German Proverbs

It’s definitely true that silence is golden. In German this goes one step further. How?

Silence is golden, singing is platinum.

Talking is silver, silence is golden.

Silence is golden, talking is dirt.

Silence is golden, speaking out loud is diamond

If something is difficult to understand like “That’s all Greek to me”, Germans would say:

I can’t read Egyptian

Where does the day begin and the night end

Where does east meet west

I only understand railway station

To go off on the wrong track is to bark up the wrong tree. What is a common equivalent in German?

To bet on the wrong horse

To drink the wrong beer

To shoot the wrong target

To look for peas in a fruit shop

It’s well known that the early bird catches the worm. But what happens in German?

The first light is made of gold

The sunrise has silver teeth

The morning hour has gold in its mouth

The owl cowers in the morning hour

What is an equivalent to “don’t count your chickens before they hatch”

Don’t drink your wine before you’ve harvested the grapes

One shouldn’t look at a herring from behind

A horse with a bridle is still a horse

One shouldn’t praise the day before the night

What is equivalent to “live like a king”. To live...

Like god in France

Like Caesar in Rome

Like an actress in Hollywood

Like a fox in a rabbit hole

A saying literally translate to “close the lid, the monkey is dead”. What does it mean?

It’s not worth looking at it

Let’s put an end to this.

There are no bananas left

The weather is going to be bad

What does this mean: I have had a pig

I was lucky

I had bad luck

I have won money

I was too late

What is equivalent to “beat around the bush”

To drink beer at the brewery

To light a fire with a twig

To talk around the hot porridge

To walk outside the park

What would Germans say instead of “to kill two birds with one stone”

To roast two pieces of meat on one fire

To kill two flies with one swat

To shoot two rabbits with one shot

To catch two pigeons with one bean