Famous Sayings, Translated Literally

Every language has expressions that should never be translated word for word. Bulgarian has an especially large collection. Here are our favourites – with a literal translation for foreigners and the closest equivalents in English and German. Some turn out to be almost identical, which proves that Europe was united long before Brussels.

Sayings with surprising relatives

• „Тук е заровено кучето.“ (Tuk e zaroveno kucheto) – literally “Here is where the dog is buried”: this is the heart of the matter. In German it is exactly the same: Da liegt der Hund begraben (“that is where the dog lies buried”). One and the same dog, buried in two places.
• „Разкажи го на баба си!“ (Razkazhi go na baba si) – literally “Tell it to your grandmother!”: I don't believe you. The Germans say exactly the same: Das kannst du deiner Oma erzählen! (“You can tell that to your granny!”). Evidently the grandmothers of Europe have heard a great deal.
• „Сламен вдовец“ (Slamen vdovets) – literally “straw widower”: a man whose wife is on holiday without him. In German: Strohwitwer (“straw widower”). In both languages the straw widower looks suspiciously cheerful.
• „Като две капки вода“ (Kato dve kapki voda) – literally “like two drops of water”: completely identical. The English see two peas in a pod, the Germans two eggs: wie ein Ei dem anderen (“like one egg to another”).

Sayings that need explaining

• „Ни лук ял, ни лук мирисал.“ (Ni luk yal, ni luk mirisal) – literally “I neither ate onion nor smelled onion”. It means: I'm innocent. It is most often used by people who smell of onion.
• „Гледа като теле в железница.“ (Gleda kato tele v zheleznitsa) – literally “looks like a calf at a railway”, that is, a calf seeing a train. Total incomprehension. The English have a deer in headlights, the Germans a pig looking into the clockwork: wie ein Schwein ins Uhrwerk (“like a pig into the works of a clock”).
• „Продава краставици на краставичаря.“ (Prodava krastavitsi na krastavichar) – literally “sells cucumbers to the cucumber grower”: teaching a specialist his own trade. The English carry coals to Newcastle, the Germans owls to Athens.
• „Хем вълкът сит, хем агнето цяло.“ (Hem vulkat sit, hem agneto tsyalo) – literally “both the wolf fed and the lamb intact”: the impossible compromise everybody is looking for. In English it is having your cake and eating it.
• „На куково лято.“ (Na kukovo lyato) – literally “in the cuckoo's summer”, that is, never. The English wait for pigs to fly, the Germans for Saint Never's Day: Sankt-Nimmerleins-Tag.
• „Прати го за зелен хайвер.“ (Prati go za zelen haivar) – literally “send him for green caviar”: he was sent off to look for green caviar, i.e. something that doesn't exist. New recruits and interns know it from personal experience.
• „Вдигна си чукалата.“ (Vdigna si chukalata) – literally “picked up his pestles”: packed up his pestles and left. A chukalo is a little wooden pestle for grinding spices; nobody remembers why it is precisely this we take along when we leave in a huff.
• „Мели, Ваньо!“ (Meli, Vanyo) – literally “Grind away, Vanyo!”, as a mill would. It is said to a person who talks a lot and says little. If your name is Ivan, get used to it.
• „Хвана гората.“ (Hvana gorata) – literally “took to the forest”, that is, became an outlaw (haidutin) and fled to the mountains. Today it is said of someone who has quit a job without notice.