Schweizerdeutsch und Hochdeutsch im Alltag erklärt

What does “in den Ausgang gehen” mean in Swiss German?

In Swiss German, Ausgang means a night out — drinks, dancing, whatever the evening holds. So in den Ausgang gehen is the everyday phrase for going out. A Standard German speaker hears only the literal meaning (“exit”) and is genuinely baffled. The Swiss equivalent in dialect is Usgang, and notably the phrase works across generations: a teenager clubbing until sunrise and a grandparent out for one drink at eight are both “in den Ausgang.”

The clip stages the confusion perfectly: the Swiss speaker asks “wollen wir nach dem Essen noch in den Ausgang gehen?” and the Standard German friend replies “hä, von welchem Ausgang sprichst du?” — thinking of a door. The Swiss speaker then self-corrects to Hochdeutsch: wollen wir nachher noch ausgehen. The Standard German equivalents are ausgehen, weggehen, or in die Disco gehen. The Swiss “going out” sense comes from the verb ausgehen, and it’s strongly associated with army life, where Ausgang is a soldier’s leave — permission to exit the barracks; that usage helped the word stick for a civilian night out.