Talk:German proverbs

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I added a section up the top explaining a way of referring to proverbs in German, as I found this a useful way of bringing such proverbs into an argument/essay/discussion. The formatting is a bit clumsy, however I tried to make it consistent with the rest. Also, the introductory statement is a bit obtuse - I was lacking inspiration, but someone else might have an inspired way of putting this. I also added 'Haste makes waste' as an additional English equivalent.

Contents

[edit] Wer die Wahl hat, hat die Qual

  • Wer die Wahl hat, hat die Qual.
    • Literally, "He who has a choice, has a problem."

"problem" is IMO not an accurate translation. I can't find an exact translation but if I translate "problem" back to german "Problem" I don't find it fitting. "Qual" could maybe translate to "great pain", but it is not restricted to physical pain which could sound strange, but to intellectual pain. Also note that instead of "a", "the" should be used. --Florian Pesth

I deleted the two englisch proverbs (English Proverb: "Heavy is the head that wears the crown" or "With great power comes great responsibility.") cause their meaning differs clearly from the german one. I don't know a more fitting english proverb though. But better no translation than a wrong one I guess. (Explanation: The original is about the difficulties of choosing sth. and has nothing to do with responsibility or power or influence whatsoever)

My dictionary translates "qual" with "dolor" for am. engl. "dolour" for brit. engl. so, going by this I would translate the proverb as follows: "Who has the choice, has the dolor." I don't know if dolor is a commonly used word in english but this is the closest translation for the word that I can think of. Kiddycat

"dolor" is definitely not a commonly used English word. It's rather archaic sounding and most people wouldn't even know what it means. Possible close matches would be something like "torture", "torment", "anguish", or "agony". But I almost think the best, certainly the most idiomatic, would be "worry": "He who has a choice has a worry". Though "He who has a choice has a torment" is not too bad. Another similar English proverb is "With great power comes great responsibility."
Bhugh 07:22, 22 December 2005 (UTC)
  • Spoilt for choice

"Qual" is literally "torment". There's no exact equivalent I know of in English. It's similar to "spoilt for choice", referring to the difficulty one sometimes has choosing between two or more options. Dean

[edit] Wer zuerst kommt, mahlt zuerst

  • Wer zuerst kommt, mahlt zuerst.

used to be:

    • Translation: "Who comes first grains first."

Meaning: "First come, first served."

I changed it to

    • Translation: "Who comes first eats first."

since "mahlt" is 3rd person singular from "mahlen" which is an old word for "eating". It comes from the word "Mahl" which can be translated as dinner.

I'm not familiar with wikigroups or anything similar and I didn't bother to read the rules which I now, thinking about it, regret. I don't know if it was ok that I just changed it, but at least here is an explanation why I did it. If I wasn't supposed to change anything then please change it back.

Kiddycat

"Who comes first eats first." makes much more sense in English than the previous version. About rules: Good wiki's and good societies, often make their rules very gradually, slowly, and carefully. I think that the best people remain very reserved in making or asserting any rules. About the only rules that I think universally apply to any good activity anywhere is: Be honest and fair, and try to be as helpful as you can while being so. We certainly welcome anyone who can perform translations in different languages. Though this is the English Wikiquote, and a primary aim is collecting English versions of famous statements, having the orignal statements that have been made in other languages, as well as good translations into English, is one of the goals that have been established here. Thank you for your contribution. ~ Kalki 12:42, 5 Jun 2004 (UTC)

As an English speaker, "first come, first served" is certainly the accepted equivalent proverb in my context. To me, "who comes first eats first" makes little metaphorical sense. Perhaps they should both be up there?

  • Ouch! "mahlen is an old word for eating" ouch ouch ouch. This is totally wrong. It has nothing to do with eating. Here is the story: in the old days the farmers carried their corn to the mill. And the Miller served the farmer fist wo came at first in the morning. Thats all. Its like "first in - first out" in logistics. 84.63.56.251 20:23, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Deutsche Sprache, schwere Sprache.

Deutsche Sprache, schwere Sprache. Literally, "German language, hard language."

Really? Is that what Germans think of their own language?

Really? Hard as is hard to learn, or hard as in hard on the ears?

Certainly that gothic typeface (Fraktur?), which looked as it one's pen was leaking, was very hard to read. Fortunately, Germany changed over to something more readable in WW2.


Deutsche Sprache, so schwere, makes you swear. (combined Deutsch und English).

User:syd1435 03:30, 21 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Hard as is hard to learn. We germans know that german is a difficult language.

My language is dutch and yes there are some difficult things in german but so there are in dutch and english. But that's part of the fun in learning other languages.


The only Germans I ever met who used this saying seriously, i.e. implying that they were smarter because they did not make grammar mistakes in German, were either some old folks (Bauern) who never learned any foreign languages or supreme idiots who didn't realize the limits of their own abilities in foreign languages. Perhaps the German who wrote, "We germans know that german is a difficult language" is one of the latter group. A German attempting to claim in incorrect English that German is "hard" is like the pot calling the kettle black.

When I do use this proverb "Deutsche Sprache ..." it is more to annoy other Germans who made an obvious mistake. It's usually not ment to be arrogant or self-righteous. --80.129.152.10 21:53, 1 October 2005 (UTC)

Yapp. That's exactly it. It's commonly used to either excuse one's own mistakes or as a comment on a grammar mistake of someone else. Because it's true: It is a difficult language. There is a bestselling book ("Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod") that deals with common mistakes...

Ich glaube Deutsch ist eine schoene Sprache und ist nicht sehr schwer zu lernen. aber die deutsce Prepositionen sind schwer. z.b. mit, nach, von, zu, an usw. sind immer dativ oder fuer, durch usw. sind immer Akkusativ und einige sind Dativ oder Akkusativ. :(

I also know only the use in the context of a grammatical mistake made by oneself or by others. I would not be suprised if other languages had equivalents. I could imagine that the perception of German as "hard" is because of a historical strong diversification by dialects and a comparatively late establishment of a specific language code, there are still many speakers today who prefer regional dialects with considerably deviant grammar. One might call it an adage rather than a proverb, and it is mostly used highly ironically. By the way "hard on the ears" would be expressed as "harte Sprache", not "schwer" which means only "hard" as in difficult, cannot mean "harsh sound" or "hard object".

[edit] Alles in Ordnung.

Using the Dutch proverb page as a template, the German proverb pages has been ordered in Alphabetic Order. This makes it much easier to find things, and looks under control at last.

User:syd1435 03:37, 21 Sep 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Wer zuerst kommt, mahlt zuerst.

German proverb: Wer zuerst kommt, mahlt zuerst.

English: First come, first gains. (Ie. first gains an advantage).

English: First come, first grains. (Ie. first has grain/grains to eat).

Note: (Grain is "bulk" noun as well as singular noun.)

Question: is it a conicidence that in English, grain and gain are very similar words?

Question: What are the equivalent words in other languages? German, Dutch, Italian, etc.


  • First comes, first gains.
  • First comes, first grains.
  • First comes, first attains.
  • First comes, first serves,
  • First comes, first deserves?


User:syd1435 03:42, 21 Sep 2004 (UTC)

[edit] He who has a choice, has the doldrums.

Kiddycat said 'My dictionary translates "qual" with "dolor" for am. engl. "dolour" for brit. engl. so, going by this I would translate the proverb as follows: "Who has the choice, has the dolor." I don't know if dolor is a commonly used word in english but this is the closest translation for the word that I can think of.'

As a native born English speaker, "Dolor" is a new word to me. It does not appear in my smallish dictionary. Looking at this dictionary, similar words which may or may not be related, include "Doll" and "Doldrums".

Dolls and Doldrums are both lifeless, and go no where on their own, a bit like someone with a lot of choices but unable to make up their minds - they may have to be taken, before they get anywhere. This lifelessness does partly fit the meaning Kittycat is after.

Perhaps you should have two versions:

He who has a choice, has the doldrums (like a sailing ship with no wind). He who has a choice, can get dumbfounded like a doll.

The meaning of this proverb is: He who can make a choice, can have aches to come to a decision (Qual = agony, pain, aches)

What might kiddycat native language be?

User:syd1435 04:04, 21 Sep 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Ein Spatz in der Hand move

I've moved Proverb: Ein Spatz in der Hand to Proverb: A bird in the hand because it makes more sense as an en:Wikiquote article title. A redirect remains from the German version. I've also changed the references here and in Finnish proverbs. — Jeff Q (talk) 08:03, 23 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Wer nicht will, hat schon

  • Wer nicht will, hat schon.
    • Literal translation: Who wants not, has already.

I revised this entry by removing a recently added English "Ihave said over a million times im germanè I love Kyle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[edit] What about ...

  • Jetzt schlägt's aber 13.

(meaning: approx. "it's really enough, now".)

  • "Eben ist aber Tag im Topf." hessian: "Ebe is aber Daach im Dibbe"

(similar meaning)

[edit] Lieber ein Ende mit Schmerzen als Schmerzen ohne Ende

This translation is IMHO more comprehensive: "Rather a painful ending than endless pain."

Agreed. The translation in the article now is literal and technically correct but could be phrased better in English. Also, the proverb "Lieber ein Ende mit Schrecken als ein Schrecken ohne Ende" is usually encountered translated as "Better a horrible end than horror without end." 209.107.127.43 03:50, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] another proverb

Zum Gott hinken Hie Leute aber zum Teufel laufen Sie.

People limp to God but run to the devil.


OR: "Das ist das gleiche in grün" --> That's the same (thing) in green

Anyone else familiar with this one:

My Opa used it often, mostly in contempt for those (esp. weathermen) who attempted to predict the future:

Die alte Propheten sind alle tot und die junge wissen nichts.

Translation: The old prophets are all dead and the young ones know nothing.

Equivalent: God only knows.

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[edit] Auf jeden Regen folgt auch Sonnenschein

The equivalent "every cloud has a silver lining" is not correct. These two proverbs are actually very different. The German proverb says that after a sad/pessimistic/negative/bad situation, THERE WILL BE a happy/optimistic/positive/good situation. It basically says that there are ups and downs, or, more precisely, downs and ups. One incident occurs after the other. The English "equivalent" (every cloud has a silver lining), which is widely used in the U.S., says that a bad situation/occurrence can also AT THE SAME TIME bring with it a good occurrence (the silver lining). Something which is perceived as bad (cloud) can be SIMULTANEOUSLY good (the silver lining). I think it goes without saying that these meanings are very different. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Yellow magic marker (talk • contribs) 22:41, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

This, unfortunately, points out a serious that these proverb articles have: nothing in them is sourced, so people feel free to add anything they wish, without getting outside reliable sources for the texts, the translations, or the (sometimes incredibly long) explanatory comments. If we had more folks working to clean up Wikiquote, these proverbs articles would deserve a severe paring and cleanup effort.
The Wikimedia Foundation's basic philosophy about accuracy is that we editors cannot include our own statements about what is correct or incorrect in the article, because the community has no way to know who any editor is (and therefore why we should believe one person's statement over another's). The way we are supposed to avoid the problem is to cite evidence provided by responsible published sources.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if you're correct on this point, but rather than argue about it here, we should have a citation of a publication that provides both the original and its translation, so we don't need to argue it. You would help Wikiquote tremendously if you could cite such a publication, for this and any other proverbs (or any quotes, for that matter) that you find. Thank you for listening, and for calling attention to this problem. ~ Jeff Q (talk) 06:17, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] PA deutsch proverb

I am seeking the translation into german of the following PA German proverb. Any takers " Thanks " A thing of beauty is a joy forever- its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness: but still will a bower for us, a sleepful of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing"

[edit] Angst verleiht Flügel

I corrected the meaning. Before: "Fear spreads quickly". This is not what the proverb is about. It means, that fear will empower you to do things you wouldn't or couldn't normally do.

-- also, "fear lends wings"

[edit] Besser eigenes Brot als fremder Braten

-> it might also mean "Better your own bread than someone else's roast" rather than "...a strange roast", making it quite similar to the "a bird in the hand"-proverb... ..just thought i'd mention it..

[edit] Vertrauen ist gut, kontrolle noch besser

I'm not sure that the stated provenance from Lenin is correct. I've always understood that it was Stalin who coined this one. Moreover, for either of those two, this quote doesn't properly belong here, since it is not an original German proverb. Stalin didn't speak German anyway and whilst Lenin did, it was not his mother tongue, so in my view the quote should go to Russian proverbs, if it is a proverb at all and not an attribuatble aforism, which is something entirely different. --Recoloniser 18:50, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] De oama in de jeetzya tollt tue mole

This is not Standard German. Im German and i don't know this proverb. I think its a strange dialect, could anyone please proove it? I would do it myself but i think my English is too bad.

[edit] Der frühe Vogel fängt den Wurm

    • Translation: The early bird catch the worm
    • Meaning: Who get up early get's things done
    • Similar equivalent: ?

10:55, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

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