collar
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collar
The part of a piece of clothing such as a shirt, jacket, or coat that surrounds or frames the neck.
Er hat den obersten Knopf seines Hemdes geöffnet und den Kragen gelockert.
He opened the top button of his shirt and loosened his collar.
to lose one's temper
An idiom meaning that someone suddenly becomes very angry and loses patience.
Als er die Rechnung sah, ist ihm der Kragen geplatzt.
When he saw the bill, he lost his temper.
to grab by the collar
An idiom that literally means to seize someone by the shirt collar. Figuratively, it means to confront someone or catch someone.
Die Polizei hat den Dieb noch am Tatort am Kragen gepackt.
The police caught the thief at the scene of the crime.
to cost dearly
An idiom meaning that an action can cost someone their life, existence, or position, for example their job.
Ein solcher Fehler kann dich in dieser Firma den Kragen kosten.
A mistake like that can cost you dearly in this company.
In its literal meaning, 'Kragen' (collar) is often used with verbs such as 'hochschlagen' (to turn up, in cold or windy weather) or 'lockern' (to loosen, when it is warm or when you are relaxing).
Als der kalte Wind aufkam, schlug er den Kragen seiner Jacke hoch.
When the cold wind picked up, he turned up the collar of his jacket.
The idiom 'jemandem platzt der Kragen' (someone loses their temper) uses the dative. The person who gets angry is always in the dative. This is a fixed grammatical pattern.
Als er die Unordnung sah, ist seinem Vater der Kragen geplatzt.
When he saw the mess, his father lost his temper.
In the expression 'jemanden am Kragen packen' (to grab someone by the collar), the person who is grabbed or confronted is always in the accusative. The preposition 'am' is fixed here.
Der wütende Kunde wollte den Verkäufer am Kragen packen.
The angry customer wanted to grab the salesperson by the collar.
The expression 'jemanden den Kragen kosten' (to cost someone dearly / cost someone their neck) has a special structure. The person who loses something (their life, their job) is in the accusative. What it costs is 'den Kragen' (the neck/collar).
Diese riskante Entscheidung könnte ihn den Job kosten.
This risky decision could cost him his job.
head
The fixed expressions „jemanden den Kopf kosten“ and „jemanden den Kragen kosten“ can both mean that someone loses their life as a result of an action. Kopf and Kragen are not freely interchangeable here; each must appear in its complete expression.
Sein Verrat an dem König kostete ihn den Kragen.
His betrayal of the king cost him his life.
Sein Verrat an dem König kostete ihn den Kopf.
His betrayal of the king cost him his head.
