Vollpfosten

What it means

1. 1.

   A complete idiot — the German for 'absolute muppet'. Contemptuous but not obscene, which is why it turns up in newspaper columns and on daytime television.

2. 2.

   Pfosten on its own does the same job in a shorter, more casual form.

Literally: Complete fencepost.

Examples with translations

• Der Vollpfosten hat den Schlüssel im Auto liegen lassen.

  The muppet left the key in the car.

• Sorry, ich war gestern echt ein Vollpfosten.

  Sorry, I was a complete idiot yesterday.

Where it comes from

Voll- ('utterly') plus Pfosten, a post — the image is of something wooden, solid and hollow-headed, the same metaphor as English 'thick as a plank'. A late-20th-century coinage; the Voll- prefix is productive and gives Volltrottel, Vollhorst, Vollidiot.

Other forms

Similar terms:

Volltrottel, Honk, Vollhorst