die Fliege machen

to make oneself scarce

Türkçe: ortadan kaybolmak

Noun

Fliege f.

Verb

machen

Topic

Alltag und Redewendungen

In a sentence

Als die Polizei kam, machte der Einbrecher schnell die Fliege.

How it is used

Colloquial idiom meaning 'to make oneself scarce' or leave quickly. Colloquial register, used to avoid trouble. A German speaker might say this when sneaking out of a boring party. Common mistake: taking 'Fliege' literally (fly).

Other verbs that go with Fliege

This is the choice the collocation turns on.

• keiner Fliege etw. zuleide tun (können)one wouldn't hurt a fly

All collocations with Fliege

Other collocations built on machen

• sich zum Affen machento make a fool of oneself
• (s)einen Abschluss machento make a deal
• eine Andeutung machento make a hint/suggestion
• den / einen Anfang machen mit+Dat.to be the first to begin something
• jdm. ein Angebot machento propose a deal or price to someone
• Angaben machen zu+Dat.to provide details/information about something
• jdm. Ärger bereiten / machento cause trouble/annoyance for someone
• jdm. Angst machento scare/frighten someone