Europeans Have Expressions Too
A popular saying that many English-speakers know is “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” meaning that a child will behave very similar to their parents. However, did you know that certain European countries have coined the term as well? According to english-idioms-and-expressions.com, both Greece and Slovakia share the same saying as we do, but the Turkish say, “A pear will fall to its root”; Albanians similarly recite, “The pear falls exactly underneath the pear tree”; and Serbians will preach, “A splinter doesn’t jump far from a log.” Each and every one of these means the same things, but Turkey, Albania, and Serbia use different plants than we do. The same concept goes for the classic saying, “I wasn’t born yesterday.” Instead of saying that, Germans will say “I haven’t swum here on the roux soup.”
European countries also have sayings that we don’t have similar meanings to. Lackuna.com lists some odd phrases: “to pull old cows out of the ditch” is Dutch for bringing up an old argument or story, “There is no cow on the ice” is Swedish for having no reason to worry or panic, and then there’s “Bang your butt on the ground” meaning to die of laughter in French.