camembert mouth “Shut your smelly Camembert mouth!” – from the French All illustrations courtesy Lila Volkas

It was the pungent French insult, shut your smelly Camembert mouth! (ferme ta boîte à Camembert!) that hooked me on my latest obsession: gathering food idioms from different languages. Fellow intercultural explorer Joe Lurie, posted a bumper crop of descriptive FRENCH food phrases, such as these tasty ways to call someone a jerk:

espèce d’andouille!piece of sausage! une vraie courge!an utter squash! quelle nouille!such a noodle!

Joe also included these edible idioms:

ramener ta fraise =  to bring your strawberry = to butt in on a conversation occupe-toi de tes oignons!! = mind your own onions! = mind your own business! va te faire cuire un œuf! = cook yourself an egg! = go to hell!

As a food writer, interpreter and collector — this is totally my cup of tea!

couch potato Sofa spud or American “Couch potato”

English has plenty of food-isms too. We refer to others as: the big cheese, a couch potato, or an apple polisher. Or hotly declare, “You’re toast!”

We can also butter someone up with praise such as: “you’re the apple of my eye,” “you’re a peach” or use terms of endearment like honey, sweetie-pie, and sugar.

Just as I became consumed by searching for edible expressions, our summer houseguests from Germany and Argentina arrived. So I peppered them with questions about food phrases in their native languages.

special sausage “Have to fry you a special sausage” – German

GERMAN  (thanks to Orna Gutmacher)

Extrawurst braten = I have to fry you a special sausage = you always need something extra Kleine Bröchten backen = bake little rolls = take small steps to start something Schokoladenseite zeigen = to show your chocolate side = to only see good things Tomaten auf den Augen haben = to have tomatoes on the eyes = to be blind to something Ich habe mit dir ein Hühnchen zu rupfen = I have to pluck a chicken with you = we need to talk Das Haar in der Suppe finden = to look for the hair in the soup = never be satisfied

SPANISH (thanks to Susana Pendzik)

Me importa un pepino = I care a cucumber = I don’t give a fig Agarrar a alguien con las manos en la masa = to catch someone with their hands in the dough = to catch someone doing something they shouldn’t Pedirle peras al olmo = to ask for pears from an elm tree = try to do something that’s impossible

Next, I asked two local friends, who enlisted help from their Facebook friends back in Denmark and Turkey and collectively came up with dozens of phrases.

porridge head “Porridge Head!” – Danish

DANISH (thanks to Kim Aronson)

Nye boller på suppen = we need new (meat)balls in the soup = we need new energy, input, ideas Pølsearme = sausage arms = you are weak Grødhovede = porridge head = you are confused, have no brain En tynd kop te = it’s a weak cup of tea = your case is not very strong

TURKISH (thanks to Suzi Amado)

Incir cekirdegini doldurmayacak sebepler = Reasons that would not fill a fig seed = There aren’t good enough reasons to be upset. Agzinda bakla islanmamak = A fava bean doesn’t get wet in somebody’s mouth = If you tell this person a secret, they will tell it to others Her seye maydanoz olmak = Being parsley to everything = Having an opinion and being nosy about everything Sutten agzi yanan yogurdu ufleyerek yer = If your mouth is burnt by milk, you blow before you eat yogurt = If something bad happens to you, you get anxious about things that are somewhat related, although it doesn’t make sense. This phrase is often used for dating or friendships when someone gets hurt and then becomes very self-protective. Benim basima gelen cig tavugun basina gelmez = What happened to me would not happen to a raw chicken. This could be used when what happened to me is so weird that it is funny.

Thrilled at the response and variety of food images in different languages, I approached some of the people I’ve written about previously. (It’s helpful that my favorite subject is the intersection of food and culture).

Tomoko Yoshihara, who was such a generous guide on my recent trip to Kyoto, shared these pithy sayings from JAPANESE:

Sansho ha kotsubu de piririto karai, Sansho [a Japanese pepper] is small, but hot enough = Even though a person is very small, if they are cheerful and have talent, you can’t ignore them. Mochi ha mochi ya, Rice cake, rice cake maker = Each field has an expert.

Lali Ghlonti, (whose Georgian and Russian dishes at the SF Street Food Festival, I recently described) contributed this RUSSIAN saying:

to hang noodles on someone’s ears = to tell them a lie.

Simone Fung, one half of S+S Gastro Grub, the masters of molecular gastronomy I profiled in April, suggested a few CANTONESE phrases:

Chicken feather, garlic skin = irrelevant or worthless things A jealous person is said be sipping vinegar Are you made out of tofu? – typically asked of kids who cry all the time

Last March, I interviewed Monier Attar about her Persian New Year celebration. She recently offered this good advice from FARSI:

Whoever eats melon should be ready for shivering = if you do something, you have to be ready to deal with the consequences.

Mostafa Raiss El Fenni, who taught me how to eat with my hands, shared this wise counsel from MOROCCAN ARABIC,

Eda kan hbibak aassel, mat’lehsushi kamel = If your dear friend is honey, don’t lick him all up = “if your friend is very generous, don’t just keep taking from him or her”

And this bit of ironic wit: Rabi aata l’hammus li ma aandu snan God gives fava beans to people with false teeth. He explains, “You need real teeth to chew fava beans. Sometimes people get things they don’t need; while others who can really use it, don’t get it. It’s like a billionaire winning the lottery.”

Then, I turned to my fellow Bay Area Food Bloggers. Renate contributed this description from GERMAN: Er hat nicht alle Tassen im Schrank = He doesn’t have all of his coffee/tea cups in his cabinet = “he’s a few cards shy of a full deck”

Orly wrote, “In Israel we use a phrase in a mix of HEBREW and ARABIC: Yom Asal Yom Basal = which literally means a day of honey, a day of onions and translates to “a good day, a bad day”.

Another friend, Yardena, shared this from HEBREW: Shikor velo meyayin: Drunk, but not from wine, (meaning, in love).

And Judy Kunofsky from Klez California kindly answered my last minute request with this gem from YIDDISH:

Vi a kalteh kugl af purimlike a cold kugel on Purim (“meaning: when pigs fly or never, because Purim is a Jewish holiday on which you can cook, so no one would ever serve a cold kugel [noodle pudding]”).

Other food bloggers referred me to more than 50 FRENCH sayings complied by Clotilde Dusoulier on her popular blog Chocolate and Zucchini. One example she cites is “Long comme un jour sans pain.”, “as long as a day without bread,” to express that something is very long, especially the duration of an event.”

I was also directed to a terrific collection of ITALIAN food phrases collected by local Vanessa DellaPasqua in her blog, Italy in SF – Intriguingly, I noticed her list includes many phrases about bread:

E’ buono come un pezzo di pane = He’s as good as a piece of bread. = He’s a good person, a really nice guy.

Rendere pan per focaccia =  To give back bread for focaccia  = Similar to “an eye for an eye,” it is used metaphorically to illustrate a payback for a suffered wrong.

L’ho comprato per un tozzo di pane  = I bought it for a piece of bread.  = It was a real deal, very underpriced compared to its value.

Plus one of my favorites:

C’entra come i cavoli a merenda  = It fits like cabbage for the afternoon snack  = It doesn’t fit, it’s inappropriate

cabbage at tea “Like cabbage for the afternoon snack” – Italian

Not surprisingly, several of the CHINESE food sayings, also compiled by Joe Lurie, refer to rice.

In business, “being handed a rice bowl” is to be hired, while “having your rice bowl broken,” is to be fired. I love this Chinese bit of wisdom: “if you pick up a sesame seed, you may drop a watermelon,” meaning, if you focus on trivial matters, you may lose sight of important issues.

Then just last week, I met two young Iraqi men who are interning in a local high-tech company for a few months. Wael and Ibraheem were glad to contribute these sayings in IRAQI ARABIC:

He or she is like a tomato =  a compliment for being socially flexible and able to get along in any situation (“because we put tomatoes on everything”) You’re making a kubba [a fist-sized fried dumpling made of meat covered in rice] out of a bean = you exaggerate too much, or you’re making a mountain out of a molehill.

ASL, American Sign Language, can also take its place at the food idiom table with BRING BREAD BUTTER = earn the money for the family or “bring home the bacon” and FISH SWALLOW = gullible, as in “Gotcha! You fell for it!” which points up ASL’s historical link to French Sign Language (LSF). In France, April 1 is called “Poisson d’avril” (April fish) and those who are fooled by a prank have “swallowed the fish”. (Thank you Dan Langholtz, Priscilla Moyers and Nikki Horrell)

The deliciously descriptive food phrases above, representing 17 languages, just whet my appetite. I’m sure there are many more juicy ones from around the world. So, here’s open invitation: Please share your own favorite food phrases and send this on to anyone who might know some from a language not yet listed. Let’s invite everyone to the feast!

My deep appreciation to all the generous friends who got into the spirit of my quest and a special thanks to Lila Volkas, for creating the delightful illustrations above. Lila is an artist and photographer. We last collaborated on a story about Parisian Tea salons.

  • nanchanglu

    Thanks for a great article! Right up my alley too.

    Here’s a few Chinese phrases for your collection, related to tofu:
    The God of Thunder strikes tofu: to pick on an easy target (Lei Gong da dou fu 雷公打豆腐)
    Beancurd strung on a horse’s tail: a strategy doomed to fail (me wei chuan dou fu 马尾穿豆腐）
    Knife mouth, tofu heart: harshly spoken but gentle hearted (dao zi zui ba dou fu xin 刀子嘴巴豆腐心）

  • Langholtz, always hungry

    lots of food for thought!

  • Jacqueline Church

    Two of my favorites:
    Talk does not cook the rice. Chinese
    God gives bread to people with no teeth. Chile

  • Pingback: Campbell's Hipster Soups, Salto di Quirra, Food Idioms - Culture-ist()

  • Pingback: The Culture Report: Campbell’s Hipster Soups, Italy’s Chernobyl, Insulting Food Idioms | BizNax()

  • FriedlsChocolateCherryTorte

    My mother is a Jewish refugee from Munich arriving in July 1938 age 12.5. I’ve wondered if some her famous sayings that I heard growing up were translated from German without even thinking about it, for example “Egg in your beer!” . Given the popularity of beer in Germany and the fact that I never ever heard anyone else say that. I think it meant you have chutzpah or you are doing something nervy. Not even sure.

  • Elizabeth

    Comments for “Meatballs for New Mothers” is closed, but I had to find a way to tell you how much I loved seeing the photo of your baby with Sophie the giraffe! I have just arrived in New York City with two Sophies for my daughter’s twins due in several weeks. Much to my amazement, however, Sophie has taken NYC by storm now and one finds them everywhere here!!

  • Pingback: Culinair nieuws in foodbites: gehaktballenrestaurant in Amsterdam geopend | Zestz()

  • Anna Mindess

    Thanks, for the all the great additions to my list.

    Belmonte, a fellow interpreter, wrote me, “In Scotland we call ground beef “mince”. “My
    head’s mince” means “I’m incapable of rational thought” and
    “you’re talking mince” means “you’re talking nonsense.” I’m thrilled to learn the ‘local flavor’ of food idioms in other English speaking countries.

  • Mario

    You forgot the “half orange” expression. Also, in Colombia we say “chupar piña” (to suck pineapple) to refer to a passionate kiss.

  • Alessandra Luciani

    Another one for you! In Italian ” non vale un fico secco” meaning ” to be worth nothing”. The literal translation would be ” it’s not worth a dried fig”.

  • Constance

    I’m surprised “to catch someone with their hands in the dough” wasn’t equated to “to catch someone with their hands in the cookie jar”. XD

  • Rachael

    Spanish: “Vete a freír espárragos”- go fry asparagus…. it really means “get lost” =D


Anna Mindess


Sponsored by

Become a KQED sponsor