This quiz was based on several features by your Guide, including Idioms: Talk Like a German and Proverbs and Idioms from Readers. You should have reviewed the articles before taking the following quiz.
Also see our Idioms and Proverbs Glossary
CORRECT ANSWERS
1. Not bricht Eisen. ("Necessity breaks iron.")
D. Necessity is the mother of invention.
2. Die Bäume wachsen nicht in den Himmel. ("The trees don't grow to heaven.")
L. There's a limit to everything.
3. Ehrlich währt am längsten. ("[Being] honest lasts the longest.")
A. Honesty is the best policy.
4. Morgen, morgen nur nicht heute, sagen alle faulen Leute. ("Tomorrow, tomorrow, just not today, [that's what] all lazy people say.")
E. Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
5. Andere Länder, andere Sitten. ("Other lands, other customs.")
H. When in Rome, do as the Romans.
6. Die Uhr bleibt stehen, aber die Zeit nicht. ("The clock stops, but not time.")
J. Time waits for no man.
7. Mit Dieben fängt man Diebe. ("With thieves one catches thieves.")
K. It takes a thief to catch a thief.
8. Das ist ein Kinderspiel. ("That's a child's game." = "That's child's play.")
B. It's easy as pie. - This expression also often used in the negative: "Das ist kein Kinderspiel." = "It takes skill. It's not that easy."
9. Einem geschenkten Gaul sieht man nicht ins Maul. (Animal mouth = Maul; human mouth = Mund; Shut up! = Halt's Maul!)
F. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
10. Das hieße, Eulen nach Athen tragen. ("That's like carrying owls to Athens.")
C. That's like carrying coals to Newcastle. - or: Selling refrigerators to Eskimos.
Items not used:
G. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.
- Man kann niemand zu seinem Glück bringen.
I. All's well that ends well.
- Ende gut, alles gut. (from Shakespeare, whose works are popular in German translation)
BONUS SAYINGS
Aus den Augen, aus dem Sinn. = Out of sight, out of mind.
Er macht einen Elefanten aus einer Mücke. = He's making a mountain out of a molehill. ("to make an elephant out of a gnat")
Gleich und gleich gesellt sich. = Birds of a feather flock together.
Eile mit Weile. = Haste makes waste.
Drücke den Daumen. = Keep your fingers crossed. (in German you press your thumb)
Was ich nicht weiß, macht mich nicht heiß. = Ignorance is bliss.
BACK > Proverb Quiz 1
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Idioms & Proverbs Quiz 2
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Too Literal Quiz
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Related Pages
Idioms and Proverbs Glossary
An annotated German-English lexicon of sayings, idioms, and proverbs.
Idioms: Talk Like a German
About German idioms and how they may differ from their English equivalents.
Farbenfroh: Colorful Expressions
German idioms and expressions that include a color. An article from your Guide.
Proverbs and Idioms
Favorite sayings and expressions sent in by our readers.
Taking Things Too Literally
A related article and quiz.
False Friends/Falsche Freunde
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Idioms: Talk Like a German
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Wort des Tages
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