7/30/2019 Croatian Expressions and Sayings

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Croatian Expressions and Sayings

The well-fed one does not believe the hungry one.

The udder of a neighbor's cow is always bigger.

--The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

To follow everyone is wrong, to follow no one is worse.It is easy for someone to talk about fasting when he has a full belly.

With a full belly it is easy to talk about fasting.

God does not love those who have not suffered.

Without suffering, there is no learning.

No pain, no gain.

Better ever than never.

Better late than never.

Better to prevent than to have to cure.

Prevention is the best medicine.

A sparrow in your hand is better than a pigeon on the branch.A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Man is man's wolf.

Men wishes(dreams), but god decides.

Man proposes, but God disposes.

(To have the) head in clouds.

Where there is smoke, there is fire too.

Where there's smoke, there's fire.

Shit or get off the pot.

To have bigger eyes than the stomach.

Your eyes are bigger than your stomach.

(Something that has) fallen out of a devil's pouch.

untamed.

A splinter doesn't land far from the trunk.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

One swallow does not make a spring. Aristotle

Morning is smarter than evening.

When cat is absent, mice dance.

When the cat's away the mice will play.

When willows bear grapes.

When pigs fly.

The way it came is the way it will go.

Easy come, easy go.

Like the cat around the hot meal.

Beating around bush.

Bread without shovel.

Blood is not water.

Blood is thicker than water.

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(speaking) of the wolf as the wolf (comes) to the door.

Speak of the devil.

In trouble you know a hero.

Finding a needle in a haystack.

Habit is a good servant, but a poor master.

Don't look a gift horse in the teeth.

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

The dog doesnt bark because of the village.

To not paint the devil on the wall.

You cant have both money and sheep.

You cant have a cake and eat it, too.

Don't buy a cat in a bag.

Don't buy a pig in a poke.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Don't run in front of a carriage.

Don't jump the gun.

Misfortune never comes alone.

When it rains, it pours.

Bad luck comes in threes.

German equivalent: Bad luck rarely comes alone. (Ein Unglck kommt selten allein.)

Gold is not everything that shines.

All that glistens is not gold.

Money sticks to money.

Money hangs around money.

From bad father, and worse mother

Speak only the best of the dead.

Don't speak ill of the dead.

A suit doesn't make a man.

You can't tell a book by its cover.

French equivalent: L'habit ne fait pas le moine.

To end up with underpants on a stick. be really poor

The sheep that bleats - loses it's share in food.

Paper can withstand anything.

A dog that barks does not bite.

His bark is worse than his bite.

The morning shows how the day will be.

First sweep the ground in front of your own door.

--The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

First help yourself and then God will help you.

God helps those who help themselves.

Help the poor one for your own shame.

With such friends, one doesn't need enemies anymore.

With friends like those, who needs enemies?

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To sell a horn as if it was a candle.

To sell a cat in a bag.

To succeed in selling something useless or of a very poor quality.

The old lady with cakes has already passed by.

--You snooze you lose.

ie: Now it is too late to act (you have missed the opportunity to do something).

Many midwives, child will be lazy.

Too many cooks spoil the broth.

First leap, then say: "jump"!

Look before you leap. (First do your task, then talk about it)

One hand washes the other.

You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.

Three days of any guest is plenty.

Fish and visitors stink after three days.

--Visitors quickly overstay their welcome

All that's well lasts short.

All good things come to an end.

Patient saved.

All things come to he who waits.

What once was up now is down and what once was down now is up

What goes around comes around.

What is too much is not good even with bread.

Do not leave for tomorrow, things you can do today.

Better now than later.

It is difficult to chase a frog into the water. (sarcastically)

Still water wears down mountains.

Still waters run deep.

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He who buys what he does not need will (eventually have to) sell what he needs.

He who asks, need not wander.

He who digs a hole under someone else will fall into it himself.

If one goes to bed with small kids, wakes up wet.

Who wishes war, may war be in his house.

He who laughs last has the sweetest laugh.

He who laughs last laughs best.

He who can, gets two.

Trust yourself and your horse.

Time is money.

The wolf changes his hair, but never his temperament.

A fox may change its skin, but never its character.

Forge while the iron is hot.

Hasten slowly.

Slowly but carefully.

In lies one has short legs.

A lie has no legs.

Lies never pay the toll.

He who wakes up early, catches two fortunes.

The early bird catches the worm.

Save three pieces of gold and the fourth one will fall into your lap.

--Luck favors those who prepare

Better a bad harvest than a bad neighbor.

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Better be in debt than in shame.

A good friend is worth more than a bad brother.

A good horse has many faults; a bad one has hardly any.

A guest will not know what fasting means.

An empty barrel sings in the wind.

Check before you bite if it is bread or a stone.

Don't measure a wolf's tail until he is dead.

--Don't throw caution to the wind.

Every bird has a hawk above it.

Feed your horse as a friend, mount him as an enemy.

His whole life he carried his wife on his back.

As soon as he set her down she said that she was tired.

--You give an inch they take a mile.

If you ask for too much at once, you will come home with an empty bag.

If sorrow would not talk it would die.

If you deliberate for too long, you will end up with leftovers.

If you take too long to choose, you will end up with the leftovers.

It is better to be a bull for a year than a cow for a hundred years.

It is better to work in your own land than to count your money abroad.

Much more than you have sown will grow in your garden.

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No solutions without discussions.

Polite words open iron gates.

--Flattery will get you everywhere

The hunchback sees the hump of others...never his own.

--the pot calling the kettle black

The owl mocked the tit.

The pot calls the kettle black.

The more eggs, the thicker the soup.

The starving man will never burn his bread.

Even a dog will not eat a leg without flesh.

Where right has no power...there power likes to be.

Where the army goes there is no grass.

Without money one cannot go anywhere, not even to church.

Woe to him who sits upon a branch.

You may boast to strangers, but tell the truth to your own people.

Truth's violinist is always beaten with his own bow.

God first created a beard for himself.

The devil can make a pot but he can't make a lid.

The drunkard thinks of only one thing and the barman of something else.