PELAJARAN 2

LEKTION 2
GERMAN PROVERB
· Aller Anfang ist schwer.
· Translation: "Every beginning is difficult."
· Equivalent: "The first part is the worst part."
· Aller guten Dinge sind drei.
· Translation: "All good things are three."
· Equivalent: "Third time is a charm."
· Equivalent: "Third time lucky."
· Alter schützt vor Torheit nicht.
· Translation: "Age does not protect from foolishness."
· Equivalent: "No fool like an old fool."
· Andere Länder, andere Sitten.
· Translation: "Other countries, other customs"
· Equivalent: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."
· Auf jeden Regen folgt auch Sonnenschein.
· Translation: "There is sunshine after every rainfall."
· Equivalent: "Every cloud has a silver lining."
· Similar equivalent: "April showers bring May flowers."
· Alles neu macht der Mai.
· Translation: "The May makes everything new."
· Meaning: In spring everything starts a new.
· Aus einer Mücke einen Elefanten machen.
· Translation: "To make an elephant out of a mosquito."
· Equivalent: "To make a mountain out of a molehill."
· Alte Liebe rostet nicht.
· Translation: "Old love does not rust."
· Alle Wege führen nach Rom.
· Translation: "All roads lead to Rome."
· Meaning: There may be more than one way to solve this problem.
· Or: In the end, it does'nt matter how you reached your aim.
· Bellende Hunde beißen nicht.
· Lit. translation: "Barking dogs don't bite."
· English version: "His bark is worse than his bite."
· Besser spät als nie
· "Better late than never"
· Besser ein Spatz in der Hand, als eine Taube auf dem Dach.
· Translation: "A sparrow in the hand is better than a pigeon on the roof"
· Meaning: "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."
· Proverb: A bird in the hand multilingual.
· Blut ist dicker als Wasser
· "Blood is thicker than water"
· Vom Regen in die Traufe kommen.
· Translation: "Coming out of the rain into the trough."
· Meaning: "Out of the frying pan, into the fire."
· Den Bock zum Gärtner machen.
· Lit. translation: "Turn a (male) goat into a gardener."
· Meaning: "To disregard a trustee's harmful conflict of interests."
· English equivalent: "Setting a fox to guard the henhouse."
· English equivalent: "To trust the cat to keep the cream."
· Den Ast absägen, auf dem man sitzt.
· Lit. translation: "To saw off the branch (bough) you're sitting on."
· English equivalent: "To bite the hand that feeds you."
· Den Letzten beißen die Hunde.
· Lit. translation: "The last one is bitten by the dogs."
· English equivalent: "The devil takes the hindmost."
· Den Teufel nicht an die Wand malen.
· Lit. translation: "To not paint the devil on the wall."
· Meaning: "Don't exaggerate it because it may come true."
· Meaning: "Don't wake a sleeping parrot."
· English equivalent: "Let sleeping dogs lie."
· Der Apfel fällt nicht weit vom Stamm.
· Translation: "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
· Meaning: "Like father, like son."
· Der Appetit kommt beim Essen
· Lit.: "The appetite comes while eating"
· Meaning.: "Just do it. You will find out that it's fun while doing it."
· Deutsche Sprache, schwere Sprache.
· Literally, "German language, difficult language."
· 1st Meaning: "German language is hard to learn"
· 2nd Meaning: "You just made an embarrassing German grammar mistake."
· Die Tat wirkt mächtiger als das Wort.
· Translation: "The action has a mightier impact than the word."
· Meaning: "Actions speak louder than words."
· Equivalent: "You talk the talk, now walk the walk."
· Das Eisen schmieden, solange es heiß ist.
· "Strike while the iron is hot / Make hay while the sun shines."
· Die dümmsten Bauern ernten die dicksten Kartoffeln.
· Literally, "The most stupid farmers harvest the biggest potatoes."
· Meaning: "Dumb people are often very lucky."
· Equivalent: "The sun shines on a dog's tail sometimes." from Sam Sneed, golfer
· Die Katze im Sack kaufen.
· Translation: "To buy a cat in a bag."
· Meaning: "To pay for something you haven´t seen or you know nothing about."
· English equivalent: "To buy a pig in a poke."
· (Zusammen oder mit XY) Durch Dick und Dünn gehen.
· Translation: "To go through thick an thin (together or with XY)."
· Meaning: "To stay together no matter what comes."
· Equivalent: "They travelled through thick and thin."
· Das letzte Hemd hat keine Taschen.
· Translation: "The last shirt has no pockets."
· Meaning: "Piling up money won't serve you anything once you're dead."
· Equivalent: "Money isn't everything."
· Equivalent: "You can't take it with you."
· Der Blinde erklärt dem Einäugigen die Farben.
· Translation: "The blind man explains the colors to the one-eyed man."
· Meaning: "Somebody tries to explain something he knows nothing about."
· Similar equivalent: "Blind leading the blind."
· Der Einäugige ist unter den Blinden der König.
· Translation: "Among the blind, the one-eyed man is king."
· Meaning: You may be stupid, but all the others are even more stupid.
· Drink noch Eene mit. ("Trinke noch einen mit.")
· Translation: "Have another drink with us."
· Meaning: Do not neglect hospitality.
· Eile mit Weile.
· Translation: "Hurry with leisure."
· Meaning: "Slower is faster."
· Equivalent: "Slow and steady wins the race." "Haste makes waste." "More haste, less speed."
· Ein blindes Huhn findet auch mal ein Korn.
· Literally, "A blind chicken finds a grain once in a while."
· Meaning: "Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while."
· Eine Schwalbe macht noch keinen Sommer!
· Literally, "One swallow doesn't make summer."
· Meaning: "One spark of hope does not mean all is well"
· Einmal ist keinmal.
· Literally, "Once is never."
· Meaning: Used often as an excuse for trying something again after the first try or to make somebody prove him/herself again.
· Ein Unglück kommt selten allein.
· Translation: "A disaster seldom comes alone."
· Equivalent 1: "It never rains but it pours."
· Equivalent 2: "Bad luck comes in threes."
· Ende gut, alles gut.
· "All's well that ends well."
· Erst denken, dann lenken.
· Translation: "First think, then steer."
· Meaning: "Look before you leap."
· Erst kommt das Fressen, dann die Moral. (Bertholt Brecht)
· Translation: "First comes the gorging, then the moral."
· Meaning: "A hungry man has no conscience."
· Es ist nicht alles Gold, was glänzt.
· "All that glitters is not gold."
· Meaning: You can't tell a book by its cover.
· Es ist noch kein Meister vom Himmel gefallen.
· Literally: "Still no master has fallen from the sky."
· Meaning: No one is an expert rightaway without any practice.
· Equivalent: "Practice makes perfect."
· Es wird nichts so heiß gegessen, wie es gekocht wird.
· Literally: "It's not eaten as hot as it's cooked."
· Meaning: Things aren't as bad as they initially appear to be.
· Et kütt wie et küüt. ("Es kommt wie es kommt.")
· It comes as it comes.
· Meaning: Kismet.
· Et hät noch immer joot jejange. ("Es ist noch jedesmal gut gegangen.")
· Translation: "It went well everytime."
· Meaning: "Do not uselessly fear the future."
· Gebranntes Kind scheut das Feuer.
· Translation: "The burned kid avoids the fire."
· "Once bitten, twice shy."
· Gleich und gleich gesellt sich gern.
· Translation: "Like and like like to join."
· "Birds of a feather flock together."
· Gelernt ist gelernt.
· Translation: "Learned is learned"
· If you really learned something you are good at it.
· Hochmut kommt vor dem Fall.
· Literal Translation: "Arrogance comes before the fall."
· Correct meaning: "People become arrogant before their downfall"
· Equivalent: "Pride cometh before the fall."
· Iss, was gar ist, trink, was klar ist, und sprich, was wahr ist. (obsolescent)
· Translation: "Eat what's been well cooked, drink liquids which are clear, and speak what is true."
· In der Not frisst der Teufel Fliegen
· Translation: If in need, the devil eats flies.
· English equivalent: "Beggars can't be choosers."
· In der Kürze liegt die Würze.
· Translation: "In briefness lies the spice."
· Meaning: "Be concise; don't ramble."
· English equivalent: "Brevity is the soul of wit" (Shakespeare)
· Bei Nacht sind alle Katzen grau
· Translation: In the night all cats are gray
· Meaning: If women dress up to go out at night, it is used to tell them that no one will notice anyway. (Polite)
· other Meaning: If it is late enough and I am drunk enough I don´t care how my one-night-stand looks like. (Vulgar)
· Jacke wie Hose.
· Translation: "Jacket like pants."
· Meaning: "Six of one, half a dozen of the other."
· Jeder Jeck ist anders. Used mainly in the Rheinland (Cologne etc.).
· Translation: "Every loony is different."
· Meaning: "Show some broad-mindedness."
· Sich nicht um ungelegte Eier kümmern.
· Literally: "Don't worry about eggs that haven't been laid."
· Meaning: "Don't cross your bridges until you come to them."
· English proverb: "Don't count your chickens before they hatch".
· Kommt Zeit, kommt Rat.
· Literally: "If time comes, advice comes."
· Meaning: "With time comes insight."
· Kräht der Hahn auf dem Mist, ändert sich's Wetter oder 's bleibt wie's ist.
· Literally: "If the cock crows on the dung heap, the weather will change or it stays the way it is."
· Meaning : "Do not rely upon proverbs!" or "The opinion of loud but insignificant people has no influence on the world."
· "Kehre vor Deiner eigenen Tür."
· Translation: "Sweep the ground in front of your own door."
· Meaning: "Don´t mess with other peoples business, better take care of your own."
· Kleider machen Leute
· "Clothes make(th) the man."
· Keine Antwort ist auch eine Antwort.
· Literally: "No answer is also an answer."
· Meaning: "Not responding to a question is still replying."
· English Equivalent: "Silence equals consent."
· Klug zu reden ist doch schwer, klug zu schweigen noch viel mehr
· Literally: "It's indeed hard to talk cleverly, still harder to be silent cleverly"
· Meaning: "Know when to keep your mouth shut"
· 'Lieber Frau und Kind erschiessen, als 'nen Tropfen Alk vergiessen.' (Lieber seine Frau und sein(e) Kind(er) erschiessen, als einen Tropfen Alkohol vergiessen.)
· Translation: "It is better to shoot your wife and child(ren) than to spill a drop of alcohol."
· Leben wie Gott in Frankreich.
· Lit. translation: "To live like God in France." (Sometimes, other Countries/Regions/Cities etc. than France are used. The meaning stays the same: "To live like God in ...", or to live the comfortable life of people in ...")
· English equivalent: "To live the life of Riley."
· English equivalent: "To live in clover."
· Eine Leiche im Keller haben.
· Translation, "To have a corpse in the basement."
· English equivalent, "Skeletons in the closet."
· Leichter gesagt als getan.
· Translation: "Easier said than done"
· Lieber ein Ende mit Schmerzen als Schmerzen ohne Ende. or Lieber ein Ende mit Schrecken als ein Schrecken ohne Ende. ( Sophie Scholl )
· Translation, "Better an end with pain than pain without end." and "Better an end with horror than a horror without end."
· "Lügen haben kurze Beine."
· Translation: "Lies have short legs"
· "All lies come back to haunt you"
· Man soll das Fell des Bären nicht verkaufen, bevor man ihn erlegt hat.
· Translation: "One shouldn't sell the bear's fur before it has been killed."
· Meaning: "Don't count your chickens before they are hatched."
· Man soll den Tag nicht vor dem Abend loben.
· Translation: "One shouldn't praise the day before the evening."
· Meaning: "There's many a slip 'twixt cup and lip."
· Mit solchen Freunden braucht man keine Feinde mehr.
· Lit. Translation: "With such friends, one doesn't need enemies anymore."
· English Proverb: "With friends like these, who needs enemies?"
· Meaning: "Said if people considered to be friend behave in reality as the worst enemies."
· Morgenstund hat Gold im Mund.
· Translation: "Morning hour has gold in the mouth."
· Meaning: "The early bird gets the worm."
· Man schlägt den Sack und meint den Esel.
· Translation: You hit the bag and mean the donkey.
· Meaning: You are afraid to criticize what disturbs you, so you criticize something different.
· Man ist was man isst.
· English Proverb: "You are what you eat." (This is a pun in German because "isst" and "ist" are pronounced the same.)
· Mit Geduld und Spucke fängt man eine Mucke [actually: Mücke]. (humorous, obsolescent)
· Lit. translation: "With patience and spit one gets the midge (gnat/mosquito)."
· English equivalent: "Softly, softly catchee monkey."
· "Morgen, morgen, nur nicht heute, sagen alle faulen Leute."
· Translation: "Tomorrow, tomorrow, not today, that's what all the lazy people say."
· "Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today."