Redewendungen/Expressions

There are many food-related expressions in German, I’ll add to the collection below bit by bit!

  • A jar of honey with a spoon in it. A speech bubble says: “Jemandem Honig um den Bart/das Maul schmieren - Literal: smear honey around someone’s beard/mouth - meaning: to butter someone up”
  • Half a lemon on a citrus press, a speech bubble says: "jemanden auspressen/ausquetschen wie eine Zitrone - literal: to squeeze someone like a lemon - meaning: to squeeze/bleed someone dry or to interrogate someone”
  • 2 eggs and a speech bubble saying: "sich gleichen wie ein Ei dem anderen literal: to resemble each other like one egg to another meaning: to be like two peas in a pod"
  • A peeled egg and a speech bubble saying :"Wie aus dem Ei gepellt literal: Like a peeled egg meaning: very neat appearance, spick and span"
  • Cabbage shredded and in parts, a bubble on top says: "Das macht den Kohl auch nicht fett - literal: That also doesn’t make the cabbage fat - meaning: That (small thing) doesn’t make a difference (anymore)"
  • Red keinen Quark - don't talk nonsense!
  • "Einen Quark verstehen" to understand quark
  • Das geht dich einen Quark an - That is none of your business
  • Nicht aus dem Quark kommen - to dawdle
Jemandem Honig um den Bart/das Maul schmieren - Literal: smear honey around someone’s beard/mouth - meaning: to butter someone up
Einen Quark verstehen - literal to understand a quark - meaning: to understand nothing
Nicht aus dem Quark kommen - literal : not getting our the quark - meaning: to dawdle
sich die Radieschen von unten ansehen - literal: to look at the radishes from below - meaning: to be dead and buried
Das Salz in der Suppe sein - literal: to the salt in the soup - meaning: to be the icing on the cake
Cabbage shredded and in parts, a bubble on top says: "Das macht den Kohl auch nicht fett - literal: That also doesn’t make the cabbage fat - meaning: That (small thing) doesn’t make a difference (anymore)"
A peeled egg and a speech bubble saying :"Wie aus dem Ei gepellt literal: Like a peeled egg meaning: very neat appearance, spick and span"
Half a lemon on a citrus press, a speech bubble says: "jemanden auspressen/ausquetschen wie eine Zitrone - literal: to squeeze someone like a lemon - meaning: to squeeze/bleed someone dry or to interrogate someone”
Das geht dich einen Quark an - literal: That concerns you a quark! - meaning: That is none of your business
Red keinen Quark - literal: don't talk quark - meaning: don't talk nonsense!
Äpfel mit Birnen vergleichen - literal: to compare apples and pears - meaning: to compare apples and oranges
Seinen Senf dazugeben - literal: to add one's mustard - meaning : to interfere (unsolicited) in a conversation/ to put in one's two cents
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A piece of butter on a plate, a speech bubble says: "alles in Butter - literal: everything in butter - meaning: looking good/everything in order"
2 eggs and a speech bubble saying: "sich gleichen wie ein Ei dem anderen literal: to resemble each other like one egg to another meaning: to be like two peas in a pod"
In den sauren Apfel beißen - literal: to bite into the sour apple - meaning: to swallow the bitter pill/ to bite the bullet
Jetzt haben wir den Salat - literal: Now we have the salad! - meaning: now we are in a right mess!
Tomaten auf den Augen haben - literal: to have tomatoes on your eyes - meaning: not seeing or not wanting to see something obvious
kleine Brötchen backen - to bake small rolls/buns meaning: to be restrained, modest
Der Apfel fällt nicht weit vom Stamm - literal: the apple doesn't fall far from the trunk - meaning: the apple doesn't fall far from the tree
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