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English speaking countries | | Date: Centuries-old | Notes: Folk Sayings or Proverbs on Eating and Drinking
A
o After dinner comes the reckoning.
o After dinner sit a while, after supper walk a mile.
o Ain't no pot so crooked, you can't find a lid to fit.
o All bread is not baked in one oven.
o All sugar and honey.
o An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
o Any excuse is a good excuse to have a drink.
o Appetite comes with eating.
o As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. [Old Testament]
o As like as two peas.
o As like an apple to an oyster.
o As the best wine makes the sharpest vinegar, the truest lover may turn into the worst enemy.
o As you brew, so must you drink.
B
o Before you make a friend eat a bushel of salt with him.
o Better weak beer than lemonade.
C
o A cabin with plenty of food is better than a hungry castle.
o A clean fast is better than a dirty breakfast.
o The cream always rises to the top.
o Come on in, we don't have much but you're welcome to it.
o The company makes the feast.
D
o The devil places a pillow for a drunken man to fall upon.
o Don't bite off more than you can chew (Meaning: Do not take on more responsibility than you can handles at any one time).
o Don't bite the hand that feeds you (Meaning: Behave deferentially to those who provide for you).
o Don't cry over spilled milk. Or, It's no use crying over spilled milk. (Meaning: Don't worry about things that have already happened).
o Don't make little of your dish for it may be an ignorant fellow who judges it.
o Don't make me eat my words.
o Don't put all your eggs in one basket (Meaning: Do not rest all your hopes on one eventuality; plan for several cases).
o A drink precedes a story.
o A drunken man's words are a sober man's thoughts.
o The drunken mouth reveals the heart's secrets.
E
o Early ripe, early rotten.
o Eat at pleasure, drink with measure.
o Eat crow (Meaning: Having to admit one was wrong.).
o Eat, drink and be merry (for tomorrow we die).
o Eat humble pie (Meaning: Having to admit one was wrong.).
o Eat like a bird (Meaning: Eating a very small amount.).
o Eat to live, don't live to eat.
o Eat well, drink in moderation and sleep sound, in these three good health abound.
o Enough and no waste is as good as a feast.
o Every pea helps to fill the pod.
F
o A fast is better than a bad meal.
o Fasting comes after feasting.
o The fat is in the fire.
o Feast today and fast tomorrow.
o Fine words butter no parsnips.
o Forbidden fruit is sweet. Or, Forbidden fruit is sweetest.
o A full cup must be carried steadily.
o A full person does not understand the needs of the hungry.
G
o Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime (Meaning: to it is better to know how to help yourself than to beg from others).
o Good as drink is, it ends in thirst.
o Good eating deserves good drinking.
o God gives food but does not cook it.
H
o Half a loaf is better than none (Meaning: Be thankful for what you've got).
o He should have a long spoon that sups with the devil.
o He that eats of the king's goose shall be choked with feathers.
o He that eats till he is sick must fast till he is well.
o He that is of merry heart hath a continual feast.
o He that lives on hope will die fasting.
o He that steals an egg will steal an ox.
o He who sups with the devil has need of a long spoon. Or, He should have a long spoon that sups with the devil.
o He that will eat the kernel must crack the nut.
o He that would eat the fruit, must climb the tree.
o He who bites the hand that feeds him, ends up licking the boot that kicks him.
o He who sleeps forgets his hunger.
o He who would eat, crack the kernel.
o Hold food in your hand and the dog will bite it.
o The honey is sweet but the bee has a sting.
o Honey is sweet, but don't lick it off a briar.
o A honey tongue, a heart of gall.
o Hope is a good breakfast but a bad supper.
o Hunger is a good sauce.
o Hunger is the best spice.
o Hunger never saw bad bread.
o A hungry belly has no ears.
o A hungry man is an angry man.
I
o I am going to feed you a shut-up sandwich. Meaning: Please shut up if you will really annoy me.
o I don't break bread with a jackass. (Archaic)
o If life gives you lemons, make lemonade (Meaning: make the best of a bad situation).
o If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
o If you want breakfast in bed, sleep in the kitchen.
o It's better to find a whole worm in your apple than half a worm.
o It's easy to halve the potato where there's love.
o It's no use boiling your cabbage twice.
o It is not fish until it is on the bank.
o It is sweet to drink but bitter to pay for.
o It's the first drop that destroys you, there's no harm at all in the last.
o It is the quiet pig that eats the meal. Or, It is the quiet pigs that eat the meal.
J
o Jam tomorrow and jam yesterday, but never jam today [From Alice in Wonderland].
K
Know which side your bread is buttered on.
L
o Life is just a bowl of cherries (Meaning: Life is good).
o Life's like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.
o Life is too short to drink bad wine.
o Listen to the sound of a the river and you will get a trout.
M
o Man cannot live by bread alone.
o A man takes a drink, the drink takes a drink, the drink takes the man.
o A man without dinner -- two for supper!
o "My advice to you is not to inquire why or whiter, but just enjoy your ice cream while it is on your plate." [Thornton Wilder]
o My pig won't eat that slop.
N
o A narrow neck keeps the bottle from being emptied in one swig.
o A nod from a lord is a breakfast for a fool.
o Never bolt your door with a boiled carrot.
o Never mix your liquor.
O
o One for the road.
o Overdone is worse than underdone.
P
o Poor men seek meat for their stomach, rich men stomach for their meat.
o A pot of milk is ruined by a drop of poison.
o The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Or, The proof is in the pudding. Or, the proof of the eating is in the size of the pudding.
o Promises won't butter any bread.
R
Rather go to bed without a supper than run in debt for a breakfast.
S
o Same meat, different gravy (Meaning: Same trouble, different day).
o A spoon does not know the taste of soup, nor a learned fool the taste of wisdom.
o Stolen fruit is the sweetest (Meaning: forbidden things are the most tempting).
o Sweet things are bad for the teeth.
T
o That's a bigger curd than I can chew.
o That's a mouthful if I ever heard one (Meaning: Getting information one hadn't expected).
o The truth is in the wine (Meaning: a person will more freely divulge a secret when plied with alcohol).
o There is no such thing as a free lunch.
o There's small choice in rotten apples.
o They talk of my drinking but never my thirst.
o They that have no other meat, bread and butter, they are glad to eat.
o Too many cooks spoil the broth.
o A trout in the pot is better than a salmon in the sea.
o A turkey never voted for an early Christmas.
W
o Waste not, want not.
o A watched pot never boils.
o Water, water everywhere not a drop to drink.
o What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
o The way to a man's heart is through his stomach.
o When one is hungry, everything tastes good.
o When the apple is ripe it will fall.
o When the well is dry, you know the worth of water.
o When you taste honey, remember gall.
Y
o You are what you eat.
o You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar (Meaning: Kind words/actions are more effective than harsh ones).
o You can't eat your cake and have it too.
o You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.
o You cannot unscramble eggs.
o You have to take the bitter with the sweet.
o You may as well give cherries to a pig as advice to a fool.
o You need to bait the hook to catch the fish.
o You never miss a slice from a cut loaf.
o You never miss the water till the well runs dry. | Contributed by: Image courtesy of The New York Public Library, Digital Gallery #1588380
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French speaking countries | | Date: Centuries-old | Notes: Folk Sayings or Proverbs on Eating and Drinking from French speaking countries
A
o in English translation: (Literally) Appetite comes while eating.
- English equivalent: The more you have, the more you want.
- French original: L'appetit vient en mangeant.
B
o Bacchus has drowned more men than Neptune.
- Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow.
o The belly overrules the head.
o Better a single grape for me than a brace of figs for thee.
C
o A cake and a bad custom ought to be broken.
o A cake eaten in peace is worth two in trouble.
o Chickens don't praise their own soup.
D
o A dealer in onions is a good judge of scallions.
o in English translation: Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
- French original: Il ne faut pas mettre tous ses oeufs dans le meme panier.
o in English translation: (literally) Don't sell the bearskin before you've killed the bear.
- English equivalent: Don't count your chickens before they've hatched.
- French original: Il ne faut pas vendre la peau de l'ours avant de l'avoir tue.
o Don't spit in the well as you may have to drink its water.
E
o in English translation: (Literally) Eat blackbirds if you can't have thrushes.
- English equivalent: Half a loaf is better than no bread.
- French original: Faute de grives on mange des merles.
o in English translation: Eat your fish while it is fresh, marry your daughter while she is young.
- French original: Mange ton poisson a present qu'il est frais, marie ta fille a present qu'elle est jeune.
o in English translation: Eat to live, don't live to eat.
- French original: Il faul manger pour vivre, et non vivre pour manage.
F
o The flawed pot lasts longest.
o in English translation: Forbidden fruits are the best.
- French original: Les fruits defendus sont les meilleurs
o The fox says of the mulberries when he cannot get at them -- they are not good at all.
G
o Glutton: one who digs his grave with his teeth.
o Garlic by the tang, bread by the color.
o in English translation: A good meal must begin with hunger.
- French original: Bon epas doit commencer par la faim.
o Greedy eaters dig their graves with their teeth.
H
o Honey is sweet but bees sting.
o in English translation: Hunger chases the wolf out of the woods.
- French original: La faim chasse le loup hors du bois.
o Hunger makes anything taste well.
o Hunger is the best sauce.
I
o I know by mine own pot how others boil.
o It is the hen which sings which has laid the egg (Meaning: The guilty dog barks the loudest).
o in English translation: (Literally) IT is necessary to break the shell to have the almond.
- English equivalent: No pain, no gain.
- French original: Il faut casser le noyau pour avoir l'amande.
o in English translation: (Literally) It's the drop of water that makes the jug overflow.
- English equivalent: It's the straw that breaks the camel's back.
- French original: C'est la goutte d'eau qui fait deborder le vase.
L
o The last drop makes the cup runneth over.
N
o Never say, Fountain, I will not drink of thy water.
o No clock is more regular than the belly.
o Nothing must disturb a man of worth at dinner.
O
o One may tire of eating tarts.
P
o People who have bread to eat do not appreciate the severity of a famine.
o English equivalent: The pot that calls the kettle back.
- French original: C'est la poele qui se moque du chaudron.
- in English translation (Literally): It's the stove mocking the cauldron.
S
o Since the wine is drawn it must be drunk.
o in English translation: (Literally) Sing to a donkey, he will fart on you.
- English equivalent: Hold food in your hand and the dog will bite it.
- French original: Chantez a l'ane, il vous fera des pets.
o Some have bread who have no teeth left.
o Spare your breath to cool your porridge.
o Stolen bread stirs the appetite.
o Stolen fruit is sweet.
T
o There are more old drunkards than old doctors.
o To rise at five, dine at nine sup at five, go to bed at nine, makes a man live to ninety-nine.
o in English translation: The truth is in the wine.
- French original: La verite est dans le vin.
W
o Where rosemary grows the wife wears the trousers.
o Where the hostess is handsome the wine is good.
o in English translation: Who eats capon, capon comes to him.
- French original: Peu importe le flacon, tant qui'il ya a l'ivresse. o in English translation: Who eats capon, capon comes to him.
o Without bread and wine even love will pine.
o Wine poured out is not wine swallowed.
o Wine will not keep in a foul vessel.
Y
o in English translation: (Literally) You can't have both the butter and the money from the butter.
- English equivalent: You can't have your cake and eat it too.
- French original: On ne peut avoir le beuree et l'argent du beurre.
o in English translation: You can't have the bacon and the pig.
- English equivalent: You can't have your cake and eat it.
- French original: On ne peut avoir le lard et le cochon.
o in English translation: You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.
- French original: On ne fait pas d'omelette sans casser des oeufs.
| Contributed by: Image courtesy of The Library of Congress #3g11930r
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Spanish speaking countries | | Date: Centuries-old | Notes: Spanish Proverbs or Folk Sayings on Eating and Drinking
A
o English equivalent: After dinner rest awhile, after supper walk a mile.
- Spanish original: La comida, a reposar; y la cena a pasear.
o English equivalent: All griefs with bread are less.
- Spanish original: Las penas con pan son menos.
o English equivalent: Appetite comes with eating.
- Spanish original: Comiendo la gana.
B
o in English translation: Between cabbage and cabbage, lettuce.
- Meaning: One has to have a mix of things to eat and live well.
- Spanish original: Entre col y col, lechuga.
D
o in English translation: Dance and eat pork in your neighbor's house.
- Meaning: Enjoy a free meal when offered.
- Spanish original: Baile y cochino, en la casa del vecino.
o Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
E
o in English translation: Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.
- Spanish original: Dentro de cien anos todos calvos.
o Eating sets the head to rights.
o Every cask smells of the wine it contained.
F
o Fire, fire, many pots on, and one pea in them all.
o A full stomach makes for a happy heart.
o English equivalent: For a good appetite there is no hard bread.
- Spanish original: Al hambre desiete dias, no hay pan duro.
o in English translation (literally): From the mouth of a drunk the sounds of a bar.
- Meaning: Disregard what a drunk man says.
- Spanish original: A boca de borracho, oidos de cantinero.
o in English translation (literally): Full stomach, happy heart.
- Meaning: Satisfaction ensures compliance.
- Spanish original: Barriga illena, corazon contento.
G
o in English translation (literally): Give me bread and call me stupid.
- Meaning: There's no problem if you call me stupid so long as you remember to give me bread to eat.
- Spanish original: Dame pan y llamane tonto.
o in English translation: God gives bread to those who don't have teeth.
- Meaning: There is no justice in the world.
- Spanish original: Dios da pan a quien no tiene dientes.
H
o in English translation: He who has scaled himself on milk weeps when she sees a cow.
- Spanish original: El que se ha quemado con leche al veruna vaca llora.
o English equivalent: Hunger is the best gravy.
- Spanish original: A buen hambre no hay pan duro.
- in English translation (Literally) There is no hard bread if you are hungry.
o in English translation: Hunger makes one rather ingenuious.
- Spanish original: El hambre aguza el ingenio.
I
o I don't want the cheese; I just want out of the trap.
o in English translation (literally): If there's no bread, cakes will do.
- Meaning: Settle for the next best thing.
- Spanish original: A falta de pan, buenas son tortas.
M
o English equivalent: Man cannot live by bread alone.
- Spanish original: No solo de pan vive el hombre.
o in English translation: Many hands in the pot cause the stew to be lost.
- Meaning: If there are too many people trying to do something, the end result will be no good.
o Spanish original: Muchas manos en la olla echan el guiso a perder.
O
o One drink is just right; two is too many -- three are too few.
o in English translation: One bad apple can cause one hundred to be lost (or spoiled).
- Spanish original: Una manzana podrida echa un ciento a perder.
P
o in English translation: Papaya that is served, papaya that is eaten.
- Spanish original: A papaya puesta, papaya partida.
R
o in English translation: Rice that is not stirred will burn.
- Meaning: Just do it (Be active).
- Spanish original: Arroz que no se menea, se quema.
S
o Since we have loaves let us not look for cakes.
o Sour wine, old bacon, and rye bread keep a house rich.
T
o There is no choicer morsel than that which is stolen.
o There is no such witness as a good measure of wine.
o in English translation (literally): Two rations are served to whom does not want any.
- Meaning: Greater than normal waste.
- Spanish original: Al que no quiere caldo se le dan dos tazas.
o Truth and oil always come to the surface.
W
o in English translation (literally): Water you should not drink, let it flow.
- Meaning: If you don't need something, leave it for others to be used; be generous. Or, Don't take what which is not rightly yours.
- Spanish original: Aqua que no has de beber, dejala correr.
o What my neighbor eats does my stomach no good.
o English equivalent: When one is hungry everything tastes good.
- Spanish original: A buena hambre no hace falta condimento.
o in English translation: When one is quite hungry, there's no hardened (or stale) bread.
- Spanish original: A buen hambre no hay pan duro.
o in English translation: When one is very hungry, there's no hardened (or stale) bread.
- Spanish original: A mucha hambre, no hay pan duro.
o When you cut a new loaf of bread, don't drink water [drink wine].
o Wherever two can eat, three can eat.
- in Spanish original: Donde comen dos comen tres.
o Whether you boil snow or pound it, all you get is water.
o in English translation (Literally) With bread and wine one can walk on.
Meaning: After one has a bit of bread and wine, one feels good, and one can go about one's business in a contended fashion.
- Spanish original: Con pan y vino se anda el camino.
o The wolf and the dog agree, at the expense of the goat which together they eat.
o in English translation: The world is like a pepper: today you have it in your hand, tomorrow it's in your ass.
- Spanish original: El mundo es como un pepino: hoy lo tienes en la mano, manana en el culo.
Y
o You notice what I drink and not the thirst I feel.
| Contributed by: Courtesy of The New York Public Library, Digital Gallery #811976.
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German speaking countries | | Date: Centuries-old | Notes: German Proverbs or Folk Sayings on Eating and Drinking
A
o in English translation (Literally) The appetite comes while eating.
- Meaning: Just do it. You will find out that it's fun while doing it.
- German original: Der appetit kommt beim essen.
B
o in English translation: Better your own bread than another's roast.
- Meaning: What is yours, is yours.
- German original: Besser eigenes brot als fremder braten.
D
o A drink is shorter than a tale.
o in English translation: The drunk and children tell the truth
- German original: Betrunkene und kinder sagen die wahrheit.
E
o in English translation: Eat, bird, or die!(Eat or die!).
- Meaning: You're in a sticky situation where you don't have much of a choice among a wide variety of gourmet meals. And/or You've got to make do with some unpleasant prospect because the alternative is even worse.
Equivalent: It's sink or swim.
- German original: Friss vogel, oder stirb!
o in English translation (Literally) Eat what has been well cooked, drink liquids which are clear, and speak what is true.
- German original : Iss, was gar ist, trink, was klar ist, und sprich, was wahr ist.
o in English translation: Everything has an end, only sausage has two.
- German original: Alles hat ein ende, nur die wurst hat zwei.
F
o Fat hen lay few eggs.
o A fish should swim thrice: in water, in sauce, and in wine.
o in English translation: The fish stinks from the head.
- Meaning: Corruption starts at the top.
- German original: Der fisch stinkt vom kopf her.
o in English translation (literally) First comes chow, then morals.
- Meaning: A hungry man cannot afford a conscience.
- German original: Erst kommt das fressen, dann kommt die moral.
G
o A glutton young, a beggar old.
o A good meal is worth hanging around for.
o in English translation: Gorge what's been well cooked, drink what's available [alcohol].
- Meaning (colloquial) Fuck what's around.
- German original: Fressen was gar ist, trinken was klar ist, ficken was da ist.
H
o He who has once burnt his mouth always blows his soup.
o He who would eat in Spain must bring his kitchen along.
L
o Let your head be more than a funnel to your stomach.
N
o in English translation: No kneading, no party.
- Meaning: If you don't have ingredients to bake with or if you don't have money to buy food with, you can't have a party.
- German original: Ohne knete keine fete.
o in English translation: (Literally) Nothing is eaten as hot as it is cooked.
- Meaning: Maximum theoretical damage (like from laws, statues, future problems) is not standard in practice, you usually get cut some slack.
- German original: Es wird nichts so heif gegessen, wie es gekocht wird.
O
o in English translation: Old bread isn't hard, no bread, that is hard.
- Meaning: It is better to have some food than no food at all.
- German original: Altes brot ist nicht hart, kein brot, das ist hart.
W
o When I eat your bread, I sing your song.
o in English translation : When in distress the cut tastes without bread.
- Meaning: Enjoy luxury as long as you have it.
- German original : In der not schemekt die wurst auch ohne brot.
o in English translation: Whose bread I eat, those's whose song I sing.
- English equivalent: He who pays the piper calls the tune.
- German original: Wes' brot ich ess, des' lied ich sing.
o in English translation: Wine on beer, I recommend to you. Beer on wine, leave alone.
- Meaning: Cider on beer, never fear; beer upon cider, makes a bad rider. Or, Beer on whiskey, pretty risky; whiskey on beer, have no fear.
- German original: Wein auf bier, das rat' ich dir. Bier auf wein, das lass' sein.
Y
o in English translation: You are what you eat.
- German original: Man ist, was man isst.
| Contributed by: Image courtesy of The Library of Congress #468144
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The East | | Date: Centuries-old | Notes: Eastern Proverb or Folk Saying on Eating and Drinking
o "If everyone tells you you are drunk, go to bed."
| Contributed by: Image courtesty of The New York Public Library, Digital Gallery #1524811
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The East | | Date: Centuries-old | Notes: Eastern Proverb or Folk Saying on Eating and Drinking
o "When wine comes to an end, so does conversation."
| Contributed by: Image courtesty of The New York Public Library, Digital Gallery #1524837
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The East | | Date: Centuries-old | Notes: Eastern Proverb or Folk Saying on Eating and Drinking
o "If you buy meat cheap, when it boils you smell what you have saved."
| Contributed by: Image courtesty of The New York Public Library, Digital Gallery #1524843
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The East | | Date: Centuries-old | Notes: Proverb or Folk Saying on Eating and Drinking
o The poor seek food, the rich an appetite. | Contributed by: Image courtesy of The New York Public Library, Digital Gallery #1524877
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