What does “rate mal” mean in German?

rate mal! is “go on, guess!” — the playful dare this whole clip runs on. It comes from raten, a verb that pulls double duty: it means both “to guess” and “to advise.” The same root gives der Rat, advice or counsel, and der Ratschlag, one specific piece of advice. So the verb behind a guessing game is also the verb behind wise words — guessing and counselling share a single German root.

That little mal is a flavouring particle that softens the command: rate mal lands as a friendly “go on, guess” rather than a blunt “guess!” Add the prefix er- and you get erraten, to guess correctly — hitting the answer, not just trying for it. In the clip, Mama is told rate mal over and over until she pieces together every surprise: the wedding, the timing, the place.