07/07/2022
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐: ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐
Language Learning Academy specializes in teaching online lessons in Danish, German, and English to adult students across the world. In this series of blogposts, we are going to look at some of the idioms and proverbs that exist in all three languages. Generally, such sayings have similar meanings but use different imagery.
The first one we will look at is the common proverb ๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ฎ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐. This phrase is used to describe choices or decisions that will move you from a bad or difficult situation to a worse one, often as the unintended result of trying to escape your current circumstances.
The proverb is derived from a Greek saying that talks about ๐ข๐ค๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ข ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ข๐. It was first recorded in a poem by Germanicus Caesar (15 BCE โ 19 CE), appearing in a collection of poetry called the Greek Anthology. In the poem, Caesar writes about a hare fleeing from a dog. The hare tries to escape by jumping into the sea, but the escape attempt leads to a much worse situation. Instead of avoiding attack from the dog on land, the unfortunate hare is caught and eaten by a dogfish shark as soon as it enters the water.
In English, the earliest recorded use of the idiom is by the Catholic Renaissance humanist Thomas More in a pamphlet dating back to 1532. The pamphlet was part of Moreโs war on words with William Tyndale, one of the leading figures of the Protestant Reformation. In it, More says about his adversaries that ๐๐๐๐ฎ ๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ก๐ฎ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐ก๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐๐๐ง ๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ฎ๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐. Moreโs image of a fish jumping out of a frying pan has later appeared in other stories, including one about a fisherman, who tries to cook a bunch of live fish. Desperate to escape the hot oil, the fish agree to jump out of the pan. Their rash decision sends them into the flames instead, where, like the Greek hare, they instantly perish.
The Danish version of the proverb can also be traced back to the Greek saying and the poem by Germanicus Caesar, but in Danish, the smoke has not become a frying pan. Instead, the Danish proverb talks about moving from the ash into the fire: ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ ๐ค๐ข ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐๐ฃ, ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ = ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ข ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐๐๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐, ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐๐จ.
Whereas fire is the chosen illustration of the bad decision both in English and in Danish, the equivalent German saying uses different imagery entirely. It is also thought to have a slightly different origin story. The German proverb is called ๐๐ค๐ข ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ช๐๐ ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ข๐๐ฃ and translates roughly into ๐๐ค๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ค๐ค๐ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ข ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ช๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ง. The saying has been around for centuries, but its roots are not entirely clear. Language historians believe it was first used somewhere in the Orient. โTraufeโ refers to a downspout or a rainwater pipe coming from the top of a roof. In the olden days, such pipes would overflow with water and debris during a heavy rainfall, and the German proverb creates the image of someone, already wet, who runs through the rain to seek shelter under a roof. Once there, however, the gutter overflows, thereby completely drenching the person in water and dirt.
Proverbs are fascinating and achieving a high level of proficiency in a foreign language requires a comparative study of similar sayings in oneโs mother tongue. For instance, you can always recognize a bad translation of a work of fiction on how much attention the translator has paid to the proverbs.
If you should be interested in taking lessons through Language Learning Academy, you can contact us here on Facebook or find more information on our school website: www.languagelearningacademy.net
Blogpost written by: Gunhild Jensen, Founder and CEO of LLA.
Blogpost sources:
https://praxistipps.focus.de/vom-regen-in-die-traufe-das-steckt-hinter-der-redewendung_123320
https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/out+of+the+frying+pan+into+the+fire
https://words.fromoldbooks.org/Brewer-DictionaryOfPhraseAndFable/f/frying-pan.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Anthology
https://hosbeg.com/meaning-of-out-of-the-frying-pan-and-into-the-fire/
