Redewendungen/Expressions

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

a piece of apple cake on a plate, the text says: auch ein Stück vom Kuchen abbekommen - literal: to also get a piece of the cake - meaning: to get a piece of the pie

jemandem auf den Keks gehen; literal: to go on someone’s cookie; meaning: to get on someone’s nerves

2 halves of an egg, "Das Gelbe vom Ei sein" literal: to be the yellow of the egg, meaning: to be best (of all the possibilities)

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"

Peas and peas in the pod. A speech bubble says "Die Erbsenzaehlerei - literal: pea counting meaning: nitpicking"

total B/banane sein; literal: to be totally banana; meaning: to be totally silly

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!

“sein eigenes Süppchen kochen” - literal: “to cook your own soup” - meaning: “to do one’s own thing"

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

“jemandem die Suppe versalzen” - literal: “to make someone’s soup too salty“ - meaning: ”to spoil things for someone“

“die Suppe auslöffeln" - literal: “to spoon out the soup“ - meaning: ”to face the music"

A single green bean. A speech bubble says: "Das interessiert mich nicht die Bohne. - Literal: It doesn’t interest me the bean. - Meaning: I don’t care at all about that.”

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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