Maß

What it means

1. 1.

   A litre of beer in a dimpled glass mug. The standard unit at the Oktoberfest and in Bavarian beer gardens, and the reason people underestimate how much they have drunk.

2. 2.

   Two traps for outsiders: it is feminine — die Maß, eine Maß — where standard German has das Maß for a measurement, and the vowel is short. 'Eine Maß, bitte' said with a long a and the wrong article marks you instantly.

Literally: A measure.

Examples with translations

• Eine Maß, bitte.

  A litre of beer, please.

• Nach der zweiten Maß war er nicht mehr zu gebrauchen.

  After the second litre he was a write-off.

Where it comes from

From Middle High German mâʒ, a measure of volume, standardised in Bavaria at 1.069 litres before the metric litre took over in 1871. The mug itself is the Maßkrug; ordering 'einen Maßkrug' gets you the empty glassware, at least in theory.

Other forms

Spellings and variants:

Mass, Maßkrug