A bargain goes for peanuts in English and for an apple and an egg in German. Luck is a pig in German, a vein in French and, in Japanese, a rice cake falling off the shelf.
One language at a time: English · French · German · Spanish · Italian · Japanese
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Pour des cacahuètes lit. ‘for peanuts’
Für ’n Appel und ’n Ei lit. ‘for an apple and an egg’
Por cuatro perras lit. ‘for four coins’
Per un tozzo di pane lit. ‘for a crust of bread’
雀の涙 suzume no namida lit. ‘a sparrow’s tears’
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Coûter les yeux de la tête lit. ‘cost the eyes of your head’
Eine Stange Geld kosten lit. ‘to cost a pole of money’
Costar un ojo de la cara lit. ‘to cost an eye from your face’
Costare un occhio della testa lit. ‘to cost an eye of the head’
目の玉が飛び出るほど高い me no tama ga tobideru hodo takai lit. ‘so expensive your eyeballs pop out’
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Acheter chat en poche lit. ‘buy a cat in a pocket’
Die Katze im Sack kaufen lit. ‘buy the cat in the sack’
Dar gato por liebre lit. ‘pass off a cat as a hare’
Comprare a scatola chiusa lit. ‘buy in a closed box’
No Japanese idiom yet. Means: to buy or agree to something without checking it first
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Avoir de la veine lit. ‘have vein’
Schwein haben lit. ‘have pig’
Tener potra lit. ‘to have a hernia’
Nascere con la camicia lit. ‘to be born with a shirt on’
棚からぼたもち tana kara botamochi lit. ‘a rice cake falling off the shelf’
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Die Daumen drücken lit. ‘press your thumbs’
Cruzar los dedos lit. ‘cross the fingers’
Incrociare le dita lit. ‘to cross the fingers’
No Japanese idiom yet. Means: to hope that things turn out well
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Vendre la peau de l’ours avant de l’avoir tué lit. ‘sell the bear’s skin before killing it’
Man soll den Tag nicht vor dem Abend loben lit. ‘don’t praise the day before the evening’
No vender la piel del oso antes de cazarlo lit. ‘don’t sell the bear’s skin before hunting it’
Non dire gatto se non ce l’hai nel sacco lit. ‘don’t say cat until it’s in the sack’
捕らぬ狸の皮算用 toranu tanuki no kawazan'yō lit. ‘counting the money for the pelts of raccoon dogs you haven’t caught’
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Quand les poules auront des dents lit. ‘when hens have teeth’
Wenn Ostern und Pfingsten auf einen Tag fallen lit. ‘when Easter and Whitsun fall on the same day’
Cuando las ranas críen pelo lit. ‘when frogs grow hair’
Quando gli asini voleranno lit. ‘when donkeys fly’
太陽が西から昇っても taiyō ga nishi kara nobotte mo lit. ‘even if the sun rises in the west’
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Rouler sur l’or lit. ‘to roll on gold’
Geld wie Heu haben lit. ‘to have money like hay’
Estar forrado lit. ‘to be lined’
Nuotare nell’oro lit. ‘to swim in gold’
懐が暖かい futokoro ga atatakai lit. ‘your breast pocket is warm’
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Être fauché comme les blés lit. ‘to be mown down like the wheat’
Arm wie eine Kirchenmaus sein lit. ‘to be as poor as a church mouse’
Estar sin blanca lit. ‘to be without a blanca (an old coin)’
Essere al verde lit. ‘to be at the green’
一文無し ichimon nashi lit. ‘without a single mon coin’
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Être dans de beaux draps lit. ‘to be in fine sheets’
In der Tinte sitzen lit. ‘to sit in the ink’
Estar entre la espada y la pared lit. ‘to be between the sword and the wall’
Essere nei guai fino al collo lit. ‘to be in trouble up to the neck’
八方塞がり happō fusagari lit. ‘blocked in all eight directions’
Phrases in bold with a red marker are written up. The rest don’t have their own page yet.