Which reminded me of a much longer conversation that we had during one dinner at the last Textile Forum, resulting in the insight that Germans have a lot of expressions that concern food. And when I say "a lot", I mean a huge lot.
So I thought it might be fun to go and collect some of them here, and maybe even get some input from people in other places, with other languages, if you have similar expressions - or not.
Here you go. Some German food idioms. The German phrase, the literal translation into English, and an explanation.
Das ist mir Wurst. | It's sausage to me. | I don't care. |
Das ist nicht mein Bier. | That's not my beer. | It's not my problem. |
eine beleidigte Leberwurst sein | to be an insulted liver sausage (liver paté, or sausage with liver in it) | to be easily offended, or more offended than warranted by the circumstances |
seinen Senf dazugeben | to add one's mustard | state one's opinion about something (unasked and usually also not too welcome) |
mit dem ist nicht gut Kirschen essen | this person is not good to eat cherries with | it's hard to get along with this person |
seine Brötchen verdienen | earn one's bread rolls | make money for living/work |
das macht das Kraut nicht fett | this doesn't make the cabbage greasy | it's not accounting for much in the overall picture |
die dümmsten Bauern haben die dicksten Kartoffeln | the most stupid farmer has the largest potatoes | usually said when someone gets a lot of money without effort |
nicht die Bohne | not a bean | not at all |
Tomaten auf den Augen haben | to have tomatoes on the eyes | to be blind/not see something that should be obvious |
Petersilie in den Ohren haben | to have parsley in the ears | the audio equivalent to the tomatoes - to not hear something |
ein armes Würstchen sein | to be a poor sausage | poor devil/poor thing |
der schaut, als hätten ihm die Hühner das Brot weggefressen | that one has a look as if the chickens ate his bread | to look helpless or perplexed |
sich ein Ei legen | lay oneself an egg | to dig a hole for yourself |
für'n Apfel und ein Ei | for an apple and an egg | for very little money |
dumm wie Bohnenstroh | dumb as bean straw | dumb as a post |
es wird nichts so heiß gegessen, wie es gekocht wird | nothing is eaten as hot as it's being cooked | it won't be as bad as it seems at first |
der satten Maus schmeckt das süße Mehl bitter | the satiated mouse finds the sweet flour tastes bitter | things lose their appeal when you have had enough of them |
wie Kraut und Rüben | like cabbage and turnips | completely dis-ordered |
das ist nicht das Gelbe vom Ei | that's not the yolk of the egg | that's not the best situation/solution |
die Rosinen aus dem Kuchen picken | to pick the raisins out of the cake | only take the best bits and leave the rest |