Netherlandish Proverbs

Netherlandish Proverbs (Dutch: Nederlandse Spreekwoorden; also called Flemish Proverbs, The Blue Cloak or The Topsy Turvy World) is a 1559 oil-on-oak-panel painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder that depicts a scene in which humans and, to a lesser extent, animals and objects, offer literal illustrations of Dutch-language proverbs and idioms.

Running themes in Bruegel’s paintings are the absurdity, wickedness and foolishness of humans, and this is no exception. The painting’s original title, The Blue Cloak or The Folly of the World, indicates that Bruegel’s intent was not just to illustrate proverbs, but rather to catalog human folly.

Critics have praised the composition for its ordered portrayal and integrated scene. There are approximately 112 identifiable proverbs and idioms in the scene, although Bruegel may have included others which cannot be determined because of the language change. Some of those incorporated in the painting are still in popular use, for instance “Swimming against the tide”, “Banging one’s head against a brick wall” and “Armed to the teeth”.

	Proverb/idiom	Meaning	Image
001	To be able to tie even the devil to a pillow	Obstinacy overcomes everything
002	To be a pillar-biter	To be a religious hypocrite
003	Never believe someone who carries fire in one hand and water in the other	To be two-faced and to stir up trouble
004	To bang one’s head against a brick wall	To try to achieve the impossible
005	One foot shod, the other bare	Balance is paramount
006	The sow pulls the bung	Negligence will be rewarded with disaster
007	To bell the cat	To carry out a dangerous or impractical plan
008	To be armed to the teeth	To be heavily armed
009	To put your armor on	To be angry
010	One shears sheep, the other shears pigs	One has all the advantages, the other none
011	Shear them but do not skin them	Do not press your advantage too far
012	The herring does not fry here	It’s not going according to plan
013	To fry the whole herring for the sake of the roe	To do too much to achieve a little
014	To get the lid on the head	To end up taking responsibility
015	The herring hangs by its own gills	You must accept responsibility for your own actions
016	There is more in it than an empty herring	There is more to it than meets the eye
017	What can smoke do to iron?	There is no point in trying to change the unchangeable
018	To find the dog in the pot	To arrive too late for dinner and find all the food has been eaten
019	To sit between two stools in the ashes	To be indecisive
020	To be a hen feeler	To be very miserly (feeling whether the hen is about to lay an egg before slaughtering it)
021	The scissors hang out there	They are liable to cheat you there
022	To always gnaw on a single bone	To continually talk about the same subject
023	It depends on the fall of the cards	It is up to chance
024	The world is turned upside down	Everything is the opposite of what it should be
025	Leave at least one egg in the nest	Always have something in reserve
026	To crap on the world	To despise everything
027	To lead each other by the nose	To fool each other
028	The die is cast	The decision is made
029	Fools get the best cards	Luck can overcome intelligence
030	To look through one’s fingers	To turn a blind eye
031	There hangs the knife	To issue a challenge
032	There stand the wooden shoes	To wait in vain
033	To stick out the broom	To have fun while the master is away
034	To marry under the broomstick	To live together without marrying
035	To have the roof tiled with tarts	To be very wealthy
036	To have a hole in one’s roof	To be unintelligent
037	An old roof needs a lot of patching up	Old things need more maintenance
038	The roof has laths	There could be eavesdroppers (The walls have ears)
039	To have toothache behind the ears	To be a malingerer
040	To be pissing against the moon	To waste one’s time on a futile endeavour
041	Here hangs the pot	It is the opposite of what it should be
042	To shoot a second bolt to find the first	To repeat a foolish action
043	To shave the fool without lather	To trick somebody
044	Two fools under one hood	Stupidity loves company
045	It grows out of the window	It cannot be concealed
046	To play on the pillory	To attract attention to one’s shameful acts
047	When the gate is open the pigs will run into the corn	Disaster ensues from carelessness
048	When the corn decreases the pig increases	If one person gains then another must lose
049	To run like one’s backside is on fire	To be in great distress
050	He who eats fire, craps sparks	Do not be surprised at the outcome if you attempt a dangerous venture
051	To hang one’s cloak according to the wind	To adapt one’s viewpoint to the current opinion
052	To toss feathers in the wind	To work fruitlessly
053	To gaze at the stork	To waste one’s time
054	To try to kill two flies with one stroke	To be efficient (equivalent to today’s To kill two birds with one stone)
055	To fall from the ox onto the rear end of an ass	To fall on hard times
056	To kiss the ring of the door	To be obsequious
057	To wipe one’s backside on the door	To treat something lightly
058	To go around shouldering a burden	To imagine that things are worse than they are
059	One beggar pities the other standing in front of the door	Being afraid for competition
060	To fish behind the net	To miss an opportunity
061	Sharks eat smaller fish	Anything people say will be put in perspective according to their level of importance
062	To be unable to see the sun shine on the water	To be jealous of another’s success
063	It hangs like a privy over a ditch	It is obvious
064	Anybody can see through an oak plank if there is a hole in it	There is no point in stating the obvious
065	They both crap through the same hole	They are inseparable comrades
066	To throw one’s money into the water	To waste one’s money
067	A wall with cracks will soon collapse	Anything poorly managed will soon fail
068	To not care whose house is on fire as long as one can warm oneself at the blaze	To take every opportunity regardless of the consequences to others
069	To drag the block	To be deceived by a lover or to work at a pointless task
070	Fear makes the old woman trot	An unexpected event can reveal unknown qualities
071	Horse droppings are not figs	Do not be fooled by appearances
072	If the blind lead the blind both will fall in the ditch	There is no point in being guided by others who are equally ignorant
073	The journey is not yet over when one can discern the church and steeple	Do not give up until the task is fully complete
074	Everything, however finely spun, finally comes to the sun	Nothing can be hidden forever
075	To keep one’s eye on the sail	To stay alert, be wary
076	To crap on the gallows	To be undeterred by any penalty
077	Where the carcass is, there fly the crows	If there’s something to be gained, everyone hurries in front
078	It is easy to sail before the wind	If conditions are favourable it is not difficult to achieve one’s goal
079	Who knows why geese go barefoot?	There is a reason for everything, though it may not be obvious
080	If I am not meant to be their keeper, I will let geese be geese	Do not interfere in matters that are not your concern
081	To see bears dancing	To be starving
082	Wild bears prefer each other’s company	Peers get along better with each other than with outsiders
083	To throw one’s cowl over the fence	To discard something without knowing whether it will be required later
084	It is ill to swim against the current	It is difficult to oppose the general opinion
085	The pitcher goes to the water until it finally breaks	Everything has its limitations
086	The broadest straps are cut from someone else’s leather	One is quick to another’s money.
087	To hold an eel by the tail	To undertake a difficult task (Compare: “Catch a tiger by the tail”)
088	To fall through the basket	To have your deception uncovered
089	To be suspended between heaven and earth	To be in an awkward situation
090	To keep the hen’s egg and let the goose’s egg go	To make a bad decision
091	To yawn against the oven	To attempt more than one can manage
092	To be barely able to reach from one loaf to another	To have difficulty living within budget
093	A hoe without a handle	Probably something useless
094	To look for the hatchet	To try to find an excuse
095	Here he is with his lantern	To finally have an opportunity to show a talent
096	A hatchet with a handle	Probably signifies “the whole thing”
097	He who has spilt his porridge cannot scrape it all up again	Once something is done it cannot be undone (Compare: “Don’t cry over spilt milk”)
098	To put a spoke through someone’s wheel	To put up an obstacle, to destroy someone’s plans
099	Love is on the side where the money bag hangs	Love can be bought
100	To pull to get the longest end	To attempt to get the advantage
101	To stand in one’s own light	To behave contrarily to one’s own happiness or advantage
102	No one looks for others in the oven who has not been in there himself	To imagine wickedness in others is a sign of wickedness in oneself
103	To have the world spinning on one’s thumb	To have every advantage (Compare: “To have the world in the palm of your hand”)
104	To tie a flaxen beard to the face of Christ	To hide deceit under a veneer of Christian piety
105	To have to stoop to get on in the world	To succeed one must be willing to make sacrifices
106	To cast roses before swine	To waste effort on the unworthy
107	To fill the well after the calf has already drowned	To take action only after a disaster (Compare: “Shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted”)
108	To be as gentle as a lamb	Someone who is exceptionally calm or gentle
109	She puts the blue cloak on her husband	She deceives him
110	Watch out that a black dog does not come in between	Mind that things don’t go wrong
111	One winds on the distaff what the other spins	Both spread gossip
112	To carry the day out in baskets	To waste one’s time (Compare: “to carry coals to Newcastle” and “to sell sand in the desert”)
113	To hold a candle to the Devil	To flatter and make friends indiscriminately
114	To confess to the Devil	To reveal secrets to one’s enemy
115	The pig is stabbed through the belly	A foregone conclusion or what is done can not be undone
116	Two dogs over one bone seldom agree	To argue over a single point
117	When two dogs fight out who gets the bone,the third one steals it	Self-explanatory
118	To be a skimming ladle	To be a parasite or sponger
119	What is the good of a beautiful plate when there is nothing on it?	Beauty does not make up for substance
120	The Fox and the Crane (or Stork) dine together	If you trick someone they might get back at you
121	To blow in the ear	To spread gossip
122	Chalk up a debt	To owe someone a favour
123	The meat on the spit must be basted	Certain things need constant attention
124	There is no turning the spit with him	He is uncooperative
125	To sit on hot coals	To be impatient
126	To catch fish without a net	To profit from the work of others