I contadini più stupidi hanno le patate più grandi.

English Translation

The dumbest farmers have the biggest potatoes.

This one is the German idiom. Italians do not have it. FYI.

1 Like

And by “potatoes” do they mean…?
:wink:

1 Like

It means that even people who work less and are not too intelligent can have a success or rewards in a short time. Intrigued by the meaning of this sentence I googled it and got the whole article in Italian about German idioms.

3 Likes

In Italiano the idiom seems to be … “hanno le zucche più grande”. Pumpkins, potatoes, non riesco a scegliere;-)))

2 Likes

I couldn’t find anything on the internet … then I realised I was “Binging” it and not “Googling” it.

Is this the article you’re referring to -
Il cibo nei modi di dire tedeschi – sapori di berlino (wordpress.com)

That was an enjoyable read :grin:

2 Likes

I Googled “i contadini più stupidi” Italian idiom and up popped le zucche".

3 Likes

Oh yes, I see that zucche reference now, by just putting in that shorter phrase into a Google search.

However - I also see that this comes from a T-shirt company which has used the phrase “I contadini più stupido hanno le zucche più grosse” to attract people to its website. However, if you click on the link to go that website (or just look at the Google images) then the T-shirt itself doesn’t have the phrase in Italian. Instead the T-shirts and other merchandise have that same phrase in … (you’ve guessed it) German!!

So maybe this phrase with zucche isn’t from Italian after all.

1 Like

Ah well, I’ve learnt the word zucche at least;-)

1 Like

It is the next article after yours in Google. Le frasi idiomatiche in tedesco come espressione di una cultura. Le frasi idiomatiche in tedesco come espressione di una cultura - L i b r a r s iL i b r a r s i. I love idiomatic expressions. Remember “the bear stepped on my ear” in “Ti interessano i fiori” discussion when Sindaco pulled the article from the internet? If you missed it, it is there, he said he liked it. Idioms give such rich colors to the languages. I love spotting them in CM!

2 Likes

Sì sì. I’m a big “tifosa” of idiomi. “Chi non risica non rosica” (nothing ventured etc). “L’atto è brutto ma il porco sta bene” (after someone burps or breaks wind!) “Qui gatta ci cova” (here a cat is hatching eggs - something is suspicious).

Basta!.. :wink:

2 Likes