German Expression: Das geht auf keine Kuhhaut

German Expression: Das geht auf keine Kuhhaut!

Meaning: That is just too much! That's beyond belief!

Literal Meaning: That goes on no cowhide.

Example: Was dieses Kind in diesem Haus erlebt hat, geht auf keine Kuhhaut! (What this child experienced in this house, is incredibly awful!)

Use it when: You want to express that something is unbearable or somebody has gone overboard with something in the negative sense.

History: Back in the Middle Ages, it was believed that after a person was dead, his sins would be revealed by the devil. He did this by writing them on cowhide, which back then was used as a type of parchment. If the person's sins were too many or too big, then a cowhide would be insufficient to reveal them all. Therefore the expression "that goes on no cowhide", meaning that the "sins" or event(s) experienced is just too much.

Similar Phrases: Wirklich unerhört! Das ist unerträglich!