fairy tale
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fairy tale
A traditional, often fantastical story with magical beings and miracles, usually passed down orally. Typical examples are the stories of the Brothers Grimm.
Meine Oma hat mir früher jeden Abend ein Märchen vorgelesen.
My grandma used to read me a fairy tale every evening.
lie / tall tale
An untrue story or a lie that someone tells in order to deceive others or make an excuse. Often used disparagingly.
Erzähl mir keine Märchen, ich weiß genau, dass du nicht krank warst!
Don't tell me fairy tales; I know perfectly well that you weren't sick!
The word 'Märchen' (fairy tale) is a diminutive form. It comes from the old word 'die Mär', which means 'news' or 'story'. So a 'Märchen' is literally a 'little story'.
Die alte Mär von den tapferen Rittern wird heute kaum noch erzählt.
The old tale of the brave knights is hardly told anymore today.
In the context of traditional stories, 'Märchen' (fairy tale) is often used with verbs like 'vorlesen' (to read aloud), 'erzählen' (to tell), or 'sammeln' (to collect). A very well-known phrase is 'die Märchen der Brüder Grimm' (the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm).
Der Vater erzählt seinen Kindern jeden Abend ein Märchen.
The father tells his children a fairy tale every evening.
You can often recognize the meaning 'lie' from a negative or skeptical tone. The fixed expression 'Erzähl mir keine Märchen!' always means 'Stop lying to me!'.
Er behauptet, er hätte alles allein geschafft, aber das ist doch ein Märchen.
He claims he managed everything on his own, but that's clearly a tall tale.
excuse
Märchen and Ausrede can both be an untrue explanation. Märchen emphasizes the invented, implausible story, whereas Ausrede highlights the purpose of justifying misconduct or a failure. Call the invented story a “Märchen” and the pretextual justification an “Ausrede.”
Er erzählte dem Chef ein Märchen, um sein Fehlen zu rechtfertigen.
He told his boss a tall tale to justify his absence.
Seine Ausrede für das Fehlen überzeugte den Chef nicht.
His excuse for being absent did not convince his boss.
