What Italians mean when something sounds German to them
Anyone traveling through Europe will find that there is a surprising number of idioms that are the same in most countries. But be careful: there are also proverbs whose literal translation causes confusion or amusement.
Four idioms that all mean the same thing – namely a meaningless action
Source: Infographic WORLD
Rephrases can connect in a charming way. The EU may have 24 official languages, but anyone who travels across Europe with its many languages and dialects will find that there is a surprising number of idioms that are the same in most countries and regions.
Almost all Europeans know “where the shoe pinches” and they also shed “crocodile tears”. The linguist and proverb expert Rolf-Bernhard Essig has compiled such language blooms on trips in his volume “Phoenix from the Ashes” (Duden-Verlag). He says: “Hundreds of proverbial sayings are the common heritage of Europe.”
The expression “like day and night” or “like dog and cat” is known in all EU national languages. You “play with fire” and sometimes you “tear your hair out” in anger when you can’t see “the wood for the trees” and then “pull yourself back together”. Sounds like Europe. You understand each other.
In Spain they get angry black, in France red
Even more amusing for vacationers are those idioms that are funny and different, but mean the same thing. Oddly enough, Germany is the only place where people are as fit as a fiddle, which always amuses other nationalities, while in France they are as alert as a squirrel (“comme un écureuil”), in Britain fresh as a daisy (“like a daisy”), in Italy healthy like a fish (“sano come un pesce”) and fit as a chicken (“als een hoentje”) in the Netherlands.
Even if “carrying owls to Athens” is understood as a pointless activity across the EU, there are other equivalents in the national languages. “Give bread to the baker’s child” is a saying in Norway, honey is sold to the beekeeper in Portugal, cucumbers are sold to the gardener in Romania, trees are planted in Estonia. And what do people like to say in southern Germany? They bring beer to Bavaria.
But be careful: On the way you discover idioms whose literal translation in the travel destination can cause confusion or amusement. That’s where choosing the right color really matters. Only in this country and in Spain (“ponerse negro”) can one get angry. The French, on the other hand, prefer to get angry red (“se fâcher tout rouge”), the Italians turn green with anger (“verde dalla bile”), while the Dutchman also gets a yellow cast (“zich groen en geel ergeren”).
Sometimes the color is right, but not the animal: what is as rare as a white raven for Germans and Russians is a white crow for the British. In France and Spain, a rarity is known as a white blackbird, in Bulgaria a white swallow has to be used, in Latvia and Lithuania a white sparrow, in Malta and Italy one speaks of the whitefly.
Some idioms pull other people through the cracks, in a friendly way, of course. What sounds Spanish to Germans is “mi sembra tedesco” to Italians, which is perceived as German. The linguist Essig particularly likes a phrase he found in France: “Une querelle allemande”. Guess what is actually meant by “German quarrels”: Exactly, “dogmatism about trifles”. Should be remembered!
“Cringe” is the name of the “Youth Word of the Year” for 2021
Last year already in the final – this year on the podium: after years of adults choosing the youth word and causing a lot of “cringe”, this year the word itself wins the race.
Source: WELT/Thomas Vedder
This article was first published in November 2021.