AGerman Proverbs

• 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."
  • 1^st Meaning: "German language is hard to learn"
  • 2^nd 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."
     

   

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