Comparing proverbs

[dieastra]

Yay, another language discussion! I was just talking with cowgrrl and thought this is a topic equally interesting to discuss. Because I love to compare proverbs and have found a few which mean the same thing, but are totally different described in different languages

Comments

[cowgrrl]

I'm a Stupid American who doesn't know any other language but English (well, I know tiny amounts of other languages but not enough to be helpful) but I found this site with TONS of English proverbs, for your amusement. I know many, but not all of them!

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/proverbs.html

[dieastra]

Aw, was my post too harsh? I hope not *hugs* You're not stupid. You just never needed to learn any other language, since everyone speaks English ;) Wonder what actually happened to Esperanto?

Thank you for the link, that should keep me occupied for a while! And if you like, have a look over here, already some very interesting answers. Apparently the Spanish versions of my examples are very alike, but yet a tiny bit different: http://linguaphiles.livejournal.com/5993937.html

[cowgrrl]

Your post wasn't harsh at all! My "stupid American" was more a comment on the US educational system which generally does a poor job teaching languages. It seems like so many people I meet from other countries speak 2 or more languages, which is much less common here. :(

[tardisjournal]

I was having similar self-deprecating thoughts about myself. It's not just the American educational system, it's our whole culture that thinks English is the BEST and ONLY language you could possibly ever need, whereas other countries seem to place a higher value on being bi-lingual, or more.

And when they finally do get around to teaching you another language, usually in High School as an optional "elective", it's too little, too late. I spent four years doing French grammar exercises twice a week; it was boring as hell and didn't teach me how to speak it for shit.

/rant

[mella68]

Vor einiger Zeit habe ich mich mal gefragt, was wohl das englische Gegenstück zu "Einem geschenkten Gaul schaut man nicht ins Maul" ist. Hast du eine Ahnung?

[dieastra]

Ohne bei Google nachzugucken, würde ich aus dem Kopf sagen "Beggars can't be choosers" - dass man als Bettler keine Ansprüche haben darf und nehmen muss, was man kriegt. So in etwa müsste das hinkommen. Jedenfalls wird das sehr häufig in Fanfictions verwendet (da hab ich die alle her).

Es gibt aber auch welche, die in Englisch und Deutsch gleich sind, zum Beispiel das mit der Katze im Sack.

[patty22]

mir fällt da noch "what goes around ,comes around" ein,was im deutschen dem "wie du mir,so ich dir" entsprechen müsste.(glaube ich)

[dieastra]

Stimmt, oder auch "wie man in den Wald hineinruft, so schallt es heraus".

[colej55]

This sounds like another great discussion, although I'm afraid you'll have to do most of the work. I speak several other languages, but I never learned any proverbs in the others. I'm interested, but useless. ;)

[dieastra]

Have you checked the community post I also did?

http://linguaphiles.livejournal.com/5993937.html

Lots of really great replies and funny proverbs from other languages. Enjoy!

[x_erikah_x]

That really is an interesting discussion. I know a few:

"The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" in Portuguese would be "The neighbor's hen is always fatter".

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" is "Better a bird in your hand than two flying".

"The straw that breaks the camel's back" is "The drop that was missing".

"Kill two birds with one stone" is "Two rabbits with one hit".

"Out of sight, out of mind" is "What the eye can't see, the heart can't feel".

I know a website for English students who are Portuguese speakers with lots of proverbs and their matches. http://www.sk.com.br/sk-prov.html

[dieastra]

Hahaha I love the fat hen!

Thank you for your contribution!