Wir haben Ihre Beschwerde vom 15. Juli erhalten.
We have received your complaint of 15th July.
Sie klagten, dass das Essen meistens kalt war.
They complained that the food was mostly cold.
Warum müsst Ihr eigentlich immer über das Essen meckern?
Why do you always have to go on/complain about the food?(c) Complaining rudely (informal, potentially offensive)
The following expressions have a varying potential for offence, depending on the
geographical region where they are used, the tone of voice and the speaker’s general
characteristics.
-e Sauerei lit. ‘sth. of a sow’ can refer to dirt or to treatment which is perceived to be
unfair
-e Schweinerei lit. ‘sth. of a pig’ has the same meaning
-r Mist! ‘damn!’ means literally ‘manure’ and is not particularly offensive in public
usage
Scheiße! ‘shit!’ on the other hand, is genuinely vulgar, though an extremely
common expletiveWas ist denn das für eine Sauerei!
What a bloody mess!
Unerhörte Schweinerei!
It’s a bloody disgrace!
So eine Scheisse!
Oh, shit!
Da haben Sie einen Riesenmist gebaut!
You have made a right ruddy mess of this.
Das ist doch eine bodenlose Frechheit!
What an incredible disgrace!/You’ve gone too far!
Das ist einfach unverschämt!
That is simply outrageous!
Unverschämtheit, Sie!
What an outrage!(d) Taking a complaint to court or other official authorities
The formalities:
-e Anklage ‘accusation’
jmdn. an*klagen ‘to charge sb.’
jmdn. (bei Gericht) verklagen ‘to press (legal) charges against sb.’
gegen jmdn. (eine) Anzeige erstatten ‘to report sb.’
eine Klage ein*reichen ‘to institute/start legal proceedings’
eine Klage vor(s) Gericht bringen ‘to take a matter to court’
jmdn. vor(s) Gericht ziehen ‘to take sb. to court’94
Expressing objections/complaints