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If you want to tell somebody to go away you could shout:

"Hau ab!"

However this is considered as not very polite, much like "Get lost!", or "F*** off!". I am wondering where German "Hau ab" comes from to explain why it is considered as rude in usage. What does it mean literally?

Takkat
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    The literal meaning, obtained when you analyse the verb and translate the two constituents literally while taking context into account, is simply beat off. –  Oct 27 '15 at 06:40

4 Answers4

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According to this link, hauen used to mean "hurry" or "run" at some point in addition to "beat", probably originating from "beating a horse to make it run faster". "Ab" is a Latin prefix meaning "away from."

So "abhauen" just means "run away".

I don't think it's rude because of its etymology, but because there are very few polite ways to tell someone to go away in general, because a) you're telling someone what to do, and b) you're telling them "I don't want you here." That's going to come across as impolite pretty much regardless of what words you use.

I don't think "Hau ab!" is any more impolite than "Go away!" "F**k off!" is stronger than that, and a better German equivalent would be "Verpiss dich!"

Cass
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    Nice explanation. "Hau ab" definitely is stronger than "Geh weg". "Verpiss Dich" is used regionally (but less so recently). – Takkat Oct 04 '11 at 08:03
  • I agree that it's stronger than "Geh weg", but I'd say "Go away" is still a pretty good translation. English doesn't seem to have as many nuanced ways to tell someone to leave. It goes directly from "Go away" to various vulgarities. – Cass Oct 04 '11 at 08:15
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    But why "ab" and not "weg"? – Takkat Oct 04 '11 at 08:22
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    +1 for pointing out that "Hau ab" has not to be impolite. For example "Hau ab" is also somthing you could say to a fugitive if the "bad guys" come to get him. – 0x6d64 Oct 04 '11 at 10:55
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    @Takkat "Hau weg" means something completely different: http://www.redensarten-index.de/suche.php?suchbegriff=~~Hau%20weg%20%28z.B.%20den%20Scheiss%2C%20das%20Zeug%29&bool=relevanz&suchspalte[]=rart_ou – starblue Oct 04 '11 at 12:06
  • @starblue: much like "Hau ruck" is different too ;). Still, if hauen means to run the usage of prefix (or preposition) ab seems not to fit. "Hau fort" does not exist. – Takkat Oct 04 '11 at 12:46
  • @Takkat: edited my answer, hope that clears it up. Now why this particular word has a Latin prefix and not a Germanic one, I don't know either. – Cass Oct 04 '11 at 12:53
  • @Cass: after some research I found that as *"ab"* may be similar to Latin (ab) or Greek (ἀπό) it may in fact most likely be of Germanic (aҍa) or Gothic (af) origin. – Takkat Oct 04 '11 at 20:39
  • Don't forget: Hau ser ;) – user unknown Oct 05 '11 at 02:35
  • Actually, (at least) in Swiss german, one can say ich haus jetzt, meaning I leave now (without any emotional connotation) – René Nyffenegger Dec 08 '11 at 06:23
  • @Cass: There are plenty of English alternatives to “go away” before you get to the vulgar stuff: “get lost”, “on your bike”, “beat it”, “scram”, “trot on”… – Brian Nixon Dec 18 '11 at 21:24
  • "ab" is definitely not Latin in this context, but a German prefix I'd usually translate as "off". Compare also "abtreten", which can mean "to leave the stage" (theater). – wolfgang Dec 22 '11 at 15:18
  • Probably from "beating the road" while running. – Rudy Velthuis Feb 10 '19 at 18:23
  • @starblue "sich weghauen" can be understood as to go to bed, cp. sich hinauen. In the sense to laugh ones ass off the figurative rolling on the floor is a given. – vectory Feb 10 '19 at 20:31
  • @RudyVelthuis do you mean "Ich hau's, haue es" or "hausen", from "Haus"? – vectory Feb 10 '19 at 20:33
  • @vectory: hauen = to beat. Guess what I mean. – Rudy Velthuis Feb 10 '19 at 22:41
  • @RudyVelthuis I don't know what you mean. I asked a straight question. Perhaps you mean bet? hauen = to hew, by the way, depending on what kind of congruence relation you choose. – vectory Feb 10 '19 at 22:44
  • @vectory: I mean beat. And hauen. What is there not to understand? Hauen is the German verb for to beat. I do not mean bet, I do not mean Haus or Hau's. I hope that is clear enough? I guess the word abhauen comes from the German equivalent of "hitting/beating the road". – Rudy Velthuis Feb 10 '19 at 22:54
  • @RenéNyffenegger Das war eigentlich an dich gerichtet – vectory Feb 10 '19 at 22:56
  • @RudyVelthuis sorry. Anyhow, that doesn't really figure because one wouldn't say "die Straße hauen", erst recht nicht "Die Straße abhauen"? "hit the road" comes to mind, but that means to go on a journey, not to go home, as far as I can tell. – vectory Feb 10 '19 at 22:57
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"Hau ab!" is the imperative of abhauen, which has the colloquial meaning (among others) of to escape quickly.

The Duden derives it from hauen, which means to beat and is said to refer to beating a horse with the spurs on your boots. Grimm's dictionary still mentions the meaning to hurry, to run for hauen and gives the same reasoning:

13) hauen endlich für eilen, streben, laufen. diese bedeutung hat wol ihren ausgang von dem einhauen der sporen in des rosses weichen

Together with the prefix ab- (off, away) you get to run away, to get off quickly.

But note that this old meaning of hauen is no longer present, and Grimm's doesn't say abhauen to mean to escape. If they didn't miss it, the verb must have derived this meaning after this part of the dictionary was written, but before hauen lost its meaning of to hurry.

This gives room to a second theory: according to the book Westjiddisches Wörterbuch, the verb abhauen might derive from abbauen, which is Rotwelsch for to escape, to flee and has Yiddish origins. It is further said to have a Hebrew root that means to come.

A Rotwelsch, i.e. thieve's argot, origin might also have contributed to the derogative touch of abhauen, which in turn can also explain (to some degree at least) why "Hau ab" sounds rather rude, as you mention in your question.

Matthias
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Hau ab, this comes from the verb abhauen, that's a word for "to run away".

splattne
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Mash
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The more appropriate translation appears to be, “beat it.”

Brian St. John
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