Luxembourgish food and drink sayings: hunger, soup, cherries and potatoes
Hunger is the best cook, the stupidest farmer has the fattest potatoes, and with some people it is no fun to eat cherries. Luxembourgish talks about life through the kitchen — here are the sayings, with native recordings.
Updated · 3 min read
Food sayings are a good place to start because the words are everyday ones you need anyway. Learn the basics on our food and restaurant vocabulary, fruit and vegetable pages, then come back to see what Luxembourgers do with them. Ordering at a table is covered in shopping and eating out in Luxembourgish.
Hunger and appetite
Honger ass dee beschte Kach.
Literally: Hunger is the best cook.
Meaning: When you are hungry, any food tastes good. English chose a sauce, Luxembourgish chose the cook. The verb behind Kach is kachen, to cook.
Wat de Bauer net kennt, dat frësst en net.
Literally: What the farmer does not know, he does not eat.
Meaning: People reject what is unfamiliar to them. Friessen is how animals eat — said of people, it is blunt. The polite verb is iessen.
Wann d'Mais sat sinn, ass d'Miel batter.
Literally: When the mice are full, the flour is bitter.
Meaning: Once you have had enough, you become fussy. When the mice have had enough, the flour tastes bitter.
Bei de Kanner sinn d'Aen dacks méi grouss ewéi de Mo.
Literally: With children, the eyes are often bigger than the stomach.
Meaning: Children often put more on their plate than they can eat. Eyes bigger than the stomach — the same picture as in English.
Dreck schauert de Mo.
Literally: Dirt scours the stomach.
Meaning: A little dirt in your food does no harm (said to fussy eaters). A grandparent’s saying for fussy children.
D'Waasser leeft mer am Mond zesummen!
Literally: The water runs together in my mouth!
Meaning: That makes me really want to eat it. The water runs together in my mouth: my mouth is watering.
Potatoes, cherries and apples
Deen dommste Bauer huet déi déckste Gromperen.
Literally: The dumbest farmer has the biggest potatoes.
Meaning: Even foolish people can be lucky. Gromperen — “ground pears” — is the Luxembourgish word for potatoes, the base of half the national cuisine.
Mat deem Kärel ass net gutt Kiischten iessen!
Literally: With that guy it is not good eating cherries!
Meaning: It is not easy to get along with that guy. Not good to eat cherries with: hard to get along with. Fruit words: fruit in Luxembourgish.
Du vergläichs Äppel a Bieren.
Literally: You are comparing apples and pears.
Meaning: You are comparing two things that cannot be compared. Comparing apples and pears — English compares apples and oranges.
Si fannen ëmmer en Hoer an der Zopp.
Literally: They always find a hair in the soup.
Meaning: They always find something to criticise. Always finding a hair in the soup: always finding something to criticise.
Op der Kiermes iessen ech ëmmer Gromperekichelcher mat Äppelkompott
Literally: At the fair I always eat potato fritters with apple sauce.
Meaning: Not a proverb but a national truth: Gromperekichelcher, the potato fritters sold at every fair and at the Schueberfouer.
Eggs, bread and honey
Et kann ee keng Omlett maachen, ouni Eeër ze briechen.
Literally: One cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs.
Meaning: It is hard to achieve something without giving something up for it. The same proverb as in English and French.
Deem enge säin Doud, deem anere säi Brout
Literally: The death of the one, the bread of the other
Meaning: What harms one person brings profit to another. One person’s death is another’s bread.
Hien huet mir Hunneg ëm de Mond geschmiert.
Literally: He smeared honey around my mouth.
Meaning: He flattered me. Smearing honey around someone’s mouth: flattering them.
Mir sinn drun ewéi d’Pan an der Fuesent
Literally: We are at it like the pan at carnival.
Meaning: We are very busy — the frying pan never rests at carnival, when everyone fries carnival doughnuts — LOD gives Fuesent for both the carnival and the doughnuts. More about carnival in Luxembourg’s traditions and their words.
Drinks: wine, toasts and luck
E Fësch muss schwammen.
Literally: A fish must swim.
Meaning: With fish, you should drink wine. Fish must swim — in wine. Luxembourg’s Moselle valley makes white wine, so this is said at the table with a smile.
D'Gléck geet dem Soff no.
Literally: Luck follows the drunk.
Meaning: People who are drunk often have luck. Luck follows the drunkard — said with a shake of the head.
Prost, loosst Iech de Patt gutt schmaachen!
Literally: Cheers, enjoy your drink!
Meaning: The everyday toast — Patt is a glass of something. More ways to raise a glass on our page about how to say cheers.
Mir drénken op dem Gebuertsdagskand seng Gesondheet
Literally: We drink to the birthday child’s health.
Meaning: Raising a glass to someone. Note the possessive: dem Gebuertsdagskand seng Gesondheet — literally “to the birthday child his health”.
Using food sayings at the table
- Ordering and paying: the verbs you need are bestellen, bezuelen and kaschten. Phrases: please and thank you.
- Formal or not: with waiters and older people, use Dir — loosst Iech et gutt schmaachen. Friends get du — looss der et gutt schmaachen. See du and Dir.
- Numbers and prices come up at every meal; our page on Luxembourgish numbers has the recordings.
- Spices and dishes: more words on our spices and restaurant and cuisine pages.
Want more? Animal sayings are in animal idioms and proverbs, and the village fair behind Gromperekichelcher in village life in Luxembourgish sayings.
Reading a saying is one thing; using it at the right moment is another. For that, practise with a person: on Edluxio you can book 1-to-1 online lessons with independent teachers, native speakers among them, and try your new sayings in a real conversation. Book a trial lesson; if your first lesson isn’t right for you, you get a full refund.
Learn these sayings with native audio
16Word’s Proverbs & Idioms track has every saying on this page — read the meaning, type the Luxembourgish, and play a round of Blocks between answers.
Keep learning
- 16 Luxembourgish proverbs everyone knows
- Where Luxembourgish proverbs come from
- 30 everyday Luxembourgish idioms
- Animal idioms and proverbs
- Idioms about the body
- Money and work in proverbs
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- Kiermes, priests and Prussians: village life in sayings
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- Cheers in Luxembourgish · good luck
- How to learn Luxembourgish online
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Frequently asked questions
How do you say “hunger is the best sauce” in Luxembourgish?
Honger ass dee beschte Kach — hunger is the best cook.
What does “Mat deem Kärel ass net gutt Kiischten iessen” mean?
Literally “it is not good to eat cherries with that guy”: he is hard to get along with.
What is the Luxembourgish word for potatoes?
Gromperen (singular Gromper) — and the famous fritters are Gromperekichelcher.
How do you say “enjoy your meal” in Luxembourgish?
Looss der et gutt schmaachen (to a friend) or Loosst Iech et gutt schmaachen (polite or to several people).
How do you toast in Luxembourgish?
Prost! — or, more fully, “prost, loosst Iech de Patt gutt schmaachen!”. To someone’s health: “op deng Gesondheet”.
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