What does “mein Wort zurückziehen” mean in German?

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B1 German listening practice · German · Picked for people who know some

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mein Wort zurückziehen
Everyday idiom · admitting you were wrong
To take back something you said — to admit you can’t stick to it after all.

Christian swore he wouldn’t touch anything green. Then he tastes Patrik’s green dish — and it’s good. So he says, “Da musste ich mein Wort zurückziehen.” He’s not literally pulling a word back; he means he has to drop his promise and admit he was wrong. Germans say this when food, plans, or a strong opinion turns out better than expected and they have to back down with a smile.

In the clip: “Da musste ich mein Wort zurückziehen.” — “So I had to take back my word.” “sein Wort zurückziehen” means to drop a promise or claim you can no longer stand behind. “Wort” here is your given word, not a single vocabulary word; “zurückziehen” is to pull back. Plain examples: • “Ich nehme das zurück, du hattest recht.” — “I take that back, you were right.” (the short everyday version) • “Er musste seine Kritik zurückziehen.” — “He had to take his criticism back.” • “Da ziehe ich mein Wort zurück — das schmeckt wirklich gut.” — “I take my word back — that really tastes good.” Tone is light here, like English “I have to eat my words.” It can also be serious — pulling back a promise or a statement you made publicly.

How common are the words?

How common are the words in this B1 German listening practice video?

91.5%
of words are in the top 2,000 most common German words
Most of the words in this video are common German words.

How common in written German

85.1%
Top 1,000
91.5%
Top 2,000
97.9%
Top 5,000

How common in spoken German

89.5%
Top 1,000
93%
Top 2,000
100%
Top 5,000

Harder words in this video

These words are harder than B1. Here is what they mean.

exotisch
1×
Not in top 5,000
exotic
farbshow
1×
Not in top 5,000
color display/show
lebensmittelfarbe
1×
Not in top 5,000
food coloring or dye
lieblingsfarbe
1×
Not in top 5,000
favorite color
spezialzutat
1×
Not in top 5,000
specialty ingredient

Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-DE 2011 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.

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