Sign up ×  If you want to tell somebody to go away you could
shout:  "Hau ab!"  However this is considered as not very
polite, much like "Get lost!", or "F*** off!". I am wondering
where German "Hau ab" comes from to explain why it is considered
as rude in usage. What does it mean literally?  share|improve
this question  3 Answers 3  up vote 2 down vote accepted  "Hau
ab!" is the imperative of abhauen, which has the colloquial
meaning (among others) of to escape quickly.  The Duden derives
it from hauen, which means to beat and is said to refer to
beating a horse with the spurs on your boots. Grimm's dictionary
still mentions the meaning to hurry, to run for hauen and gives
the same reasoning:  13) hauen endlich für eilen, streben,
laufen. diese bedeutung hat wol ihren ausgang von dem einhauen
der sporen in des rosses weichen  Together with the prefix ab-
(off, away) you get to run away, to get off quickly.  But note
that this old meaning of hauen is no longer present, and Grimm's
doesn't say abhauen to mean