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What does “bis zum Erbrechen” mean in German?

“Bis zum Erbrechen” literally means “until you throw up,” but no one is actually sick. It means doing something over and over, to excess. Often it sounds annoyed — something repeated way too many times. But it can also be warm exaggeration, as in this clip: a musician loves a song so much he says he could listen to it “bis zum Erbrechen” — endlessly, far more than most people could take.

In the clip: “Also ich kann’s wirklich bis zum Erbrechen hören.” — “Honestly, I could listen to it endlessly, over and over.” A musician says this about a song he loves: he could play it again and again, far past what most people could take. Here the tone is affectionate, not annoyed. “Erbrechen” literally means vomiting, so word-for-word this is “until vomiting.” But nobody is actually sick — it is a set phrase for doing something far too many times. More examples: “Wir haben das Lied bis zum Erbrechen gespielt.” (We played that song way too many times.) “Er erzählt diese Geschichte bis zum Erbrechen.” (He tells this story over and over until everyone is tired of it.) Usage note: it is informal and a bit drastic, fine among friends. It almost always sits with a verb like hören, spielen, wiederholen, or üben. The tone depends on context — usually “too much, I can’t stand it anymore,” but sometimes, as here, a loving “I could do this forever.”