dastehen wie der Ochse vor dem Scheunentor

/[ˈdaːˌʃteːən viː deːɐ̯ ɔksə foːɐ̯ deːm ˈʃɔɪ̯nənˌtoːɐ̯]/ phrase

The verdict

“dastehen wie der Ochse vor dem Scheunentor” is outside the top-ranked German vocabulary, used as a phrase — the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
42
letters

Dominant Wiktionary sense: ratlos, orientierungslos sein; nicht wissen, was als nächstes zu tun ist

Key facts for dastehen wie der Ochse vor dem Scheunentor
PropertyValue
Headworddastehen wie der Ochse vor dem Scheunentor
LanguageGerman
Part of speechPhrase
IPA[ˈdaːˌʃteːən viː deːɐ̯ ɔksə foːɐ̯ deːm ˈʃɔɪ̯nənˌtoːɐ̯]
Letters42
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “dastehen wie der Ochse vor dem Scheunentor” sits in German frequency

dastehen wie der Ochse vor dem Scheunentor falls outside the top-100,000 ranked German words — the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for dastehen wie der Ochse vor dem Scheunentor is 42 letters long, classified as a phrase, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈdaːˌʃteːən viː deːɐ̯ ɔksə foːɐ̯ deːm ˈʃɔɪ̯nənˌtoːɐ̯]. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "ratlos, orientierungslos sein; nicht wissen, was als nächstes zu tun ist".

No misspelling variants are generated for dastehen wie der Ochse vor dem Scheunentor in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is dastehen wie der Ochse vor dem Scheunentor, spelled D-A-S-T-E-H-E-N- -W-I-E- -D-E-R- -O-C-H-S-E- -V-O-R- -D-E-M- -S-C-H-E-U-N-E-N-T-O-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    ratlos, orientierungslos sein; nicht wissen, was als nächstes zu tun ist

Synonyms

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "dastehen wie der Ochse vor dem Scheunentor"?
"dastehen wie der Ochse vor dem Scheunentor" is spelled D-A-S-T-E-H-E-N- -W-I-E- -D-E-R- -O-C-H-S-E- -V-O-R- -D-E-M- -S-C-H-E-U-N-E-N-T-O-R. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈdaːˌʃteːən viː deːɐ̯ ɔksə foːɐ̯ deːm ˈʃɔɪ̯nənˌtoːɐ̯].
What does "dastehen wie der Ochse vor dem Scheunentor" mean?
As a phrase, "dastehen wie der Ochse vor dem Scheunentor" means: ratlos, orientierungslos sein; nicht wissen, was als nächstes zu tun ist
How do you pronounce "dastehen wie der Ochse vor dem Scheunentor"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "dastehen wie der Ochse vor dem Scheunentor" is [ˈdaːˌʃteːən viː deːɐ̯ ɔksə foːɐ̯ deːm ˈʃɔɪ̯nənˌtoːɐ̯]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "dastehen wie der Ochse vor dem Scheunentor" come from?
"dastehen wie der Ochse vor dem Scheunentor" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “dastehen wie der Ochse vor dem Scheunentor”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct German spelling is D-A-S-T-E-H-E-N- -W-I-E- -D-E-R- -O-C-H-S-E- -V-O-R- -D-E-M- -S-C-H-E-U-N-E-N-T-O-R — every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [ˈdaːˌʃteːən viː deːɐ̯ ɔksə foːɐ̯ deːm ˈʃɔɪ̯nənˌtoːɐ̯] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter D in our German index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.