Love, friends and family in Luxembourgish sayings
Every pot finds its lid, good friends are thinly sown, and on Pretzel Sunday a young man may get “the basket”. Luxembourgish sayings about love, friendship and family — with native recordings.
Updated · 3 min read
These are the sayings you hear at family tables, weddings and birthdays. The family words themselves — Mamm, Papp, Bomi, Bopa, Monni, Tatta — are on our relationships and family vocabulary page. To tell someone you love them, see how to say I love you in Luxembourgish.
Love
D'Léift mécht blann.
Literally: Love makes blind.
Meaning: When you are in love, you do not see the other person's faults. The verb is maachen — love makes you blind.
All Dëppe fënnt iergendwann säin Deckel.
Literally: Every pot finds its lid sometime.
Meaning: Everyone eventually finds a partner who suits them. Every pot finds its lid at some point: everyone finds the partner who fits.
Seng Frëndin huet him gëschter de Kuerf ginn
Literally: His girlfriend gave him the basket yesterday.
Meaning: She ended the relationship. The image comes from Bretzelsonndeg (Pretzel Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent): a man gives his sweetheart a pretzel, and at Easter he gets an egg if the feeling is mutual — or an empty basket if it is not. In leap years the roles are reversed.
Fir Bretzelssonndeg hunn ech menger Freiesch eng Bretzel geschenkt
Literally: For Pretzel Sunday I gave my girlfriend a pretzel.
Meaning: The custom in one sentence — Freiesch is an old-fashioned, affectionate word for girlfriend.
More about the pretzel, the eggs and the other customs of the year in Luxembourg’s traditions and their words.
Friends
Gutt Frënn sinn dënn geséit.
Literally: Good friends are thinly sown.
Meaning: Good friends are rare. Good friends are thinly sown: they are rare.
Bei esou Frënn brauch ee keng Feinden.
Literally: With such friends one needs no enemies.
Meaning: My own friends have badly disappointed me. With friends like these you need no enemies.
Mir sinn aus deem selwechten Holz.
Literally: We are made of the same wood.
Meaning: We are alike in our nature. We are of the same wood: alike by nature.
Deem enge seng Freed ass deem anere säi Leed!
Literally: One person's joy is the other one's sorrow!
Meaning: What is good for one person can be bad for another. One person’s joy is another one’s sorrow.
Et ass een, wéi een ass!
Literally: One is as one is!
Meaning: Others should accept you the way you are. One is as one is — take me as I am. The verb is sinn.
Children
Kleng Kesselen hu grouss Oueren.
Literally: Little kettles have big ears.
Meaning: Children hear more than adults think. Small pots have big ears: children hear everything.
Kleng Kanner, kleng Suergen, grouss Kanner, grouss Suergen.
Literally: Small children, small worries, big children, big worries.
Meaning: Grown-up children cause more worries than small ones.
Vum Fale léieren d'Kanner goen!
Literally: From falling, children learn to walk!
Meaning: You learn a lot from the mistakes you make. By falling, children learn to walk — the verb is goen, which also means “to go”.
Wann d'Kand am Pëtz läit, kënnt en Deckel drop.
Literally: When the child is lying in the well, a lid goes on it.
Meaning: People often only react when it is too late. When the child is in the well, a lid goes on — people react only when it is too late.
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. Children’s eyes are often bigger than their stomach.
Family and old age
En ale Bam verplanzt een net.
Literally: One does not transplant an old tree.
Meaning: Old people should be left to live where they are used to living. You don’t transplant an old tree: leave old people where they are at home.
Dat kënnt an de beschte Famillje vir!
Literally: That happens in the best families!
Meaning: That can happen to anyone. It happens in the best families — said to comfort someone.
Mir sëtzen all an engem Boot!
Literally: We all sit in one boat!
Meaning: We are all facing the same situation together. We are all in one boat — said in families and teams alike.
Words and grammar for family talk
- Du and Dir in the family: inside the family everyone says du — even to grandparents. See personal pronouns.
- Possessives: mäi Papp, meng Mamm, meng Kanner — and the colloquial dem Papp säin Auto (Dad’s car). See common mistakes.
- Family events: birthdays, weddings and christenings use verbs like feieren (to celebrate), invitéieren (to invite), besichen (to visit) and wënschen (to wish).
- Wishes: happy New Year, good luck and cheers have their own pages.
Parents of young children will also find childcare and education words useful. More sayings by theme: food and drink and time and patience.
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.
196 Luxembourgish sayings, with native audio
Learn them on 16Word: the meaning first, then you type the saying — with a Blocks break between answers.
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Frequently asked questions
What does “de Kuerf kréien” mean in Luxembourgish?
To get the basket: to be turned down or dumped. It comes from the Pretzel Sunday custom, where a man who gave a pretzel gets an egg at Easter — or an empty basket if his love is not returned.
What is Bretzelsonndeg?
Pretzel Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent. Men give their sweetheart a sweet pretzel; in leap years the women give it.
How do you say “love is blind” in Luxembourgish?
D’Léift mécht blann — love makes blind.
How do you say “there is someone for everyone”?
All Dëppe fënnt iergendwann säin Deckel — every pot finds its lid one day.
Do Luxembourgers say du or Dir to their family?
Du — inside the family, including to grandparents. Dir is for people you do not know well and for formal situations.
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