For my German-speaking friends...

[seawasp]

... what is a good German expression/word which would be the equivalent of "Damn straight" or "you're not kidding!", or maybe "FINALLY!" -- something said after you've completed incredibly grueling work and it's been announced you're done at last?

Comments

[aardy.livejournal.com]

I don't pretend anything remotely approaching fluency with school-German, let alone idioms & slang. Given that caveat, "Endlich!" might work for the sense of "it's finally done", but "Ausgezeichnet!" ("outstanding" or "excellent") might be better for the sense of "that totally rocks!"

Wiktionary suggests "was du (or "ihr" for plural "you") nicht sagt" for "you don't say!", but that seems a bit wordy for an interjection.

[aardy.livejournal.com]

Forgot to add: "wirklich" is the German equivalent of "really", though I'm not sure whether a German-speaker would use it as an interjection of either veracity-confirmation or disbelief the way English-speakers do.

[angoel.livejournal.com]

I was brought up somewhat bilingually, but not having lived in Germany, don't pretend to be the perfect person to answer the question.

That said, based on this limited knowledge, "Endlich!" would certainly be the right word for "Finally", but I do not know of an obvious equivalent for "Damn straight" / "you're not kidding" without more context about what I'm trying to say.

[saladin-count0.livejournal.com]

really depends on the context (and the person who says it) or else it could sound really ridiculous

[condorfan.livejournal.com]

Ask Walter. ~:)

[lexomatic.livejournal.com]

I happen to have a coworker who's a native German. (My employer has global scope, and recruits widely for language skills. So if you have questions that can be answered by natives of Australia, Bahrain, the Czech Republic, France, Lebanon, the Netherlands or Uruguay, ask away.)

I'm not sure Stefan got the sense of "What would a German say in this situation?" because he provided translations of Wasp's three examples. Also, he'd like to see the passage in which the expression is uttered.

“Damn straight” = “Verdammt richtig” (coloq., lit. Damn right!)

“You’re not kidding” = “Sie machen wohl Witze” (formal, lit. Are you joking?)

“Finally” = “Na, endlich!” (colloq., impatient) OR “Endlich!” (excited)