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German idioms from the kitchen cupboard

Dagmar Breitenbach
August 24, 2022

Various German idioms refer to cookware and utensils in a figurative sense. Spoons, for example, serve as a symbol of wisdom and death, while the frying pan is a threat.

Weinbergschnecke
Image: WILDLIFE/D.Harms/WILDLIFE/picture alliance

"Zu jedem Topf gibt es den passenden Deckel" translates as "every pot has a matching lid," which means there is a matching partner for everyone. 

Knives, spoons, plates, pans and pots feature in quite a few German idioms.

Sometimes cookware terms have a second meaning that has nothing to do with kitchen equipment.

For example, "Pfanne" is the German word for a pan, but it can also refer to a small receptacle, a pan, in matchlock and flintlock rifles into which the priming powder was poured.

So the idiom "etwas auf der Pfanne haben" (literally, to have something on the pan) rather refers to being ready to fire away — and means that someone is clever, well prepared.

You'll find more about Germans and everyday life in Germany on dw.com/MeettheGermans, on YouTube and Instagram .

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