Der innere Schweinehund is a REALLY important expression, because everyone has it.
Literally, it means the inner pig dog and what it actually is is our inner weaker self. Or let’s say indulgent self. That part of us that makes us procrastinate, eat junk food and not go the gym even though it’s time.
- “Hast du Yoga gemacht?”
“Nein, mein innerer Schweinehund war zu stark.” - “Did you do Yoga?”
“No, my inner demon/my weak side was too strong.”
Where does the expression come from?
Well, the Schweinehund was actually a thing once. It was a dog that was bred and trained specifically for hunting boars and these dogs needed to be strong and “stubborn”, so they could stand a chance against wild boars.
It’s a super duper common expression that every German knows and that is absolutely worth adding to your vocabulary.