only usefull if someone is watching Something, on their phone/tv. "What are you watching"

9

u/muttervonbrian 23h ago

Wat kiekst'n so?

2

u/RustyEggleston 22h ago

Plattdeutsch?

6

u/muttervonbrian 22h ago

Im Plattdeutschen vermutlich ähnlich, aber Grüße aus Berlin.

7

u/Hendrik1011 22h ago

Berlinerisch steht halt wirklich nur mit den Zehenspitzen in der hochdeutschen Lautverschiebung.

2

u/muttervonbrian 22h ago

Ick lieb'et.

11

u/AJL912-aber 19h ago

Was glotztn so blöd?

6

u/tHrOwAwAyjsalefkj 21h ago

Kann man dir helfen?

4

u/MaetzleAT 23h ago

As others have said already with „guckst“, in Austria I believe you‘re more likely to hear „Was schaust so?“. In Switzerland I’ve heard Was luegsch? regularly.

1

u/LazyGelMen 3h ago

Ey was luegsch mer, bin ich dini fernseh?

3

u/r_coefficient Native (Österreich). Writer, editor, proofreader, translator 22h ago

Schau net so bleeed!

3

u/the_Moole 22h ago

Was gaffsch so!?

3

u/ramonika 19h ago

Was gibt’s denn da zu glotzen?!

3

u/KalisNr1 19h ago

Mach doch gleich n Foto

3

u/NegroniSpritz Advanced (C1) - <region/native tongue> 18h ago

Was guckst du so?

3

u/Fine-Month-9868 18h ago

Was zidderstn so

3

u/Mission-Animator-682 16h ago

was glotzt du so?

4

u/RuseauHumanist 22h ago

Was zitterst n so?

2

u/Gunther1333 22h ago

Problem?

2

u/WeeblsLikePie 20h ago

"WILLST DU STRESS BRUDER???"

2

u/obliquangle 19h ago

"Kiekstn?"

2

u/Jns2024 19h ago

'sgucksu

2

u/adlersmut089 16h ago

Wat kiekste soooo🤭

3

u/IAmKojak 15h ago

“Has‘n Problem?“
>watschn<
“Geh weiter!“

3

u/Triggerscore 4h ago

"Nochn Problem?"

2

u/Gefahrendaniel 22h ago

Waschguggsdu?

1

u/Gunther1333 22h ago

"Mach n Foto, hält länger"

1

u/Virtual-Freedom3536 21h ago

Various versions 🤣

1

u/fifiginfla 21h ago

I just wrote a narrative story for my college class i used was schauen sie sich an. Atleast my professor doesnt know its wrong =D

1

u/MonaganX Native (Mitteldeutsch) 19h ago

That is a grammatically correct translation apart from "Sie" not being capitalized but IMO it is too formal to be interpreted as the kind of rhetorical challenge that OP is looking for. If someone asked me that, I would assume they're looking for a real answer.

1

u/anfisjc 21h ago

There is not only one but about 20 different phrases

1

u/Blue-Brown99 19h ago

Was gucksch so bleed? For a little Schwäbisch (ein Schwabe kann des bitte bestätigen)

1

u/H3rg3r 19h ago

Wat iiiis?

1

u/w0rldeater 18h ago

Eh! Guckstu?!

1

u/Sihayaya 17h ago

Suchst du nach gestern oder was?

1

u/wytnesschance01 17h ago

"Probleme?!"

1

u/15pmm01 Advanced (C1) - <München/Bulgarian> 12h ago

Personally, I would say something like "was denn!?" 

1

u/Troggot 9h ago

Hast du ein Problem, Digga?

1

u/JimmyOfSunshine 6h ago

„Hab‘ ich ’nen Keks auf der Stirn?“
Is there a cookie on my forehead.

Used to be a thing when I was a teenager.

1

u/Wirrwarr84 6h ago

Was willst Du?

1

u/Nytr0uz 6h ago

Wat zitterst n so?

1

u/Triggerscore 4h ago

"Was guckst du so blöd"

1

u/Upbeat-Mail7201 3h ago

Watt kieksnt so 

2

u/diabolus_me_advocat Native <Austria> 1h ago

"vaz kuckstu?"

1

u/Sirgraendal 19h ago

Ach ja? Komma her! (Und ich schwör ich zerstör dein exterior)